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McCollum Asks Feds To Prosecute Tribe Over Gaming

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By CATHERINE DOLINSKI

cdolinski@tampatrib.com

Published: December 18, 2008

Updated: 12/18/2008 08:59 pm

TALLAHASSEE - Attacks came from all sides against Seminole gaming today, starting with a call from the state Attorney General for federal prosecution of the tribe for operating card games prohibited in Florida.

Attorney General Bill McCollum wrote to U.S. Attorney Brian Albritton in Tampa asking him to prosecute the tribe over its blackjack operations.

The tribe is offering banked card games per the terms of a compact it negotiated with Gov. Charlie Crist, whom the Florida Supreme Court ruled last summer had exceeded his authority in the matter by not involving lawmakers.

Seminoles lawyer Barry Richard said McCollum is off-base. ""I'm surprised he would even suggest criminal prosecution. This is a regulatory matter."

The Seminoles are respecting the terms of the compact they signed and giving the state its share of the profits – so far, about $71 million, he said. Discontinuing the games would throw thousands of employees out of work, he said.

But state Rep. Bill Galvano, co-chairman of a new House committee reviewing the gaming issue, backed McCollum's call for federal action and urged Florida's congressional delegation to do the same.

Galvano, R-Bradenton, spoke Thursday after the brief first meeting of his panel, which is preparing for renewed negotiations with the tribe. He called the now-voided compact "unlawful."

The issue is a sticky one in terms of jurisdiction because federal law governs tribal gaming. While the state's high court found the compact to be void, federal authorities have not stopped the games.

Meanwhile, pari-mutuels continue pressing for equal gaming rights. One pari-mutuel, Gulfstream Park Racing and Casino of Hallandale, asked the state Supreme Court today to issue a new order declaring that the card games are illegal.

Reporter Catherine Dolinski can be reached at (850) 222-8382.

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