Federal prosecutors suing tribe to stop electronic game at facility

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- Federal prosecutors have sued the Absentee Shawnee Tribe in an effort to stop a Cleveland County facility from using electronic games similar to slot machines.

U.S. Attorney Dan Webber filed the civil lawsuit on Friday, seeking enforcement of a previous National Indian Gaming Commission order directing the tribe to stop offering electronic games of chance at Thunderbird Entertainment Center.

The National Indian Gaming Commission defines the machines in question as Class III devices and illegal in Oklahoma without an agreement with the state. The tribe contends the machines involve a level of skill by the player and are not games of chance.

The games look like slot machines, but the players determine when each reel stops spinning by pushing a button.

"It's something that requires more skills than slot machines would," said Gary Pitchlynn, attorney for the tribe.

Last January, the National Indian Gaming Commission ordered the tribe to stop using the machines. The tribe then filed a federal lawsuit and sought a temporary restraining order against the commission.

U.S. District Judge Wayne Alley denied the temporary restraining order and would not resolve the dispute until the tribe first exhausted its administrative remedies. The tribe's appeal to the National Indian Gaming Commission is pending.

The tribe removed the machines after the judge declined to issue a temporary restraining order and replaced them with others thought to be permissible, Pitchlynn said.

In May, the National Indian Gaming Commission ruled the new machines also were illegal and ordered the tribe to remove them.

The Absentee Shawnee Tribe has continued to operate the illegal games for the past year, Webber said in the lawsuit. Even though the commission's decision is being appealed to the National Indian Gaming Commission, its cease and desist orders are still valid, Webber said.

"We feel like we have been more than generous for letting it go on for more than a year," he said.

James Lee Edwards, governor of the Absentee Shawnee Tribe, said closing Thunderbird Entertainment Center would be devastating to the tribe. Revenue from the center makes up 80 percent of the tribe's general fund.

Edwards criticized the federal government for attempting to close the center while the tribe is negotiating with the state on the games in question.

"I feel that the National Indian Gaming Commission is not acting in good faith by ignoring the request of the Oklahoma attorney general's office and the Absentee Shawnee Tribe," he said.

Neal Leader, assistant state attorney general, wrote a letter in November to National Indian Gaming Commission Chairman Monti R.

Deer requesting that no action be taken against the Absentee Shawnee Tribe until negotiations reached a settlement.

Leader told Deer the state is trying to reach an agreement with the tribe for operation of "some skill machines."

"If our negotiations are successful, a new era will begin in Oklahoma in which tribes will be able to operate some skill games," Leader wrote.