The Ojibwe News (Bemidji, Minnesota), 1991-06-19

              Is mob making a move on area casinos?
Head of video-slot firm
indicted for racketeering Band's financial backing is questioned
By Susan Stanich
A 1990 law-enforcement sweep of
dozens of members and associates of
the Bruno/Scarfo and Lucchese
crime families of La Cosa Nostra
included a New Jersey businessman,
Carmen Ricci.
Tapes and testimony given to the
New Jersey attorney general say that
Ricci's video gambling machine
firm. Greyhound Electronics of
Toms River, was under the
protection of the Bruno/Scarfo
family in exchange for a weekly
payment, or "tribute," from video
machine profits. The protection both
guaranteed the firm's illegal
activities and helped expand them,
testimony indicates.
Ricci has been charged with
racketeering, conspiracy and
promoting gambling. His trial is set
for Oct. 13.
Tape recordings from early 1990
show that Carmen Ricci met with
crime family acting boss Nicodemo
Scarfo Jr. about promoting and
distributing Greyhound machines in
Nevada and Massachusetts, the
attorney general's office said. With
Scarfo's help, Ricci supplied the
Gambino crime family in New York
with his machines and got a cut of
those profits as well.
From its original base of
operations in Philadelphia and New
Jersey, Greyhound/with Scarfo's
help, has expanded into Michigan,
Florida, California, and Minnesota.
In 1987, Ricci sold 30 video poker
machines to the White Earth
Reservation in northwestern
Minnesota, said former White Earth
tribal planners who asked not to be
identified. Some of the machines
were distributed through Lieberman
Music Co. in Bloomington, Minn.,
one of the planners and a former
White Earth employee said.
Under law, in non-gambling states
where Indian tribes have gambling
agreements with state governments,
on-reservation machines are allowed
to pay out money. They can be used
only as amusement devices
off-reservation, though.
In California, a non-gambling
state, 80 of Greyhound's machines
were placed in grocery stores, pool
halls and beauty shops in Orange
and Los Angeles counties. The
machines took in $3.5 million over a
2 1/2-month period, said Detective
Robert Gill of the Westminster,
Calif., Police Department. The 80
machines illegally paid customers an
estimated $750,000; the remaining
$2.6 million was split fifty-fifty
between the shop owners and "the
crooks" back east, Gill said.
Gill helped lead the California
investigation that resulted in seven
arrests last year — three of them
Ricci/ see page 11
By Susan Stanich
Two brothers believed to be
associated with the Bruno/Scarfo
crime family of La Cosa Nostra
attempted three years ago to build a
gambling casino on the White Earth
Chippewa Reservation in
northwestern Minnesota, and the
tribe is not releasing details about
funding for a $10 million casino
now under construction.
In addition, an associate of the
brothers is part-owner of a business
that serves casinos on three other
northern Minnesota reservations.
La Cosa Nostra is the name for the
mob in North America.
Carmen Ricci of Toms River, N.J.,
who is under indictment for
conspiracy and racketeering, is chief
executive officer, chairman of the
board, chief financial officer, and a
major stock holder in Greyhound
Electronics. Greyhound produces
video gaming machines. Another
Ricci firm, B & C Enterprises,
maintains them.
Carmen Ricci's brother, Thomas
Ricci, is president and director of
Greyhound. He is not under
indictment.
Both businesses are in Toms
River, and New Jersey investigators
charge they're controlled by the
Bruno/Scarfo family of La Cosa
Nostra.
In 1988, the Ricci brothers met
with White Earth Chairman Darrell
"Chip" Wadena and Minnesota
Chippewa Tribe attorney Kent
Tupper in Toms River. Tupper's
attorney said a meeting occurred in
July 1987.
Accompanying the brothers, and
making the introductions, was
Victor Collucci of Providence, R.I.
Collucci is the director of special
product sales at G-Tech, the world's
largest on-line lottery firm.
G-Tech runs the Wisconsin lottery
and more than a dozen other state
lotteries. The firm has a reputation
for shady dealings, according to the
Providence Journal, a newspaper in
Rhode Island. G-Tech's activities
range from influencing state
officials with trips and money to
Casino/ see page 11
"Voice   Q-f the   A.nislnin£xT=>e
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Fifty Cents
Founded in 1988
Volume 3 Issue
1 Copyright, the Ojibwe News, 1991
June 19,1991~]
Bemidji, Minnesota 56601
Fisherman to settle manager dispute
By William J. Lawrence
Red Lake Fisheries Association
members are taking the dispute
over the manager's contract into
their own hands. It appears Red
Lake Fishermen have lost all
confidence in three of their board
of directors, Phillip Johns, Rudy
Johnson, and Ron Beaulieu.
