Indian Gaming > Opinion: Indian gaming launched by mobsters

January 10, 2006

Opinion: Indian gaming launched by mobsters

"While working on our savings and loans book "Inside Job" in 1986, my co-author, Mary Fricker, and I followed one of our S&L crooks to a small Indian reservation outside Palm Springs. It was the home of the Cabazons, the very tribe that took their case for gambling rights to the U.S. Supreme Court and won -- sparking the Indian gaming revolution.

What we found there was unnerving, to say the least. Sure, there were Indians -- about 25 of them -- but they weren't in charge. Instead, a group of Los Angeles-based mafioso were running the operations, people with names like Rocco. The gaming operations were run by a non-Indian "management" company. They would front the money to build, maintain and operate the various gaming operations, with the promise that the tribe would get a share of the "profits" as calculated by Rocco and friends.

This is how Indian gaming began. After being chased out of Las Vegas and New Jersey by state and federal heat, the mob discovered Indian reservations. It was like a gift from the Mob Gods. One mobster testifying before Congress was asked how the mob viewed Indian reservations. He replied, "As our new Cuba.""

Get the Story:
Stephen Pizzo: Indian Gaming: More Corrupt Than Ever (AlterNet 1/10)