Tribal Alcohol Beverage Control Commissioner George Mitchell Littlejohn was arrested on six felony charges and five misdemeanor charges related to misuse of Tribal funds, according to the Cherokee Indian Police Department.
“Arrests such as these show the seriousness of taking advantage of appointed positions. When someone takes advantage of a Tribal entity, it is the same as taking advantage of the entire tribal community,” Chief of Police Carla Neadeau said in a Facebook post.
The Cherokee Indian Police Department announced the arrest on February 17 and did not elaborate on the details of the criminal case.
Littlejohn was appointed to the commission in 2022. His term expires in 2026.
The Eastern Band of Cherokee Tribal Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission was created in 2009 to regulate North Carolina alcohol laws that are enforced on tribal lands. This move came after voters approved a referendum to allow the sale of alcohol at Harrah’s Cherokee Casino in the same year. The first 12 years that the casino was open it was alcohol-free.
The board has five appointed commissioners and four Alcohol Law Enforcement Agents. Here’s the list of the other members of the commission, according to the Cherokee One Feather.
The first ABC store opened on the Qualla Boundary in 2022 as the results of referendum that allowed the tribal commission to operate the store.
There are 31 places to buy alcohol on EBCI tribal lands: 12 retail stores that sell alcohol, one wholesale permit holder, and 18 retail permits to serve alcohol.
Most recently in 2023, another TABCC member Shannon Ross was found to have violated the Cherokee Code. The Cherokee One Feather reported that Ross when told a Harrah’s Cherokee Casino Resort bartender that he was an ALE officer and should be able to violate the casino’s alcohol policy and be served a second cocktail before he had finished his first. Ross was required to pay a $1,000 fine and obtain an alcohol assessment.
