So much for Sovereignty

If you're injured at an Indian Casino, tough luck!

You can't sue, you can't prosecute, you can't collect for you damages.

If an Indian Casino borrows money they can't re-pay, tough luck!

Such as Foxwoods that simply default, although there are others.

They dump drunks on state roads after serving free alcohol to increase feeding the cash sucking machines, putting us all at risk.

But don't owe THEM money --

Mohegan Sun pursuing $1.2 million gambling debt
By Brian Hallenbeck
Publication: The Day

Florida man tries to keep casino from seizing assets

With Mohegan Sun going after a $1.2 million gambling debt in New London Superior Court, the defendant in the case, a Florida cable TV executive, has turned to the state Appellate Court to keep the casino from seizing his assets before the case is decided.

Thor Holth, a New London attorney representing Jerome Powers, a major investor in Plum TV, which describes itself as "a multi-platform lifestyle network," filed the appeal this week. In it, he challenges Judge Trial Referee Robert Leuba's decision to uphold a court order allowing the Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority to attach Powers' assets.

Leuba dismissed Holth's claims that wagering contracts violate state law and that state courts have no jurisdiction over the casino gambling that takes place on Indian reservations, namely those that are home to Mohegan Sun and the Mashantucket Pequots' Foxwoods Resort Casino.

The main part of the case, MTGA's claim against Powers, is expected to proceed separately. An attorney for the authority, Andrew Houlding of Rome McGuigan, declined to comment Friday. Holth was unavailable.

Filed in December 2009, the authority's suit alleges that Powers made out six checks to the authority on May 23, 2009, all of which bounced when the casino deposited them with a bank. According to the suit, the checks were for $300,000; $100,000; $465,000; $74,500; $60,500; and $200,000. In addition, the suit claims that in May 2009, Powers "over-drafted" his Mohegan Sun Player's Club card by more than $55,000, of which he repaid $25,000.

The suit says Powers signed a Casino Credit Agreement that authorized the authority to collect debts in the Mohegan Gaming Disputes Court "and courts of the state of Connecticut."

The crux of the debate, according to a ruling in the case by Superior Court Judge Emmet Cosgrove, "is whether gambling on credit is illegal or contrary to the public policy of the state." Other issues that have been raised include whether state court has jurisdiction and whether state or Mohegan law applies.

Court records identify the 64-year-old Powers as the owner of Ocean Drive magazine, described online as a chronicler of South Florida lifestyles and fashion.

In an affidavit filed in the case, an attorney for the authority, Edward Nobles, refers to a Miami Herald article that describes Powers' "substantial investment in Plum TV" and Powers' being named co-chairman of the network's board of directors. Nobles attested "as to the dissipation of the defendant's funds during the pendency of this action" in arguing for the prejudgment remedy.

Mohegan Sun abandoned a lawsuit last year against another high-rolling gambler who allegedly ran up a $10 million debt at the casino's baccarat tables in 2008.

The gambling authority withdrew its claim against Ausaf Umar Siddiqui of Palo Alto, Calif., as the case was about to go to trial. Siddiqui, the target of a 2009 federal indictment charging him with wire fraud and money laundering, was believed to have few assets.