First Light Resort and Casino - 61R Stevens Street, Taunton, MA 02718 - Rated 2.3 based on 1 Review 'Fix the fucking roads!' Jul 16, 2020 Mashpee Wampanoag tribe of Massachusetts has financial records subpoenaed by federal grand jury for reasons unknown, but there's hope for Taunton casino. The World's Online Gaming Authority.
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Taunton, MA 02718 THIS CASINO PROJECT WAS ENDED BY FED GOVERNMENT! In March 2020 the U.S. Interior Dept has removed the tribe's reservation status which effectively ended this casino project. Site of proposed casino project in Taunton (WBZ-TV) In February 2012, the tribe and city of Taunton first announced an interest in developing a casino along Route 24.
Last week, the U.S. Department of the Interior made the decision that the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe doesn't meet the requirements that would allow the tribe to use the land to build a casino in Taunton. This week, confusion, disappointment and legal battles ensue as the tribe and many regional politicians fight for building a casino.
The Casino Plans
In 2015, the Department of the Interior held land in trust for the tribe in Mashpee and Taunton, Massachusetts. In 2016, the tribe announced they had plans to build on 151 acres of land in Taunton, for the First Light Resort and Casino. While there was some protest by residents, the tribe was determined, and had the support of Taunton Mayor Thomas Hoye. On Monday, Hoye spoke with journalists and said,
'It's great for the city. We're talking over $8 million a year in cash to the city. Twenty-something police officers per year. Twenty-something firefighters per year.'
Reversed Decision
On September 7th, the Interior Department reversed the 2015 decision and said that since the land wasn't under federal jurisdiction when the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934 was passed, the tribe doesn't qualify for holding land in trust. Without having that land in trust, the tribe cannot build the casino because the tribe doesn't meet the federal definition of 'Indian.'
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In a letter to the tribe, the assistant secretary for the bureau of Indian Affairs, Tara Sweeney, said that the tribe doesn't meet the federal requirements that would allow it to have a sovereign reservation. Tribes have to have reservation status to open a casino.
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Tribal Council Chairman Cedric Cromwell said that the decision was unfair and with Hoye, hopes that Congress will provide a solution. Legislation entitled the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe Reservation Reaffirmation Act has been introduced that will allow the tribe to go ahead with its plans. The Massachusetts delegation supports the bill but Rhode Island Senators Sheldon Whitehouse and Jack Reed don't. The bill, introduced to the House by U.S. Rep. William Keeting (D-Mass) in March, and in the Senate by U.S. Senator Edward Market (D-Mass), with U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass) as co-sponsor.
Mayor Hoye said he hopes that all of this will be resolved by the end of 2018 and is still behind the tribe's project; however, if those plans don't succeed, he's not against bringing in a commercial partner to build a casino.
Brockton
Brockton, a town 19 miles from Taunton, wants to build a casino. Mayor Bill Carpenter wants to try again to get permission to build a casino. The state application for a $677 million casino was rejected by the Massachusetts Gaming Commission in 2016 because of worries of over-saturating the local gambling market if the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe built its own casino.
Carpenter thinks it would be unfair for Congress to go around the July 2016 court decision to deny the Mashpee Wampanoag's tribal casino.
'I just can't agree with this notion that a federal judge makes a final decision, and the Department of Justice has abandoned their appeal, and after that Congress considers overriding all of that. I think it's a separation of powers issue.'
Taunton Mayor Hoye said if Congress passes the bill, it would benefit everyone, not just Taunton and the tribe:
'The Mashpee Wampanoag have put forth a first-rate proposal that would be tremendously beneficial to everyone looking for a job or economic development in southeastern Massachusetts. This includes not only the people of Taunton, but everyone in the region, including our friends in Brockton. …I applaud the Massachusetts congressional delegation for saying enough is enough, and I thank them for filing legislation to clear this up once and for all. I call on everyone in Massachusetts to support this legislation as well.'
Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus.© John Tlumacki Cedric Cromwell, chairman of the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe, in his office in 2019.The Mashpee Wampanoag tribe and its beleaguered Taunton casino were dealt another blow on Friday when tribe Chairman Cedric Cromwell and David DeQuattro, a R.I. architect with nearly $5 million in contracts connected to the tribe, were arrested by FBI agents on bribery and other charges.
Cromwell, 55, of Attleboro, and DeQuattro, 54, of Warwick, R.I., each face two counts of accepting or paying bribes as an agent or to an agent of an Indian tribal government and one count of conspiring to commit bribery, according to US Attorney Andrew Lelling's office and court records. Cromwell was also indicted on five extortion-related charges, according to Lelling's office and federal court records.
