Indian Tribe Sues Abramoff, Reed

Defendants Accused Of Defrauding Tribe To Benefit Other Clients

(AP)  Abramoff, Scanlon and Volz have pleaded guilty in a public corruption probe involving Abramoff's former tribal clients and possibly members of Congress. The Alabama-Coushatta never hired Abramoff.

The Alabama-Coushatta's casino, on its reservation north of Houston, was closed by a federal court ruling in a 1999 lawsuit filed by the state's then attorney general, John Cornyn, now a U.S. senator.

The Alabama-Coushatta said Abramoff and others conspired to defeat a bill in the 2001 Legislature that would have allowed it to operate gaming on its reservation. Reed helped to rally Christians against the bill with a group he formed, Committee Against Gambling, the tribe alleged.

The tribe, which says it has strong Christian values, alleges Reed's group called state legislators, sent targeted mailings to voters and ran radio ads against the bill without revealing their true origins, preventing the tribe from fighting back.

"They made it appear as if they were operating on behalf of religious groups, but in fact they were operating on behalf of the Louisiana-Coushatta," Petti said.

Reed, through campaign spokeswoman Lisa Baron, said the Alabama-Coushatta casino violated Texas and federal law and was ordered closed by a federal judge.

"As a longtime opponent of casino gambling, Ralph was happy to work with Texas pro-family citizens to close it," Baron said.

Had the public or tribe known the Louisiana Coushatta tribe was the main opponent, Christian groups would have been less mobilized, the Texas tribe contends. Because the Texas and Louisiana tribes share family ties, Louisiana Coushatta members would have opposed the attack on their sister tribe, the Alabama-Coushatta said.

"There's no reason why Indian tribes would cause this kind of havoc against another tribe," Battise said.

The tribe also alleges Abramoff fraudulently bilked it of $50,000 and used it to "bribe" Ney with a golfing trip to Scotland in exchange for "fixing" its gaming problem. In his guilty plea, Abramoff said Ney accepted the trip knowing the tribal clients paid for the trip. Ney has repeatedly said he is innocent of wrongdoing.