The 47-year-old Lewis County man accused of embezzling $100,000 from the Cowlitz Indian Tribe appeared in U.S. District Court in Tacoma Tuesday after being charged with unlawful firearm possession, according to a news release from the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ).
According to the release, Michael Lee Draper was sentenced to 13 years in prison in 2009 for unlawfully possessing firearms, including a stolen gun.
He now faces up to 15 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a maximum fine of $250,000.
According to the release, prosecutors indicated they will “ask the court to detain Draper pending trial at a hearing” scheduled for Monday, March 2.
Draper was reportedly in state custody in Thurston County until he appeared in federal court.
Following Draper’s apprehension on Jan. 22, investigators reportedly found two polymer “ghost guns” — one a handgun and the other an AR-style rifle, according to the release.
Ghost guns are firearms without serial numbers that are manufactured using a 3D printer.
“The truck also contained some drug paraphernalia and some suspected crystal methamphetamine,” the release states.
The case, which is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Victoria Cantore, continues to be investigated by the Cowlitz Tribal Police, the Thurston County Sheriff’s Office and the FBI, according to the DOJ.
Draper, of Cinebar, and Elicia D. Kellam, 42, of Olympia, were both charged with five counts of first-degree theft in Lewis County Superior Court on Jan. 23 in connection with the suspected thefts from the Cowlitz Tribe.
The tribe released an initial statement on Monday, Jan. 26.
"Following an internal investigation conducted by the Cowlitz Indian Tribe’s Human Resources Department, the Tribe identified serious discrepancies involving a former employee and immediately referred the matter to law enforcement,” said Chris Olsen, interim chief of the Cowlitz Indian Tribal Public Safety Department.
The Chronicle previously reported that Draper was a former employee of the tribe and had been placed on administrative leave on Jan. 6.
Olsen confirmed he was no longer under employment.
“The Cowlitz Indian Tribe takes any misuse of Tribal resources extremely seriously,” Olsen said. “We will continue to cooperate fully with law enforcement and will support all appropriate efforts to pursue justice. Because this is an ongoing investigation, we will not be providing further comment at this time."
According to the probable cause affidavit filed by the Lewis County Prosecutor’s Office, Draper and Kellam, who had been living on tribal property in Lewis County, allegedly used a fake company called “Kellam Environmental Services” to pay for work that was never done.
The affidavit lists five fraudulent purchases flagged by the tribe’s housing accountant, ranging from $4,475 on the low end to $9,936.90 on the high end for items pertaining to a water filtration system, a water heater and two new water pumps.
The fraudulent purchases, which form the basis for the five counts of first-degree theft, allegedly began on Nov. 17, 2025, and concluded on Jan. 2.
Police arrested the suspects on Jan. 22 following a multi-agency pursuit in Thurston County that included an airplane from the Washington State Patrol and a police K-9.
The next morning, Thurston County Sheriff Derek Sanders wrote on Facebook that an executed search warrant of Draper’s truck yielded “Cowlitz Tribe property, a zip loc bag full of meth, an unserialized AR-15, an unserialized handgun, and drug paraphernalia.”
“Both suspects were turned over to Cowlitz Tribal Police for booking,” Sanders wrote.
Both Draper and Kellam pleaded not guilty to all five counts of first-degree theft in Lewis County Superior Court in January.
The question remained for weeks whether additional felony charges would be filed in Lewis County Superior Court or within other jurisdictions.
According to court records, Draper now faces additional charges in Thurston County related to his alleged attempt to elude pursuing police, unlawful firearms possession and possession of controlled substances.