Both pleaded not guilty to bribery charges during a videoconference Friday, the Associated Press reported. Cromwell also pleaded not guilty to extortion charges. A Boston federal court judge released them on $25,000 in unsecured bond until their next court date in December.
Prosecutors allege that through his role as a member of the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe's Gaming Authority, Cromwell contracted with DeQuattro's architecture and design company, RGB Architects or Robinson Green Beretta Corp., in connection with the tribe's plans to build a $1 billion casino on reservation land in Taunton.
Friday's arrests are an uncomfortable echo of the tribe's past troubles. A decade ago, the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe was landless, its leadership struggling with corruption scandals and debt. The legalization of casino gambling in Massachusetts in 2011 offered the tribe the opportunity for a place in the lucrative gaming industry, as well as a way to claim ancestral land.
The First Light Resort and Casino project was approved in 2016, and the tribe — along with Genting Group, a major Malaysia-based casino developer — quickly broke ground, in spite of a lawsuit filed by Taunton residents.
Less than a year later, a federal judge ruled that the tribe's sovereign reservation was invalid, and construction ground to a halt. Since then, the tribe has been battling for recognition in and out of court. By 2019, the tribe's 321 acres of reservation land in Mashpee and Taunton were at risk, half the tribal workforce had been laid off, and the casino project — the tribe's hope for financial stability and national recognition — had generated millions of dollars of debt.
Taunton Casino Status Search
In March, the tribe was told it would lose its reservation status.
'We will not rest until we are treated equally with other federally recognized tribes and the status of our reservation is confirmed,' Cromwell wrote on the tribe's website at the time.
'It's great for the city. We're talking over $8 million a year in cash to the city. Twenty-something police officers per year. Twenty-something firefighters per year.'
Reversed Decision
On September 7th, the Interior Department reversed the 2015 decision and said that since the land wasn't under federal jurisdiction when the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934 was passed, the tribe doesn't qualify for holding land in trust. Without having that land in trust, the tribe cannot build the casino because the tribe doesn't meet the federal definition of 'Indian.'
Taunton Casino Status Online
In a letter to the tribe, the assistant secretary for the bureau of Indian Affairs, Tara Sweeney, said that the tribe doesn't meet the federal requirements that would allow it to have a sovereign reservation. Tribes have to have reservation status to open a casino.
Options
Taunton Casino Update
Tribal Council Chairman Cedric Cromwell said that the decision was unfair and with Hoye, hopes that Congress will provide a solution. Legislation entitled the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe Reservation Reaffirmation Act has been introduced that will allow the tribe to go ahead with its plans. The Massachusetts delegation supports the bill but Rhode Island Senators Sheldon Whitehouse and Jack Reed don't. The bill, introduced to the House by U.S. Rep. William Keeting (D-Mass) in March, and in the Senate by U.S. Senator Edward Market (D-Mass), with U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass) as co-sponsor.
Mayor Hoye said he hopes that all of this will be resolved by the end of 2018 and is still behind the tribe's project; however, if those plans don't succeed, he's not against bringing in a commercial partner to build a casino.
Brockton
Brockton, a town 19 miles from Taunton, wants to build a casino. Mayor Bill Carpenter wants to try again to get permission to build a casino. The state application for a $677 million casino was rejected by the Massachusetts Gaming Commission in 2016 because of worries of over-saturating the local gambling market if the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe built its own casino.
Carpenter thinks it would be unfair for Congress to go around the July 2016 court decision to deny the Mashpee Wampanoag's tribal casino.
'I just can't agree with this notion that a federal judge makes a final decision, and the Department of Justice has abandoned their appeal, and after that Congress considers overriding all of that. I think it's a separation of powers issue.'
Taunton Mayor Hoye said if Congress passes the bill, it would benefit everyone, not just Taunton and the tribe:
'The Mashpee Wampanoag have put forth a first-rate proposal that would be tremendously beneficial to everyone looking for a job or economic development in southeastern Massachusetts. This includes not only the people of Taunton, but everyone in the region, including our friends in Brockton. …I applaud the Massachusetts congressional delegation for saying enough is enough, and I thank them for filing legislation to clear this up once and for all. I call on everyone in Massachusetts to support this legislation as well.'
Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus.© John Tlumacki Cedric Cromwell, chairman of the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe, in his office in 2019.The Mashpee Wampanoag tribe and its beleaguered Taunton casino were dealt another blow on Friday when tribe Chairman Cedric Cromwell and David DeQuattro, a R.I. architect with nearly $5 million in contracts connected to the tribe, were arrested by FBI agents on bribery and other charges.
