Friday, January 27, 2017

Pala Interactive Rolls Out MyPalaCasino.com Along With Facebook App - Android and iOS Apps to Follow

Big News for Pala Interactive

gamingintelligence.com - Pala Interactive rolls out first free-to-play virtuals titles from Leap Gaming

Pala Interactive, the iGaming subsidiary of the Pala Band of Mission Indians, has launched five new virtual sports titles on its social casino site MyPalaCasino.

The launch follows a deal with virtual sports specialist Leap Gaming to add its portfolio of virtual games to the free-to-play site, with horse and dog racing, trotting, velodrome and speedway titles now live.

The games are currently available via the MyPalaCasino.com site and Facebook app, and will soon to be added to its iOS and Android apps.

The games allow players able to pick their favourite horse, dog or athlete and place a range of bets based on current odds and the competitor's performance history.

Launched in November 2016 to promote the tribe's California-based Pala Casino Spa & Resort, MyPalaCasino offers a range of slots, table games and skill-based puzzles alongside the virtual sports products.

The social offering is integrated with the casino's Pala Privileges reward programme, allowing players to collect points to redeem for real-world prizes such as games, spa services, food and beverages or hotel stays.

The initial virtual sports roll-outs will be followed by the addition of tennis and soccer games in the near future.

Also:

Pala adds virtual sports games to social casino

Wednesday, January 18, 2017

Arrest Made

As reported in the news:

fox5sandiego.com - Suspected gunman arrested in fatal reservation shooting

POSTED 3:57 PM, JANUARY 17, 2017, BY CITY NEWS SERVICE AND SALVADOR RIVERA, UPDATED AT 10:26PM, JANUARY 17, 2017

SAN DIEGO -- Deputies arrested a suspect Tuesday in the fatal shooting of a woman at the Pala Indian Reservation on Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

Milton Trujillo, 34, was taken into custody in front of a store in the 44200 block of Margarita Road in Temecula, according to sheriff's officials.


Trujillo allegedly gunned down an acquaintance, 43-year-old Carolyn Cagey, with a pistol in an open lot in the 2900 block of West Pala Mission Road about 3 a.m. Monday. Cagey died at the scene, Lt. Kenn Nelson said.

The motive for the slaying and the circumstances that preceded it were unclear, Nelson said.

Officials did not disclose what led them to identify Trujillo -- who is believed to also live on the Native American reservation east of Fallbrook -- as Cagey's alleged killer.

Trujillo was expected to be booked into county jail in Vista on a murder charge Tuesday afternoon, the lieutenant said.

Also:




Monday, January 16, 2017

Homicide on Pala Reservation

Developing story,  not many details yet.  See links below.

San Diego Union Tribune - Homicide investigation underway on Pala Indian Reservation

By Paul Sisson Contact Reporter

Homicide detectives are investigating the death of a 43-year-old woman found outside her home on the Pala Indian Reservation early Monday morning.

Deputies from the sheriff’s Valley Center substation were called to a home on West Pala Mission Road near Chutnicutt Road about 3 a.m. by the Pala Tribal Police Department on a report of an assault with a deadly weapon. When they arrived, deputies found the woman whose body “displayed obvious signs of trauma,” according to a law enforcement statement.

Investigators have not released information on what kind of weapon was used, though several San Diego-area television stations reported that some neighbors in the area heard gunshots.

Anyone with information on the homicide is asked to call (858) 974-2321 or Crime Stoppers at (888) 580-8477.


NBC San Diego - Mother Killed in Suspected Homicide on Pala Indian Reservation

#
A mother was killed in a suspected homicide on a Pala Indian Reservation Monday, San Diego County Sheriff's (SDSO) deputies confirmed.

Sheriff's deputies were at the scene where the body was discovered outside, near Pala Mission and Pala Temecula Road. They received a call reporting an assault with a deadly weapon just after 3 a.m.

A deputy at the scene described the situation as "hostile." The tribe was upset that body was not yet covered.

The victim had another son who died four years ago, and the family had also buried a relative recently.


Fox San Diego - Gunman sought in fatal reservation shooting

valleycenterhappenings.com - Homicide Reported in Pala







Sunday, January 8, 2017

Indictments of Paskenta Officials - Any of This Sound Familiar?

