Former Mashpee Wampanoag leader pleads guilty to tax charges as tribe’s controversial casino grows
| By Jess Marquez
On Friday the US Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts announced that Cedric Cromwell, the former chairman of the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe and president of its gaming operations, pleaded guilty to four counts of filing a false tax return. It is the latest chapter in a winding, multi-year legal saga surrounding the disgraced chairman and his former tribe.
Cromwell failed to report more than $177,000 in income on federal tax returns between 2014 and 2017, authorities said. About two-thirds of that was connected to the tribe’s First Light Resort and Casino project in Taunton, Massachusetts, which is a decade in the making and still ongoing. The other income came from side deals not related to the casino scandal.
Sentencing is set for 5 November before US District Court Judge Nathaniel M Gorton. Cromwell could face up to three years in prison, a year of probation and a $100,000 fine for each charge. But in addition to the tax counts, the 60-year-old Cromwell will also face sentencing for three extortion charges and one charge of conspiracy to commit extortion. Those charges were originally dropped by a lower court in 2022 but were reinstated by the First Circuit Court of Appeals in September 2024.
The extortion charges carry sentences of up to 20 years, three years of probation and a $250,000 fine, per count.
From bribery to extortion
Originally, Cromwell was indicted in November 2020 alongside David DeQuattro, CEO of prominent development firm RGB Architects. Authorities alleged that Cromwell conspired with RGB to be the “owner’s representative” for the casino project and that he received more than $57,000 from DeQuattro between 2014 and 2017 in exchange for a lucrative development contract. This was in addition to about $45,000 of other unreported income from a previous architectural partner who is not named.
According to prosecutors, Cromwell received a home gym and a hotel suite vacation from DeQuattro in addition to the money.
“Instead of working honestly on behalf of the Mashpee Wampanoags as their duly elected representative, Cedric Cromwell is accused of using his position as chairman of the tribe to enrich himself by extorting tens of thousands of dollars in bribes and engaging in a conspiracy with David DeQuattro to commit bribery,” Joseph Bonavolonta, special agent in charge of the FBI Boston Division, said at the time.
Both men were convicted of bribery in May 2022, although the trial court severed the tax charges and ruled only on the extortion and bribery charges. However, after appealing to the First Circuit, DeQuattro was ultimately acquitted of all charges in 2024, whereas all of Cromwell’s charges were reinstated.
Now back to work, DeQuattro has emerged as a victim, with Cromwell now pegged as the extorter and ringleader. He will now face his dual sentencing for both sets of charges this fall.
“One of the greatest things that has happened throughout this whole thing is it’s almost like you wear a set of X-ray glasses, where you can see people for who they are,” DeQauttro told GoLocalProv in March. “And I think I did that at a young enough age, where you know who your real friends were.”
Casino saga just as complicated
As Cromwell’s legal troubles have played out, his former tribe has had no better luck in its quest to develop the casino project without him.
The Mashpee Wampanoags were federally recognised in 2007, and the city of Taunton in 2012 signed an Intergovernmental Agreement with the tribe for a massive casino development that came to be known as First Light. The first phase of the project alone was slated for 3,000 slots and 150 tables.
More than a decade of legal battles ensued after the original agreement, keeping the project at a standstill. Several court rulings during that time flip-flopped on the legality of the project and the original agreement.
A detailed breakdown of these rulings, compiled through mid-2023, is available on PlayMA.com. In 2024, the tribe finally came out victorious in its legal defence of First Light and announced plans to build a temporary “welcome centre” in Taunton.
From 10 to 50 to 250?
Adding to the complexity of the case is the fact that Genting is funding the casino project and is partnered with the tribe to operate it. That relationship was rocky in previous years due to the project’s legal troubles but seems to have improved. When the temporary welcome centre was opened in January, Kevin Jones, chief strategy officer for Genting Americas, was on hand.
He told the Taunton Daily Gazette that the facility was meant to educate the public about the tribe and its future casino plans. It also included a “sampling” of gaming, in the form of 10 slots.
In the months since, the small facility has continued to expand. It has grown from 10 to 50 slots, lengthened its operating hours and obtained an alcohol licence. An updated agreement with the city could allow the centre to further expand to 250 slots.
The Daily Gazette has also noted the tribe is now directly referring to the center as a “casino” instead of a welcome centre, as it did previously. If the tribe does intend for the facility to become a permanent casino, it would still be far below the scope outlined in the original 2012 agreement under Cromwell.
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