The latest saga at the Fisheries
involves fishermen making a final
attempt to solve the leadership
crisis and management instability.
A large majority of the fishermen
have demanded the removal of the
three board members, an
investigation, and the rehiring of
Dan King as manager if he is still
interested in returning. The
removal of the three board
members stems from the failure of
the .board to rehire Dan King as
manager after a record shattering
1990 season.
Fishermen have organized and
written a petition demanding that
the President of the Fisheries
Board, Delwyn Holthusen, call a
special meeting to discuss the
removal of board members and
rehiring of Dan King. According
to President Holthusen, over 140
of the total 367 voting members
have signed this petition.
According to the Fisheries
by-laws, only 37 signatures, or 10
percent of the 367 fishermen, were
needed to call this meeting.
The number of signatures is
extremely impressive since this is
approximately the same number of
all fishermen who voted at the
annual meeting last March.
President Holthusen stated that all
rules were followed in setting up
this meeting and that all board
members were informed and are
obligated and required to attend.
The petition demands two things.
First, that Phillip Johns, Rudy
Johnson, and Ron Beaulieu be
removed from the board for
violations of their powers as
representatives of the fishermen.
Secondly, that the board of
directors rehire Dan King as
manager with the same contract as
last year.
The special meeting is set for
Saturday, June 22, 1991, at 1 pm.
at the Fisheries plant in Redby.
Dispute/ see page 2
A Bi-Monthly Publication
White Earth was host to 123rd Annual Pow wow
Red Lake Food Stamp
Program to begin July 1st
July 1, 1991, marks the day on
which eligible Red Lakers may
choose to receive food stamps
instead of commodity foods.
The Red Lake Tribal Council, by
Resolution No. 237-90, has agreed
to operate a food stamp program in
conjunction with the USDA Food
and Nutrition Program, the State of
Minnesota, and Beltrami and
Clearwater Counties.
The Food Stamp program is one of
many social services provided for
low income people throughout the
entire United States. It is a federal
food assistance program established
by Congress	
"To safeguard the health and well-
being of the nation's population by
raising the levels of nutrition and to
increase the food purchasing power
for all low income people."
As a program established to
alleviate hunger and malnutrition,
everyone who meets low income
specifications qualifies for
participation in the Food Stamp
program. Food stamp allotments are
provided in addition to and/or
separate from their low monthly
income.
Low income people are those on
public assistance programs such as
Aid to Families with Dependant
Children (AFDC), General
Assistance (GA), Social Security
(SS), Supplemental Security Income
(SSI), Veterans' Assistance (VA),
Pension and Retirement Income,
Unemployment or Workers*
Compensation.
Those receiving child support or
alimony, people who are employed,
farmers and other self-employed
workers are also eligible for food
stamp benefits if they meet food
"OOCl/ see page 2
Red Lake Band denied claim
to land on the Rainy River
By Susan Hamre
In a recent U.S. District Court
ruling, the Red Lake Band of
Chippewa Indians were denied
claim to 59.25 acres of land
bordering the Rainy River in
northern Minnesota.
The case originated in August,
1989, when the Band filed suit
against the city of Baudette,
Minnesota, claiming right, title or
interest to the land, specifically,
Government Lots 3 and 4.
Subsequent amendments to the
complaint listed the state of
Minnesota, Minnesota Independent
School District #386, the Minnkota
Power Co., the Minnesota and
Manitoba Railroad and several other
corporations as defendants in the
case.
The Band, in filing the suit,
seeks compensation in the form of
a rental fee for the defendants' use
of the land dating back to the time
the land was occupied without
legal tide, which in some instances
dates back several decades.
The decision, handed down by
U.S. District Judge Harry H.
MacLaughlin and filed June 3,
states, "Whatever rights the
plaintiff retained in the lands at
issue in this lawsuit were entirely
extinguished by Congress by the
Act of April 13, 1938," (Flowage
Easement Act).
