State authorities have shut down electronic gambling machines in 99.9 percent of the state. Now the attorney general is targeting that other little bit—the Poarch Band of Creek Indians’ facilities.
Attorney General Luther Strange has asked the National Indian Gaming Commission for help to prohibit the electronic bingo there, as well. In his letter to the commission, shared with the Birmingham News, he contends that since gambling machines are illegal across the state, they’re illegal on Indian land.
Former Gov. Bob Riley and a team of agents formerly led the crusade to shut down electronic bingo that they said looked like, sounded like and played like illegal slot machines. Major targets included Milton McGregor’s VictoryLand and Ronnie Gilley’s Country Crossings. Many of the owners ended up in a federal corruption trial that convicted no one.
But none of those facilities have been allowed to reopen. The only places where the bells continue to ring, the lights to flash and the whistles to tweet are the three gambling facilities operated by Alabama’s only recognized Indian tribe—the Poarch Creeks.
By Nedra Bloom
