A scandal involving former Blackfeet Nation tribal elders, three country music singers and illegal hunting on the tribe’s reservation has resulted in guilty pleas.

Jay St. Goddard,  Jay Wells and Gayle Skunkcap Jr., three former Blackfeet tribal elders, pleaded guilty March 5 to staging hunting trips for elk, moose and deer on the tribe’s reservation in Montana. They held four hunts in 2010 and 2011 for country music singers Josh Thomson, Justin Moore and Mark Cooke in exchange for concerts and exposure on a television show, “Sovereign Sportsman.”

They admitted to hosting the hunts without proper licenses and using tribal money for guides. The three said they were trying to elevate the exposure of the tribe.

This story in the Great Falls Tribune has a lot of detail, and this Associated Press report outlines the guilty pleas.