But, attorney for the Band,
Marvin J. Sonosky, said the court
is mistaken about the 1938 act and
has asked the court to reconsider
the case. Sonosky is an attorney
with the law firm of Chambers,
Sonosky & Sachse of
Washington, D.C. who were
associated with the firm of
Edwards, Edwards & Bodin of
Duluth, Minn., who are the Red
Lake Tribal Attorneys, to handle
the Baudette case.
"We've filed a motion for a new
trial on the grounds that we believe
the court made a mistake of law in
the court's construction of the
1938 Act," he said.
Claim/ see page 2
June 14 through June 16 was the
123rd annual celebration by the
Chippewa people of the arrival of the
Minnesota Chippewa to the White
Earth Reservation.
200 Minnesota Chippewa, led by
Chief Nay-bon-ash-kung (Turtle) left
homes at Gull Lake (near Brainerd)
because of dangerous wars with the
Dakota, and also because white settlers
were swallowing up much of the land.
After much hardship and blood shed
during their journey across Minnesota,
the group arrived at White Earth on
June 14,1868.
Prior to their arrival, the land at White
Earth was inhabited by the Dakota. As
the non- Indians crowded the Indians
west, the Chippewa moved the Dakota
west There have been Dakota burials
found near Elbow Lake.
Chippewa newcomers at White Earth
tended to settle in family groups with
members of their same band. Many of
the Leech Lake Chippewa settled in the
Pine Point area, while many of the
Mille Lacs Chippewa went to the Twin
Lakes and Wild Rice River areas.
Once traditional enemies, the Dakota
and Chippewa eventually became
friends, and die White Earth Pow Wow
was known as the time of year when the
Dakota would come for their annual visit
back to White Earth. In 1903, the
reservation's newspaper, The
Tormha unreported some of the events:
"Grand Aboriginal Parade by Indian
warriors in their costumes and gaily
decorated ponies, representing Indians
of the past. Peace meeting between the
Sioux and Chippewa. Parade of the
survivors of the first arrivals on this
reservation in 1868. Parade of the
survivors of the reservation
representing the Indian of today, with
music by the White Earth School Band
and by the White Earth Comet Band."
The annual White Earth Pow Wow is
still revered as an annual visit for
family and friends. Last year, over 400
dancers from around the United States
attended the three-day event, and
hundreds of spectators swarmed the
pow wow grounds on the east side of
White Earth. This year 500 dancers, 20
drum groups, and over a thousand
spectators were in attendance.
Dancing, singing, culture, color, food,
arts/crafts are all part of the pow wow,
now one of the biggest in the state.
Controversy at Fortune Bay Casino
By Susan Stanich
Bois Forte Reservation, Minn. -
Five-year-old Fortune Bay Casino, a
brightly lit gambling complex
sprawling in a grove of towering
pine trees bordering Lake
Vermilion, is doing a good business.
An average of 300 daily customers
fill its rooms, apparently allowing it
to make a profit of $1.15 million in
1989 and 1990.
Just down the road from Fortune
Bay in the reservation's Vermilion
community, Marvin Knott, a
member of the Bois Forte Chippewa
Band, lives in a sparsely furnished
home in need of repair. His well
pumps contaminated water, forcing
Knott to haul drinking water from a
spring. Between Knott's house and
Fortune Bay, the community's
dumpsters sometimes overflow with
garbage and trash that spills into the
reservation's woods and blows into
ditches.
Like most band members here and
at the reservation's other community
at Nett Lake, Knott doesn't have
much money. In April, after eight
months without work, he landed a
part-time, minimum-wage job
clearing brush for the state —
despite an injured knee that makes
him limp and his age, which is 65.
Advertisements and billboards
don't mention that the money-
making casino is owned by Knott
and other Bois Forte band members.
Its purpose is to raise the standard of
living here, which is one of the most
impoverished communities in
Minnesota.
At gaming establishments on other
Minnesota reservations — Fond du
Lac's Big Bucks in Cloquet, for
example, and the Shakopee Sioux's
lucrative Little Six near Minneapolis
— profits began directly benefiting
the bands within months of opening.
In Wisconsin, a casino belonging to
the Winnebago Tribe has funded a
tribally owned meat processing plant
and the nation's first tribally owned
pharmaceutical company.
But some of Bois Forte's 2,500
members say they have yet to
benefit from their enterprise. Their
casino supports no elderly nutrition
or community programs, as does
Fond du Lac's. It pays no monthly
stipends or college tuition for tribal
Fortune Bay/See page 8