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Fine Point Group Files Motion to Enforce Tribal Court Judgment Against Pojoaque Officials in Buffalo Thunder Casino Dispute

On December 9, 2011, Pojoaque Tribal Court Judge Pro-Tem June Lorenzo found that the Gaming Commission, as directed by Pueblo Governor/Gaming Commission Chairman George Rivera and General Counsel Frank Demolli, acted illegally in March 2011, and found that the purported termination of The Fine Point Group's consulting agreement was void.

"In the six weeks since Judge Lorenzo's ruling, the Gaming Commission has refused to honor the Court's clear decision and has not directed the Casino Enterprises to permit The Fine Point Group to continue to provide consulting services," said Kerry Kiernan, a partner at Sutin, Thayer, and Browne, Fine Point's New Mexico-based law firm. "Rather than comply with Judge Lorenzo's Decision, the Gaming Commission simply chose to ignore it in an effort to insulate the Pueblo from its financial responsibilities to Mr. Fine and The Fine Point Group. This is exactly why Mr. Fine and The Fine Point Group were forced to file the Motion to Enforce the Court's decision."

Earlier this month, Fine Point filed federal litigation against Rivera, Demolli, and three other individuals personally for tortious interference, and that lawsuit is moving forward. That lawsuit names as defendants the following: Pojoaque Governor/Pojoaque Gaming Company President/Pojoaque Gaming Commission Chairman George Rivera; former Gaming Company CEO Allen Moseley; Pojoaque Tribal Court Judge Frank Demolli; Gaming Commission Executive Director Stuart Zucker; and Gaming Commission Member Eddie Lopez. The federal complaint alleges approximately 40 examples of conduct -- all of which are documented by internal emails -- that violated various federal, state, or tribal laws, regulations and policies which led to and include the illegal termination of the Fine Point contract.

The Fine Point Group is represented by Paul Bardacke, Kerry Kiernan, and Travis R. Steele of the New Mexico law firm of Sutin, Thayer & Browne, a firm with extensive litigation and Indian Gaming expertise. Bardacke, a former New Mexico Attorney General, served as the state's Chief Negotiator in developing gaming compacts with 16 New Mexican tribes and pueblos. It is also represented by Dennis Whittlesey of Dickinson Wright, who is one of the nation's leading Indian Gaming attorneys.

In late 2010, The Fine Point Group entered into a consulting agreement with Buffalo Thunder, Inc. and Pojoaque Gaming, Inc., subsidiaries of Buffalo Thunder Development Authority, which is a wholly-owned tribal corporation. The firm was hired as part of the proposed restructuring of more than $250 million in casino development bonds that the Pueblo was unable to repay. These now-heavily discounted bonds are owned by a variety of banks, hedge funds and other institutional investors.

The motion filed today can be found at the following site:
www.thefinepointgroup.com/buffalothunder.aspx

Contact: Kerry Kiernan, (505) 883-2500

About Dickinson Wright

Dickinson Wright is a full service law firm, employing more than 270 attorneys in offices located in Detroit, Nashville, Washington, DC, Toronto, Phoenix, Las Vegas, Troy (MI), Lansing (MI), Grand Rapids (MI) and Ann Arbor (MI). The firm also has affiliate relationships with law firms in Malta and Lima, Peru. The firm's Gaming Law Practice Group is recognized as preeminent both nationally and internationally, and two of its partners are Past Presidents of the International Masters of Gaming Law. Mr. Whittlesey chairs the firm's Indian Gaming Group and represents Indian Tribes throughout the country, as well as local governments and developers in their relationships with tribes. He has negotiated Tribal-State Gaming Compacts in various states, as well as comprehensive agreements for municipal services for tribal gaming and entertainment facilities throughout the country. He recently was named Best Lawyers' "2012 Washington, DC Gaming Law Lawyer of the Year."

About Sutin, Thayer & Browne

Sutin, Thayer & Browne is one of New Mexico's largest law firms, with offices in Albuquerque and Santa Fe, providing exceptional service to a wide range of clients for 65 years. Sutin counsels tribes, tribal entities and companies doing business in Indian country. Its Indian Law team has special expertise and background in Indian law, especially regarding Indian gaming and state compacts. Sutin also handles issues of tribal sovereignty and jurisdiction, government relations, civil litigation, commercial transactions, mortgage and commercial finance, real estate, land disputes, tribal probates, bond issues, taxation, statutory drafting, natural resource law, environmental law and water law. Sutin lawyers are licensed to practice in the state courts of New Mexico and Colorado, the federal courts of the District of New Mexico and the Tenth Circuit, and the tribal courts of Acoma Pueblo, Hopi Tribe, Isleta Pueblo, Jicarilla Apache Tribe, Laguna Pueblo, Navajo Nation, Santa Clara Pueblo, Southern Ute Tribe, Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, Ysleta del Sur Tribe, and Zuni Pueblo.

About The Fine Point Group

Headquartered in Las Vegas, and with offices in Florida, Pennsylvania, Mississippi, and New Jersey, The Fine Point Group is one of the gaming industry's leading full-service management and consulting firms. In six years from its founding, the firm has completed engagements in 20 U.S. states and eight countries, and has more than a dozen, full-time, gaming experts - all of whom had years of property-level gaming expertise prior to joining the firm. FPG is an Associate Member of the National Indian Gaming Association, and works with tribal clients in Washington, Oregon, California, Michigan, Minnesota, and Florida. Named "one of the most sought-after consultants in the industry" by Global Gaming Business magazine, the firm specializes in asset optimization of gaming assets around the world. For more information, please visit http://www.thefinepointgroup.com.

SOURCE Fine Point Group