United States of America v. Star Rana Jackson

Little Rock, Arkansas, criminal defense lawyer represented the Defendant charged with wire fraud.

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Star Rana Jackson, who was employed for more than ten years at the American Indian Center of Arkansas (AICA) and for a period of time served as the Executive Director. She made several withdrawals of grant funds over a period of three months while serving as Executive Director and completed approximately 180 deposits directly from AICA accounts for her own personal use. The investigation also revealed Jackson purchased cashier’s checks with AICA funds to make unauthorized purchases and used AICA funds to pay for unauthorized subscription streaming services. Jackson embezzled over $1.7 million of the grant funds.

An investigation revealed that during her tenure as Executive Director of AICA, Jackson completed a withdrawal of funds on approximately June 24, 2024, from the Department of Education grant in the amount of $30,000. The grant funds were deposited into an account opened by Jackson and without the knowledge of AICA’s Board of Directors. On or about June 27, 2024, Jackson completed another withdrawal of funds from a Department of Health and Human Services grant in the amount of $40,000. Those grant funds were deposited into a non-active AICA account that Jackson still had access to, along with grant funds from the Department of Education in the amount of $15,000 on or about July 1, 2024. Through the investigation, it was determined that Jackson used an online payment platform to send a payment of $10,000 to a separate financial institution using a bank account that was in the name of Jackson and her husband.

The AICA is a non-profit organization entirely funded by federal grants from the Department of Labor, Department of Education, and the Department of Health and Human Services. The AICA provides services to indigenous people living in Arkansas, as well as others in need. After having been employed by AICA for several years, Jackson was appointed executive director in October 2022 before being terminated in May 2025. While serving as Executive Director, Jackson was the sole person with access to the federal payment management system and who completed withdrawals for grants that were awarded to AICA.

The Defendant elected to plead guilty and was sentenced to 48 months in prison and was order to $1,788,858.99 in restitution.