MMCT casino project faces legal hurdle

A federal judge ruled against the tribal venture in East Windsor and the development is probably going to be delayed.

US.- The Mohegan Sun and Mashantucket Pequot tribes joint venture, the MMCT, is developing a casino in East Windsor but the venue is set to be delayed. A federal judge has ruled against the tribes in a legal dispute against the US Department of Interior and has blocked the final approval of the project, at least for now.

U.S. District Judge Rudolph Contreras ruled that the state of Connecticut and the tribes are not legally allowed to force federal regulators to approve changes to their revenue-sharing agreements. The Saturday ruling responds to a lawsuit against the US DoI and Secretary Ryan Zinke for failing to act on the compact changes, which they needed to get the casino finally open.

“We remain committed to both seeing this process through and to the people of Connecticut and our partners in state government,” the MMCT said in a written statement. A spokesman for the tribal venture said the tribes are reviewing their options and how to act after the ruling.

The MGM Springfield casino opened in August and triggered the Mashantucket Pequot and Mohegan tribes’ comments on when their own project will open. Their East Windsor casino, according to spokesman Andrew Doha, was expected to be ready to operate by spring 2020, but the recent ruling could push the opening to a later date.