Bureau of Indian Affairs Orders Alturas Indian Rancheria Leaders to Halt Unauthorized Business on Federal Trust Land

In late May, the Globe reported on the Alturas Indian Rancheria, a small federally recognized tribe in Northern California, which has been controlled for over a decade by a disputed “interim” Business Committee in what tribal members and their attorney describe as a clear criminal enterprise enabled by the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

The tribe is located in Modoc County, in the far northeastern corner of California. The county population was 8,700 as of the 2020 census.

The Alturas Indian Rancheria is a very small tribe with only five members and 20 acres of land. It has a General Council as the primary governing body. Membership and leadership have been disputed for years, often tied to enrollment of individuals (including non-blood or adopted members), voting rights, and control of assets like potential gaming or other businesses.

We previously reported on serious allegations involving the small, remote California tribe, including accusations of fraud, embezzlement, forgery, perjury in tribal governance, mail fraud disputes, improper enrollment and adoption of members to manipulate voting control, illegal marijuana cultivation on tribal lands, and unauthorized cigarette manufacturing.

We asked “Where is the Bureau of Indian Affairs?”

Well, now we know.

The Globe has obtained a letter (see below) sent to tribal leaders Phillip Del Rosa and Darren Rose and to representatives of Azuma Corporation and AIR Construction and Excavation concerning unauthorized commercial activities on federal trust lands held by the United States for Indian landowners with undivided interests.”

Specifically, the BIA letter addresses the following apparent unauthorized commercial activities have been specifically observed:

• Operation of a gas station, including fuel sales and related retail transactions;
• Operation of a smoke shop, including retail sales of tobacco products and paraphernalia;
• Operation of a batch plant, including production and storage of concrete or aggregate materials; and
• Associated grading, excavation, staging, stockpiling, and other commercial use activities, including equipment deployment and material handling.

“This allotment remains undivided trust property. No individual co-owner, majority interest holder, or affiliated business may unilaterally authorize exclusive possession, commercial development, excavation, or other use of trust land without required federal approval. Agency records do not identify a Bureau-approved lease, permit, right-of-way, or other federal authorization for these commercial activities,” the letter states.

While the Globe addressed that no tribal elections have been held since at least 2008, significant tribe funds have disappeared. According to tribe member Wendy Del Rosa’s attorney, BIA appointed tribe leaders Philip Del Rosa (Wendy’s estranged brother) and Darren Rose “are embezzling all of the Tribe’s funds, including the Tribe’s 638 Contract Funds.”

According to Alturas tribe member and former tribal treasurer Wendy Del Rosa. since the BIA’s intervention in 2008, the committee (controlled by Phillip Del Rosa and Darren Rose) has allegedly diverted more than $25 million in federal and state tribal funds intended for members:

• $12.375 million from California’s Revenue Sharing Trust Fund (Funding for Non-Gaming Tribes and Local Governments)
• $8.622 million in federal ISDEA/P.L. 638 contract funds (contract with tribes to assume planning and administering certain federal services and programs with federal funding)
• $4.25 million in COVID-19 CARES/ARPA and PPP relief funds (Small Business Paycheck Protection Program, established by the CARES Act, is implemented by the Small Business Administration)
• $2.8 million+ from the Desert Rose Casino, Indian gaming casino owned by the Alturas Rancheria.

Del Rosa maintains that none of these funds have gone to other tribal members or essential governmental services. The funds have instead been divided between Phillip Del Rosa and Darren Rose for personal enrichment, including Del Rosa’s purchase of a vacation home in Hawaii using approximately $4 million of these proceeds.

Additional millions have flowed through tribal enterprises including a cigarette manufacturing/distribution via Darren Rose’s Azuma Corporation, a gas station, and a trucking company– funded with tribal resources, but operated solely by Del Rosa and Rose.

The BIA spells out the many years of violations by the tribe:

“You were previously found to be in trespass on this allotment for operating your asphalt/concrete stockpiling and processing business without a permit or lease approved by BIA.’ BIA records appear to indicate that you have been in trespass since as early as 2005. 

On May 22, 2014, the Regional Director issued an administrative cease and desist order ordering you within 15 days of receipt of the letter to cease and desist your operation, remove all surface and subsurface structures from the site and to restore the land to its original state prior to the unauthorized use.

