Judge rules against Pojoaque
Ruling gives state OK to take action against casino vendors
A federal court judge in Albuquerque sided with Gov. Susana Martinez and the state gaming board in ruling that the state can take action against vendors who do business with Pojoaque Pueblo’s gaming operations because the pueblo has no state gambling compact.
“The federal court reaffirmed what we’ve said from day one: Pojoaque Pueblo is operating as an illegal gambling enterprise,” the Governor’s Office said in a statement to the Journal. “Pojoaque Pueblo continues to believe they can break the law and play by a different set of rules than other New Mexico tribes.”
Pojoaque Pueblo Gov. Joseph M. Talachy on Friday said he had no comment on the 200-page decision.
After negotiations on a new compact broke down in 2015, Pojoaque Pueblo attempted to have its gambling compact approved by the U.S. Department of Interior. But the state challenged that attempt in court and was backed in a judge’s ruling, which was appealed by Pojoaque Pueblo and the Interior Department. That lawsuit is pending in the federal appeals court in Denver.
The Feb. 9 opinion and order by U.S. District Judge James Browning in a separate lawsuit denied the pueblo’s request to block New Mexico from taking action against vendors doing business with its gaming interests, including banks, credit card companies, gaming machine vendors, advertisers, bond holders and others.
Pojoaque Pueblo’s gaming interests are Buffalo Thunder Resort & Casino, Cities of Gold Casino, and slot machines at the hotel, sports bar and gas stations.
Judge Browning’s ruling said that Pojoaque Pueblo failed to demonstrate it would be irreparably injured if a stay preventing state action against vendors was not imposed. He called the pueblo’s argument “speculative” and that irreparable injury could not rest on the possibility of future harm.
The judge concluded that the state and the public interest would face greater harm if the state were unable to enforce its gambling laws.
“While (Indian Gaming Regulatory Act) enshrines a public interest in tribes’ ability to generate revenue via gaming operations, it also expressly requires that such operations be conducted in accordance with a state-tribal compact,” he wrote.
What happens next is unclear. Gov. Martinez’s office says the decision recognizes the state’s right to license and regulate nontribal vendors.
The state’s compact with Pojoaque expired June 30, 2015. The pueblo was seeking a new agreement that would have put a halt to tribal revenue-sharing payments to the state, allowed alcohol in gambling areas, and lowered the gambling age from 21 to 18.
Under federal law, Indian tribes must have compacts in place in order to operate casinos. While the U.S. Attorney has jurisdiction to prosecute Pojoaque for running an illegal gambling operation, that office has allowed Pojoaque Pueblo to continue operating under the compact signed in 2001 while the lawsuit was pending “to protect the interests of all residents in the Pojoaque Valley.”
The pueblo had argued that suspending gambling operations would result in “a major economic downturn for the economy of the entire Pojoaque Valley region” due to a loss of revenues, jobs, and a reduction in government services.
Under the old compact, Pojoaque paid the state 8 percent of net winnings, which in previous years amounted to between $4.5 and $6 million per year. In the meantime, that share is being placed in an escrow account.