United States Attorney Mary Beth Buchanan announced today, April 8, 2008, that Robert Eugene Cheney of Las Vegas, Nevada and Joseph Michael Guess of Phoenix, Arizona, have been indicted by a federal grand jury in Erie on charges of violating various federal laws including wire fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, uttering a counterfeit corporate check, and money laundering.

The forty‑two count indictment named Cheney, age 78, and Guess, age 51, as defendants.

According to the indictment presented to the court, from 2003 through March 2007, the defendants devised a scheme to defraud others and to obtain money by means of false and fraudulent pretenses, representations and promises.  The scheme to defraud was based upon false claims that the defendants were affiliated with HARP, Inc. (a supposed charitable humanitarian organization), Eagle Eight Trust (a supposed entity involved in oil production operations in Pennsylvania) and other fraudulent investment opportunities, each offering a quick, high‑dollar return on any money that was invested.  Further, it was claimed to certain victims that Robert Eugene Cheney was the chairman of HARP, Inc. and was known as Chief Soaring Eagle, a supposed "high‑ranking official" of the "Sovereign Cherokee Nation" who was married to the sister of a government official in Mexico, and whose connections in Central and South America allowed HARP, Inc. to "joint venture" with oil companies and trade in billions of dollars of oil reserves.  It was claimed to other victims that Robert Eugene Cheney was a billionaire oil tycoon in Pennsylvania with investment opportunities in Eagle Eight Trust and oil production operations in Pennsylvania. The defendants promised those individuals paying money into the scheme that they would be paid much as a 100% return in a short period, that the payment of funds by the victims was risk free and was secured by supposedly legitimate written assurances and guarantees.  Further, according to the Indictment, the defendants created fictitious banking and business documents and used those documents to persuade individual victims that the scheme was legitimate.  The Indictment alleges that more than $2,000,000.00 was invested as a result of the scheme, and that the majority of the money was converted to the personal use and benefit of the defendants and their associates.

Assistant United States Attorney Marshall J. Piccinini, who presented the case to the grand jury, indicated that the law provides for a maximum total sentence of eight hundred years in prison, a fine of $11,000,000, or both for Cheney and a maximum total sentence of eighty years in prison, a fine of $1,000,000, or both for Guess.  Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the actual sentence imposed would be based upon the seriousness of the offenses and the prior criminal history, if any, of the defendants.

The Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation and the Federal Bureau of Investigation conducted the investigation leading to the indictment in this case.

An indictment is only a charge and is not evidence of guilt.  A defendant is presumed innocent and is entitled to a fair trial at which the government must prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

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