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Tonkawas approved to open new casino
Message was posted: 09:11 Jul 9th, 2006

User: BigStack Rank: Casino Gold: 2960CG Contributor rating: 7760 Status: Offline

Casino news from http://www.kten.com/ NEWKIRK, Okla. A casino run by the Tonkawa Nation opened last week after receiving federal approval to do so, just months after the tribe was accused of having ties to organized crime. Tribal President Anthony Street and Phil Hogen, the chairman of the National Indian Gaming Commission, signed an agreement Wednesday to open the Native Lights Casino north of Newkirk. The agreement includes a stipulation that the tribe must pay a 1 (m) million dollar fine in installments over five years. The federal government ordered the tribe's casino near Tonkawa closed on February 2nd as the casino's manager, Edward Street, became the focus of a federal report that said he had allowed organized crime to launder tens of millions of dollars through the casino. The tribe fired Edward Street and his management company. The tribe's elected officials also ceded control of the Tonkawa Gaming Commission to hired casino regulators. The new commission's lawyer is Nelson Westrin, a former member of the National Indian Gaming Commission.