MOWA Choctaws’ gambling machines could get destroyed

MOUNT VERNON, Ala. (AP) – All that remains of the gambling experiment by the MOWA Band of Choctaw Indians are 50 empty chairs and a tangle of wires.

Tribal Chief Framon Weaver tells al.com that the one-time gambling hall in Mount Vernon is still pretty much like the Mobile County Sheriff’s Department left it after seizing 50 gambling machines.

The MOWA tribe takes its name from Mobile and Washington counties, but it is not a federally recognized tribe like the Poarch Creek Indians, who operate three casinos. The MOWA tribe installed 50 gambling machines in early November to raise money for the tribe, but the gambling hall got raided Nov. 7. Sheriff Sam Cochran says he’s not pursuing charges, but he does want a judge to rule that his department can destroy the machines.

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Information from: Press-Register, http://www.al.com/press-register/