Ex-Swinomish police chief gets 16 months for stealing from tribe

SEATTLE — A Stanwood resident who is the former police chief of the Swinomish Police Department has been sentenced to 16 months in prison for stealing nearly $34,000 from the northwest Washington tribe.

Thomas Schlicker pleaded guilty in July to theft of tribal funds. He served as the Swinomish Tribe’s police chief from 1997 to 2014. The Swinomish reservation is located west of La Conner in Skagit County.

Federal prosecutors said he deposited checks made out to the police department into a secret bank account and used the money for his own purposes. He also used the tribe’s gas station credit card to buy fuel for his family’s personal vehicles.

Swinomish Chairman Brian Cladoosby said in a news release that Schlicker betrayed the tribe’s trust.

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