Three members of a family that controlled the Paskenta Band of Nomlaki Indians for more than a decade have admitted to stealing nearly $5 million from their tribe, closing one chapter in a long-running saga that generated headlines across the country and reached all the way to the nation's capital.

Leslie Lohse, the tribe's former treasurer, her sister, Ines Crosby, and Crosby's son, John Crosby, pleaded guilty to a conspiracy to embezzle or steal from the California-based tribe, the U.S. Attorney's Office announced on Thursday. All three defendants also admitted to tax fraud charges as part of a scheme that cost the tribe and the American public more than $6.5 million, according to federal authorities.