Mohegan Sun: casino gambling debt case

Miami Beach media mogul embroiled in casino gambling debt case

A court has ruled that Jerry Powers must pay back more than $1 million in credit extended to him at Connecticut’s Mohegan tribal casino, but Powers is appealing.

By James H. Burnett III

Jerry Powers, the Miami Beach-based media mogul who co-founded Ocean Drive magazine and currently runs luxury media network Plum TV, appears to have crapped out in a court battle with a Connecticut casino.

The Mohegan Sun casino has won a civil judgment against Powers for $1.2 million it says Powers was extended in May 2009 as a line of credit so he could gamble there, according to Chuck Bunnell, a casino spokesman.

The ruling granted the Mohegan Sun authority to seize Powers’ assets to satisfy the debt.

Since Powers, 64, has filed to appeal the court ruling, any seizure of assets have been temporarily halted.

Powers could not be reached for comment.

Bunnell declined to comment further, citing the casino’s policy of keeping mum on pending litigation.

During the initial civil trial, the Mohegan Sun’s attorneys accused Powers of cancelling one check he wrote to the casino.

NBCConnecticut.com says Powers took out the gambling marker with the casino so that he could play Blackjack one May evening nearly two years ago.

According to the website, Powers has not disputed that he borrowed the money. Rather, he has argued that he was intoxicated the evening in question and took out the gambling marker under duress. He also argued that Connecticut state courts don’t have the jurisdiction to enforce the deal, since the transaction was made on Native American tribal land.

But New London Superior Court Judge Robert Leuba shot down Powers’ jurisdiction defense and signed off on the seizure of his assets.

Powers is best known as the co-founder and former publisher of Ocean Drive magazine, the Miami Beach-base publication that has featured profiles of the rich and famous. He sold the business in late 2007 for more than $33 million to Niche Media, and stayed with the company for two years as an executive before parting ways.

Last year, he launched Plum TV, a broadcast and Web network that targets the same audience as Ocean Drive, in addition to other hot spots, such as high-end markets, including Aspen, Co., Martha’s Vineyard, and The Hamptons.