The Chukchansi Gold Resort & Casino in Coarsegold, California. Photo from Facebook
A federal judge declined to enter a contempt order against a faction of the Picayune Rancheria of the Chukchansi Indians over the handling of the California tribe's gaming revenues. Judge Lawrence J. O’Neill ordered the tribe to distribute per capita payments from the Chukchansi Gold Resort & Casino. A faction led by Reggie Lewis and Nancy Ayala, however, withheld checks from a certain group of people and has placed them in escrow pending resolution of their enrollment status. "The approach taken by the Lewis/Ayala faction is a reasonable one that preserves funds for all those listed on the 2010 membership list, while at the same time protects against the chance of improperly allocating per capita payments to individuals who may later be deemed in another forum ineligible for such payments," O'Neill said in an order on Tuesday. O'Neill, however, said the Lewis/Ayala faction violated one of his orders when they paid members to attend a meeting last month in which they said their legitimacy was affirmed. Nearly $1 million was spent but the judge said the "misuse of funds by a tribal faction is beyond the jurisdiction of this court." The Bureau of Indian Affairs has recognized the Lewis/Ayala faction as the legitimate leaders of the tribe. The Interior Board of Indian Appeals upheld that determination in a decision on Monday. Lewis and Ayala are the co-chairs of the so-called unification council. They say they will work to reopen the casino, which shuttered last October as part of a dispute with another faction. Turtle Talk has posted documents from the federal court case, California v. Picayune Rancheria. Get the Story:
Failing to pay Chukchansi stipends was bad faith but did not violate order, federal judge says (The Fresno Bee 2/11)
No Contempt Order in Tribal Civil War (Courthouse News Service 2/11)
IBIA recognizes 2010 tribal council (The Sierra Star 2/11)
Government declares 'interim' leaders of Chukchansi tribe (KFSN 2/10)
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