A non-Indian man whose companies are at the center of a federal investigation into the Mississippi Band of Choctaw
Indians was paid well by the tribe's casino, The Jackson Clarion-Ledger reports.
Doug Pattison was hired as CEO of the Silver Star Casino in December 1999. His salary was $400,000 a year for five years, plus a $40,000 relocation fee and other benefits, including a car.
The tribe fired Pattison two years later and gave him $1 million in severance. He reportedly told tribal officials at the time that he was going to "bleed the casinos dry" if he ever returned to the reservation.
After Beasley Denson won election as chief in 2007, he re-hired Pattison, this time as a consultant. Mercury Gaming and its marketing arm, the Titan Agency, received $60,000 a month at first but then got more than $200,000 a month starting in February.
When the FBI raided the Pearl River Resort, the search warrant mentioned Mercury and Titan.
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