A federal judge last week ruled that he did not have jurisdiction in a restraining order that is part of an ongoing power struggle between three factions of the Chukchansi tribe in California, which operates the Chukchansi Gold Resort & Casino.
One of those factions accused the other of wrongfully taking more than $300,000 that should have been delivered to the bank account of the Chukchansi Gold Resort & Casino.
According to Judge Anthony Ishii, he does not have jurisdiction over the case. One of the factions, the Reggie Lewis faction, which the Bureau of Indian Affairs has declared is the legal tribal council, had filed the restraining order to force the McDonald faction from moving the money. Lewis claims that the action violates a New York judge’s ruling in 2013 that established rules for money being deposited in the casino bank account.
Ishii said he does not consider the Lewis faction to be the legal tribal council, despite the BIA’s ruling that it is. The McDonald faction is appeal the BIA ruling. If the BIA appeals board upholds the lower board, Ishii said he might reconsider the case.
The McDonald group has run the casino and resort for more than a year. The Lewis group claims that it illegally transferred $316,017 from the casino to the tribe’s gaming commission, instead of the casino’s bank account. The McDonald faction counters that the money was deposited in a tribal bank account.
Lewis reacted to the decision by calling on the appeals board to act quickly to confirm his group as the constituted authority of the tribe. “The tensions are extreme and warrant placing the BIA’s Decision into immediate effect to avoid very real and devastating consequences,” he said.
