The president of the Indian tribe that operates the Native Lights Casino south of Arkansas City has been arrested on suspicion of selling drugs from a Blackwell, Okla., motel room earlier this month.
Anthony Street, 43, has not been officially charged but is to appear in Kay County District Court April 4. Charges should be filed anytime before then, a spokeswoman in the Kay County District Attorney’s office said Friday. Street is free on $1,000 bond pending his court appearance and is still listed as the president of the Tonkawa Tribe on the tribe’s Internet site.
However, members of the tribe were successful with a petition drive to force an election for new tribal officers. A new president, vice president and secretary treasurer may be elected Monday.
Blackwell police told the Ponca City News that Street was arrested after the department received an anonymous complaint that a man was selling narcotics from a room at the Best Western in Blackwell.
A search of his room turned up 1.75 grams of methamphetamine, one gram of cocaine and an undisclosed amount of marijuana. Officers also said they found a glass pipe in the room.
The tribe is based is based in Tonkawa where it operates a small casino. A $1 million fine was levied by federal gaming regulators against the tribe and a $2.6 million fine levied against Edward Street after the National Gaming Commission found that money was laundered by the mob through the casino’s operations.
Edward Street is Anthony Street’s brother but has no role now in the gambling operation. The tribe hired a group of well known and respected regulators to take charge of the operation.
