Mohegan Sun: casino gambling debt case finale

Plum CEO ponies up
Vows to pay $1.2M debt after Post prodding
by Keith J. Kelly

It looks like this time, the Native Americans will emerge victorious.

Jerry Powers, the co-chairman and CEO of Plum TV and it nascent publishing operation, has been accused by the Mohegan Sun casino of welshing on a $1.2 million gambling debt that he racked up in a marathon blackjack session back in May 2009.

Shortly after Media Ink got on his trail -- not to mention a tense meeting with the eight-person Plum Media board last weekend -- Powers decided to pay up, ending an 18-month legal battle in which a Connecticut judge had cleared the way for Mohegan Sun to attach some of Powers' assets.


At first, the millionaire Plum executive sought to appeal, but is now reversing himself and is ready to fork over the wampum.

"Jerry is currently in settlement discussions with Mohegan Sun to drop his appeal and pay his gambling obligations in full," a spokesman for Plum TV told Media Ink.

Court papers claim that Powers stopped payment on a $465,000 check and other checks were returned because they were written against accounts that had been closed. In court proceedings, Powers did not claim it was an error or mixup but rather that the Mohegan Sun had no right to sue him in Connecticut state court because it is a sovereign Indian nation.

He also claimed that the Mohegan Sun, in granting him a virtually unlimited line of credit, had engaged in an illegal gambling contract.

Connecticut Judge Robert Leuba rejected both arguments and gave the Mohegan Sun the right to attach his assets to reclaim the debt.


Also:

Mohegan Wins Fight Over $1.2M Debt: Report
By JENNIFER SPOSATO

They say the house always wins.

Now, it looks like Mohegan Sun Casino has won its battle with a cable TV executive over a reported $1.2 million gambling debt.