You appealed the Regional Director’s administrative cease and desist order to the Interior Board of Indian Appeals (IBIA). On March 25, 2016, the IBIA affirmed the portion of the Regional Director’s administrative order finding you in trespass and ordering you to remove al structures, stockpiles and debris from the allotment that are or have been in your possession or control or otherwise attributable to your trespass.? 

The BIA subsequently issued two letters in 2018 assessing trespass damages and penalties of $30,376 for your past unauthorized use and possession of the allotment (2018 decisions). 

In 2018, you appealed the Regional Director’s 2018 decisions to the IBIA. In July 2019, you entered into a settlement agreement with BIA in which you agreed to pay trespass damages for the period up to and including February 9, 2018, and to continue negotiating in good faith toward an approved business lease that would retroactively commence February 10, 2018 (2019 settlement agreement).* 

Although pursuant to the 2019 settlement agreement, the BIA agreed to not assess trespass damages while the parties negotiated toward an approved business lease, both parties acknowledged that if a lease is not approved, “trespass damages may be assessed for the period commencing February 10, 2018.”

The Globe article, published May 27, 2026, also addressed cigarette trafficking, online gambling, and large-scale marijuana grows:

Darren Rose’s Azuma Corporation has been embroiled in ongoing litigation with the State of California for violating cigarette tax laws and the federal Prevent All Cigarette Trafficking Act. In 2024, Rose was held in contempt of court for violating a federal injunction. In November 2025, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld key claims against the tribal officials, rejecting sovereign immunity defenses for injunctive relief and personal liability. Azuma also sells cigarettes directly to consumers, including non-Indian consumers, through its own retail smokeshops.

Earlier attempts to launch online gambling (Desert Rose Bingo) and large-scale marijuana grows have also drawn regulatory scrutiny and raids.

The BIA letter continues:

“In addition to the asphalt/concrete stockpiling and processing business addressed in the earlier administrative appeals and 2019 settlement agreement (now referenced as a “batch plant”), as stated above, the BIA observed during a site visit on February 25, 2026, operations associated with a gas station and a smoke shop on the allotment that are also being conducted without a permit or lease approved by BIA.

During a subsequent site visit conducted by Agency staff on June 4, 2026, workers were observed actively engaged in the extraction, hauling, processing, and stockpiling of materials on the allotment. Heavy equipment and work crews were actively operating within the extraction and stockpile areas. Staff also noted continued construction, development, maintenance, and improvement work on a large commercial building.”

The tribe was busted in 2015 by the DEA and Bureau of Indian Affairs for an enormous illegal marijuana-processing operation. 12,000 marijuana plants were uprooted from the Alturas Indian Rancheria and the Pit River XL Ranch tribal land in Modoc County after Wendy Del Rosa, the estranged sister of the “purported” tribal chairman, complained her brother had converted a tribal hall into a marijuana processing plant, Courthouse News reported.

CBS covered the federal marijuana bust as well.

Lastly, the Globe received a cease and desist letter from an attorney representing tribal leaders Phillip Del Rosa and Darren Rose. He demanded the Globe “cease and desist from further publication of, retract, and remove the article titled “Alturas Indian Rancheria Leaders Accused of ‘Diverting’ More than $25 Million in Federal/State Tribal Funds.”

The Globe responded:

The Article reports fairly and substantially accurately on matters of significant public concern. It is supported by a published opinion of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, federal district court orders, decisions of the Interior Board of Indian Appeals, sworn federal search warrant affidavits, contemporaneous reporting by multiple national news organizations spanning more than a decade, and a letter directed to the Bureau of Indian Affairs by counsel for an enrolled member of the Alturas Indian Rancheria. The reporting is privileged under California Civil Code § 47(d), substantially true, and protected by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution and Article I, Section 2 of the California Constitution.

Their attorney responded, claiming that former tribal Treasurer Wendy Del Rosa was complicit in withdrawing money from the tribe between the dates of August 11 and October 2014, and included photos of cancelled checks. Ms. Del Rosa replied that she indeed was–and is– the recognized Secretary Treasurer of the Alturas Indian Rancheria and that all payments issued by Wendy in her capacity as Secretary Treasurer were legitimate and appropriate Tribal expenses, which included payments to Tribal members.

She noted that the attorney’s claims are false, and said they use allegations and threats of litigation to intimidate and shift the focus off of them.

The Globe will continue to follow this federal cease and desist letter alleging illegal activities.

Below is the Bureau of Indian Affairs letter obtained by the Globe: