What he did was try to expand his money making drug operation into sunny southern California. At first, he would sell churches under the ONAC name to legitimate parties who cared about the ONAC cause. People were really excited to be part of this Native American tribe but they would soon realize that they would be abandoned by their own people.
Southern California was supposed to be home to 5 legitimate ONAC churches. Not only did Mooney sell churches to 5 parties, he sold it to 4 other parties who were legitimate gangsters. He sold each church for about $50,000 each. This would make it a total of 9 churches he sold in southern California. After Sleazy Mooney would sell these churches, the agreement was that he promised them legal representation if they got into any trouble. He also promised them in an agreement that under the ONAC brand, they would not be raided by the police due to religious protections. Eventually those 4 parties who were gangsters did get into trouble, they got arrested, got their property seized, and now face drug charges. When they told the authorities they were covered under the ONAC brand, Mooney or its leadership were nowhere to be found to vouch for him. All he did was take their money and vanish.
Now, Mooney is nowhere to be found. As his church members continue to face drug charges, he and his posse will not be there to vouch for them in court. A real Native American would vouch for their own tribe. Shame on James "The Sleaze" Mooney.