Gaming briefs for July 8, 2004

Thursday, July 8, 2004 | 10:58 a.m.

Firm applauds court decision

An appeals court decision in New York Wednesday, upholding the constitutionality of expanded tribal casinos, marks a "major step forward" for Caesars Entertainment Inc., a Caesars official said.

The Appellate Division of the New York Supreme Court, in a unanimous decision, said the 2001 legislation authorizing six new tribal casinos in the state -- including three in the Catskill Mountains -- is consistent with the state constitution as well as state and federal law.

Caesars expects to begin developing the Mohawk Mountain Casino Resort in the Catskills for the Saint Regis Mohawk tribe.

"We could not be more pleased with the court's ruling," Caesars Executive Vice President and General Counsel Bernard E. DeLury Jr. said Wednesday.

State charges dismissed in casino dispute

KANSAS CITY, Kan. -- A judge on Wednesday threw out two gambling-related charges filed against the general manager of a closed Indian casino in downtown Kansas City, Kan.

Ellis Enyart, 52, of Wyandotte, Okla., was charged with felony commercial gambling and a misdemeanor charge of possession of a gambling device after the state raided and closed the Wyandotte Nation of Oklahoma's 7th Street Casino on April 2.

Wednesday's ruling has no direct impact on whether the casino will reopen.

In his ruling after a court hearing, Wyandotte County District Court Judge Robert L. Serra agreed with Enyart's attorney that federal law supersedes state law regulating Indian gaming.

After years of trying to build a casino somewhere else in Wyandotte County, the Wyandotte Tribe opened the casino Aug. 28, 2003, in several mobile homes parked next to a Masonic temple adjacent to the tribe's cemetery. Kansas Attorney General Phill Kline sued the National Indian Gaming Commission and the U.S. Department of the Interior last fall after the Wyandotte Tribe of Oklahoma opened the casino. In March, the National Indian Gaming Commission ruled the casino was operating illegally and gave the tribe a week to respond. After that week passed, state and local officials stepped in and closed the casino.