Judge: Nebraska tribe can keep gaming machines

Monday, Dec. 10, 2001 | 9:59 a.m.

line ASSOCIATED PRESS

LINCOLN, Neb. -- A federal judge said Friday that the Santee Sioux tribe can keep the 50 or so gaming machines that make up its modest casino in Knox County.

It was not immediately known if federal prosecutors will appeal the ruling by U.S. District Judge Joseph Bataillon.

The tribe has been battling the state of Nebraska over its casino since 1993.

The federal government allows tribes to sign agreements with states to offer gambling on tribal land, but Nebraska has refused to do so.

In June the tribe replaced the casino's slot machines with pull-tab machines that dispense pull-tabs when money is put into them.

The U.S. Attorney's Office argued that the new games are gambling devices that are in the same category as illegal slot machines.

Bataillon agreed with tribal lawyers that the machines are no different from "pickle machines," which operate legally throughout the state. They also believe the switch would end a five-year standoff with the government.

The tribe cited a federal appeals court ruling and a National Indian Gaming Commission appeal that said the "Lucky Tab 2" machines it's now using are legal in Nebraska.

The government argued the difference from other pickle machines in the state's bars and restaurants are the symbols and sounds the machines make when they read bar codes on winning tabs.

Barbara Frederiksen, a Portland, Ore., forensic software analyst, testified that unlike electronic slot machines, the "Lucky Tab 2" machines do not determine a winning play.

Instead, preprinted pull-tabs determine winners, she said.

Tribal officials say the new machines do not hold the same appeal with customers.

Since installing the new machines, the tribe has seen its casino revenues plummet nearly 80 percent.

From May through September, the machines brought in more than $80,000, the tribe says. During the same period one year ago, when the casino had slot machines, revenues topped $360,000.

Bataillon also suspended the tribe's daily $6,000 contempt-of-court fines back to May, when the new machines came online.