Oct. 11–At 4:30 p.m. on Friday, a federal judge in Fresno granted a request by the state of California to shut down the Chukchansi Gold Resort & Casino.
The state sought the emergency order from U.S. District Judge Lawrence J. O’Neill, saying the Picayune Rancheria of Chukchansi Indians had violated terms of its state compact, part of which requires gambling not endanger the “public health, safety, or welfare” of patrons.
O’Neill’s order is temporary, and will be in effect until a preliminary injunction hearing he set for Oct.15 at 1:30 p.m.
The order, which covers all the various tribal factions as well as the tribe itself, and any people acting under their direction, prohibits them from:
–attempting to repossess, or take control of, the casino;
–deploying tribal police or other armed personnel within 1,000 yards of the casino, the property on which the casino is located, and tribal properties surrounding the casino, including the nearby hotels and tribal offices;
–possessing, carrying, displaying, or otherwise having firearms on the tribal properties.
–operating the casino,until it is established before O’Neill that the public health and safety of casino patrons, employees, and tribal members can be “adequately protected from the violent confrontations and threats of violent confrontation among the tribal factions disputing leadership of the Tribe and control of the casino.”
The hotel and casino closed Thursday night after members and tribal police representing the Tex McDonald faction entered the building with weapons and holed up in the tribal gaming commission office in the casino. As they entered, they squared off with security guards representing the Reggie Lewis/Nancy Ayala faction.
On Friday, members of the McDonald group were still inside the casino gaming office or meeting rooms, but members of the Lewis/Ayala faction had control of the casino and hotel, said Roger Salazar, a spokesman for casino manager Giffen Tan.
About 500 employees and patrons were in the hotel and casino when the McDonald group members came in, Madera County Sheriff John Anderson said.
He said no arrests have been made and none of the handful of reported injuries required hospital transport.
Both factions have accused the sheriff of taking the other group’s side — which the sheriff strongly denies.
The latest conflict arises from news earlier this week that a federal agency will shutter the casino if required audits are not turned in. One of the Chukchansi audits is 18 months overdue.
Patrons were told to take their chips with them when they exited the casino Thursday night, Salazar said.
But some patrons said they left money on the table. Salazar said casino officials are willing to talk to anyone who left chips on a gambling table and have video to determine what was there when people exited. He also said that anyone with chips or tickets can have them redeemed when the casino reopens; no date has been set for that.
The casino Friday was empty, but even more eerily quiet, devoid of bings and bongs from slot machines and noise from patrons. Inside a room down a long hallway in the casino — its door posted with a cadre of young security guards — Vernon King, treasurer for the tribal council led by Tex McDonald, said that his group felt they had to do something to recovering audit information because all branches of government have taken a “hands-off approach.”
King said his group was attempting to avert a casino shutdown by entering it Thursday. The casino, he said, employs between 1,000 to 1,500 people and was on average providing around $450 a month from revenues to about 900 tribal members. Tribal elders receive a little more money to help with things like food and housing, he said.
King, dressed in a suit and tie, was seated at a long table in a room on the casino floor. He said his group didn’t want to impair casino operations when they entered the facility on Thursday, and that members of the other tribal group pulled the fire alarm, which resulted in the casino evacuation.
The McDonald group said it is working with a New York judge to find out if Tan is required to answer to them, said David Leibowitz, the faction’s spokesman.
The same judge issued an order last year saying that leadership factions had to both sign off on payments to vendors, including auditors.
“From our perspective, he works for us,” Leibowitz said of Tan.
Leibowitz said the McDonald group wanted to find documents that relate to the audits to meet the requirements of the National Indian Gaming Commission, which earlier this week filed a temporary closure order for the casino. If the agency doesn’t file audits for the past two years, the federal agency threatened to close the casino on Oct. 27.
Leibowitz said McDonald group members don’t intend to leave the gaming commission office until they have documentation they need for NIGC.
“I think this is a fluid situation,” he said. “We are continuing to compile paperwork for the audits and keep the casino open long-term.”
Reggie Lewis said the McDonald group fired everyone in the gaming office and that his group’s concern is that the McDonald group “didn’t have replacements to step in and then the NIGC would have to step in.”
He said his group has sent video footage to the federal government that shows the McDonald group entering the casino.
In an email, NIGC officials in Washintgon, D.C., said they agency is weighing its options.
Contact Marc Benjamin: mbenjamin@fresnobee.com, (559) 441-6166 or @beebenjamin on Twitter. Carmen George and John Ellis contributed to this story.
