Leech Lake’s Arthur ‘Archie’ LaRose Looks to Resume Political Career After Ruling

A court ruling has vacated a 1992 guilty plea for felony third-degree assault entered by longtime former Leech Lake Tribal Council member Arthur “Archie” LaRose. The ruling gives LaRose new hope for resuming his political career.

On November 21st, the Minnesota Court of Appeals ruled that given the lack of evidence in the record of injuries inflicted on the victim, that LaRose’s 1992 guilty plea was inaccurate and invalid. The court concluded LaRose’s conviction constituted a “manifest injustice,” and that he is thereby entitled to withdraw his plea.

“This makes me feel very good, comfortable, relieved, because I always knew in my heart that I was a good man and had a clean record,” said LaRose in an interview with Lakeland News. “I clearly showed in the court documents, the transcripts, that my due process was violated. I was overcharged and I was misrepresented at the time. So after going to the appellate court hearing, my lawyer arguing for 15 minutes for me, reviewing everything, the transcripts, the records, you know, they clearly recognized and ruled in my favor.”

Following the Court of Appeals decision, the District Court for the Ninth Judicial District issued an order granting LaRose’s post-conviction motion to withdraw his guilty plea and therefore vacated the 1992 conviction for third-degree assault.

“I was so happy inside. I was jumping up for joy spiritually inside my body and happy and excited,” LaRose said. “And the good news is justice has prevailed, you know, and I have a clean record. That’s the bottom line.”

LaRose was Leech Lake’s Tribal Secretary/Treasurer from 2002 until 2008, and again from 2014 until 2022. In between, he served as the band’s Tribal Chairman from 2008 until 2012. But in 2022, the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe’s Tribal Election Court of Appeals ruled that LaRose was ineligible to run as a candidate because of that conviction for felony third-degree assault.

Now, after these court decisions, LaRose has his eyes set on resuming his political career.

“It’s important for me because I love representing my people, and I believe they loved my representation for 18 years,” he added. “I believe 18 years speaks for itself. Right now, the next election coming up is 2026, and that’s for my former position, Secretary/Treasurer. And that’s the position I plan on running.”

Leonard Fineday has served as Leech Lake’s Tribal Secretary/Treasurer since 2022. He ran unopposed in 2022 and has not announced whether he will be seeking re-election.