Cromwell, 55, of Attleboro, and DeQuattro, 54, of Warwick, R.I., each face two counts of accepting or paying bribes as an agent or to an agent of an Indian tribal government and one count of conspiring to commit bribery, according to US Attorney Andrew Lelling's office and court records. Cromwell was also indicted on five extortion-related charges, according to Lelling's office and federal court records.
Both pleaded not guilty to bribery charges during a videoconference Friday, the Associated Press reported. Cromwell also pleaded not guilty to extortion charges. A Boston federal court judge released them on $25,000 in unsecured bond until their next court date in December.
Prosecutors allege that through his role as a member of the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe's Gaming Authority, Cromwell contracted with DeQuattro's architecture and design company, RGB Architects or Robinson Green Beretta Corp., in connection with the tribe's plans to build a $1 billion casino on reservation land in Taunton.
Friday's arrests are an uncomfortable echo of the tribe's past troubles. A decade ago, the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe was landless, its leadership struggling with corruption scandals and debt. The legalization of casino gambling in Massachusetts in 2011 offered the tribe the opportunity for a place in the lucrative gaming industry, as well as a way to claim ancestral land.
The First Light Resort and Casino project was approved in 2016, and the tribe — along with Genting Group, a major Malaysia-based casino developer — quickly broke ground, in spite of a lawsuit filed by Taunton residents.
Less than a year later, a federal judge ruled that the tribe's sovereign reservation was invalid, and construction ground to a halt. Since then, the tribe has been battling for recognition in and out of court. By 2019, the tribe's 321 acres of reservation land in Mashpee and Taunton were at risk, half the tribal workforce had been laid off, and the casino project — the tribe's hope for financial stability and national recognition — had generated millions of dollars of debt.
Taunton Casino Status Search
In March, the tribe was told it would lose its reservation status.
'We will not rest until we are treated equally with other federally recognized tribes and the status of our reservation is confirmed,' Cromwell wrote on the tribe's website at the time.
In a statement Friday, Lelling denounced Cromwell, saying he had abused his leadership position instead of fighting for his tribe's sovereignty.
'The charges allege that Mr. Cromwell violated the trust he owed the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe by committing extortion, accepting bribes, and otherwise abusing his position,' Lelling said in a statement. 'Many American Indians face a host of difficult financial and social issues. They require — and deserve — real leadership. But it appears that Cromwell's priority was not to serve his people, but to line his own pockets.'
According to the indictment, Cromwell first demanded a $10,000 cash payment in July 2014, which DeQuattro allegedly paid to a company controlled by a friend of Cromwell's. Cromwell then put the money into an account he shared with his wife and spent some on personal expenses and shifted some amounts to a shell corporation he created called One Nation Development, authorities allege.
DeQuattro, an architect and shareholder of RGB Architects, was reimbursed by the president of his company, who recorded it as payroll expenses on the company's books, authorities allege. The name of the president was not disclosed in the 23-page indictment made public Friday.
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Ultimately, DeQuattro allegedly paid $44,000 to the Cromwell-controlled companies, authorities allege. 'Cromwell spent all of the money on personal expenses, including payments to his mistress,' Lelling said in a statement.
According to the indictment, Cromwell asked for — and received — non-cash payments from DeQuattro, including an exercise machine in August 2016. The RGB president bought a used Bowflex Revolution machine for $1,700 and had it delivered to Cromwell's home on Aug. 5.
That same day, the Wampanoag Gaming Authority — with Cromwell's signature on the check — paid the R.I. company $122,772 based on submitted invoices, according to the indictment.
On May 15, 2017, Cromwell requested from DeQuattro a free birthday weekend with a 'special guest' at an expensive Boston hotel. DeQuattro's employer allegedly complied. Authorities said that shortly after Cromwell received the alleged bribe from DeQuattro, the company in turn received a check worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.
According to the Associated Press, the Mashpee tribe said in a statement it is 'deeply concerned' about the charges against Cromwell, who has been the prominent face of the approximately 3,000-member tribe since becoming its chairman in 2009. The tribe's council was expected to hold an emergency meeting Friday.
DeQuattro has donated nearly $11,000 to a variety of top elected leaders in Rhode Island over the years, according to state Board of Elections records.
RGB Architects has been involved in several major public building projects, including a $13 million renovation of the attorney general's office building on South Main Street in Providence, North Providence's new $28 million public safety complex, the Warwick Intermodal Connector at T.F. Green Airport, and plans for a new high school in South Kingstown.
No content was publicly accessible on the RGB Architects website on Thursday afternoon. A message said the site was 'undergoing scheduled maintenance.'
