Land claim judge’s son wins at Indian casino

Tuesday, Aug. 23, 2005 | 10:46 a.m.

SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- The son of a federal judge who presided over nearly two decades of land claims involving the Oneida Indian Nation hit a $45,000 jackpot playing slots at the tribe's casino.

Neal McCurn Jr. won the money at the Oneidas' Turning Stone Casino in Verona and revealed his fortunes to his father, U.S. District Judge Neal McCurn, two weeks ago at a family gathering at a camp in the Adirondacks.

That night at Turning Stone, McCurn Jr. thought how odd it might seem to anyone who's followed the legal battle over the Oneidas' land claim.

"It occurred to me as I was standing there and they asked me for two forms of identification," said the 42-year-old McCurn Jr. of Syracuse.

It was the first time he'd ever hit the jackpot at the casino, where he plays the slots every couple of months.

"I almost fell out of the chair," McCurn Sr. said.

The 79-year-old judge, who handled the Oneida case from 1983 to 2001, said he's never gone to the casino himself, and won't while the land claim is pending, even though it's before a new judge.