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<< Previous   of   Next >>   ADVERTISEMENT   ADDITIONAL ITEMS • Charges filed against Stillaguamish leaders ( PDF)   CONTACT THE HERALD Robert Frank, City Editor frank@heraldnet.com   Published: Wednesday, November 19, 2008 Stillaguamish tribal leaders face federal charges By Krista Kapralos Herald Writer SEATTLE -- Four leaders of the Stillaguamish Indian Tribe are scheduled Thursday to appear in federal court and answer to charges of allegedly selling millions of dollars worth of untaxed cigarettes at the Blue Stilly Smoke Shop in Arlington. Edward Goodridge, Sr., former Stillaguamish tribal chairman, his wife Linda Goodridge, and Edward Goodridge, Jr., their son and a current Stillaguamish tribal leader, are all scheduled to appear before a federal judge in Seattle Thursday morning. Sara Milliron Schroedl, a member of the Stillaguamish Tribal Council, also is scheduled to appear at the same hearing. Milliron is a relative of the Goodridge family. They all are charged with conspiracy to traffic in contraband cigarettes and engaging in monetary transactions involving property derived from unlawful activity, all federal felonies. According to federal charging papers, the four tribal leaders made at least $55 million by selling untaxed cigarettes at the Blue Stilly between March 2003 and May 15, 2007, two days after the shop was raided by armed federal agents. The home of Edward Goodridge, Sr. and Linda Goodridge and the home of Edward Goodridge, Jr. were also raided that day. The Blue Stilly is owned and operated by the Goodridge family, but is on a small slip of Stillaguamish tribal land. The tribe early this year signed a cigarette compact with the state that requires cartons and packs of cigarettes and other tobacco products to be sold with a tax and to bear a tax stamp. State leaders say the tax ensures that tribal smoke shops can’t unfairly compete against non-tribal shops where tobacco products are sold with a state tax. It’s not the first time the Blue Stilly has been implicated in cigarette trafficking schemes. Tulalip tribal member Stormmy Paul ran the shop until March of 2003, when the Goodridge family told him to leave. Edward Goodridge, Jr. later said his family disagreed with the way Paul did business. Paul pleaded guilty early this year to running an international cigarette smuggling ring that spanned the globe, with pieces of the network in China, Russia, Brazil, Paraguay, Maryland and the Tulalip Indian Reservation. Paul avoided time in prison, but was sentenced to home detention. READER COMMENTS Log in or register to post new comment | Log out You have to admire how good they were at it I think they should run for the Everett City council or for Mayor of Everett! Why have politicians who are inept with their corruption when we could have criminals that are good at something? Henry Stephanson | Nov 19, 2008 1:09 pm | 0 replies | View all | Post reply | Request removal

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