Below is a link to another article on the indictments of John Crosby (former FBI Agent), Ines Crosby (his mother), and Leslie Lohse (hist sister).  Lohse was at one time the treasurer of the California Tribal Business Alliance which Robert Smith is Chair of.  I recommend reading the whole article but I will post an excerpt:

Gross & Klein LLP: Federal Jury Indicts Two Former Paskenta Tribe Employees on Embezzlement Charges

Excerpt:

As detailed in the Tribe's related civil federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization Act (RICO) complaint filed in March 2015 in the U.S. District Court,  Eastern District of  California, against John Crosby, Ines Crosby, Leslie Lohse, and others, they and their co-conspirators used vicious and callous methods of intimidation and coercion to maintain access to the Tribe's money, millions of which they stole in order to live a life of obscene luxury, while services to Tribal members went unfunded and Tribe members lived in fear of economic retaliation.
#

Any of that sound familiar?

Read the whole article at the link above.

Friday, January 6, 2017

Tribal Leaders Indicted By The Feds

It will be interesting to follow this case and see how far shouting "tribal sovereignty" gets them.

Any of this sound familiar?

Red Bluff Daily News - Ex-Nomlaki tribal officials indicted on federal charges

Excerpt:

A federal grand jury returned a 69-count indictment Thursday against three former officials of the Paskenta Band of Nomlaki Indians, charging them with conspiracy to embezzle tribal funds, embezzlement of tribal funds, making false statements to federal agents and tax charges.

The indictment against John Crosby, 53, of Redding, Ines Crosby, 73, of Orland, and Leslie Lohse, 62, of Glenn County, was announced in a press release issued by Phillip Talbert, U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of California.

The tribe operates the Rolling Hills Casino located on tribal land near Corning.

The indictment alleges that between January 2009 and May 2014, the defendants, who had access to tribal funds, embezzled at least $6 million of that money for their own personal expenses. They allegedly sought to conceal the embezzlement by creating a false line-of-credit document and remotely accessing the tribe’s computers to destroy evidence. John Crosby and Lohse are accused of submitting tax returns that omitted the embezzled funds, while, Ines Crosby failed to file any tax returns.

The three were among four members of the tribal council were ousted by tribal membership in April 2014, which culminated in a prolonged armed standoff at the casino in June 2014, the destruction of computer records and the disappearance of a private jet owned by the tribe.

Read the full article at the link above

More:

sacbee.com- Former tribal leaders indicted on charges they looted $6 million from Corning’s Rolling Hills Casino

BY SAM STANTON
sstanton@sacbee.com
 My feed
Three former officials of the tribe that owns the Rolling Hills Casino in Corning were indicted Thursday on charges they embezzled at least $6 million from the tribal coffers and used the money to purchase cars, international junkets, gold coins and landscaping for their homes with such features as koi ponds and a putting green.

The 69-count indictment by a federal grand jury in Sacramento alleges that John Crosby, the tribe’s onetime economic development director; Ines Crosby, his mother and the former tribal administrator; and Leslie Lohse, Ines Crosby’s sister and the former tribal treasurer, engaged in a sweeping conspiracy to loot the tribal bank accounts, then lied to FBI agents investigating the matter.

The indictment follows years of controversy involving the tribal government and the casino. Warring factions in the tribe at various times engaged in an armed standoff outside the casino, went to court over control of the casino and endured a cyberattack that destroyed computer records – one that the indictment blames on the three defendants.

The dispute also included a lawsuit claiming wrongdoing under the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization Act that named the defendants and more than a dozen others.

Read the full article at the link above

Also:

Tribe, Bank Rebuked Over Embezzlement Suit Discovery Row

By Christine Powell

Law360, New York (December 9, 2016, 4:09 PM EST) -- A California federal magistrate judge on Thursday called behavior during a discovery dispute between the Paskenta Band of Nomlaki Indians and a bank it has asserted claims against in its lawsuit accusing former tribal officials of a sprawling embezzlement scheme "unacceptable."

The Paskenta Band of Nomlaki Indians alleged that Cornerstone Community Bank, CEO Jeffrey Finck and parent company Cornerstone Community Bancorp aided and abetted ex-tribe leaders in misappropriation, and that the bank and its parent company are liable for breach of contract.

Read the full article at the link above