Chippewa win $18 million

Tribe wins $18 million judgment against casino firm

After a 14-year legal battle, an Indian tribal court in Minnesota has awarded an $18 million judgment to a Chippewa tribe against its former casino management firm, Gaming World International of New Castle and owner Angelo Medure, over the development of the troubled Shooting Star Casino in Mahnomen, Minn.

The tribal court said Mr. Medure, owner of Medure Development in Lawrence County, conspired with Darrell Wadena, former chairman of the White Earth Band of Chippewa, to steal $10 million in profits from the tribe.

Mr. Wadena and two other tribal leaders were convicted in federal court in the 1990s on corruption charges related to the scheme.

The White Earth band sued Mr. Medure and Gaming World to get its money back. The case started in White Earth Tribal Court, was removed to federal court at Mr. Medure's request and then sent back to tribal court by the Eighth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

The tribal court ruled last month that Gaming World, which was contracted to manage and operate the casino, had no employees there at any time yet was paid about $10 million in profits.

In addition to the federal investigation, the Shooting Star Casino had been at the heart of several lawsuits that focused on allegations that Mr. Medure was associated with the Pittsburgh mafia. Mr. Medure sued U.S. News & World Report over a 1993 story called "Gambling with the Mob?" that examined La Cosa Nostra infiltration of Indian casinos across the country. He later sued the Youngstown Vindicator in federal court in Pittsburgh after he said the paper defamed him during its coverage of the U.S. News trial.

A federal judge here threw out that case in 2002, saying that Mr. Medure is a public figure and that the paper did not act with malice.