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The U.S. Department of Justice has ruled that it will confiscate more than $10 million from Pojoaque Pueblo as proceeds from illegal gambling operations. This is the two-year revenue collected by a tribe that ran three casinos without a contract with the state of New Mexico.

The decision to seize $11 million from Pueblo, a term for Native American communities in the American Southwest, comes after months of dispute between the tribe and the state. The two parties could not agree on the share of income New Mexico should receive from the casino in Pozoac, which opened even after the previous contract expired in 2015. At the time, U.S. attorney Damon Martinez allowed the tribe to keep the money in escrow accounts until a new contract was signed.

Pueblo finally signed a new agreement with the state government in 2017, but the profits collected during these two years contributed to the conflict between the state government and Pojuak. The issue was resolved Friday when the U.S. Department of Justice announced it was considering profits from illegal gambling operations, launching a civil forfeiture process. The federal government has already seized a bank account that collected three casino profits from Pojuak, which is about $11 million.

Joseph M., Governor of pojoac pueblo. Talachi said in a statement that he was disappointed by the Justice Department's decision. According to him, the gambling proceeds from this bank account should be used to fund Pueblo's education, healthcare and other needs.

Tribes in New Mexico have signed a contract with a state called compact that gives them the right to run gambling facilities in exchange for a portion of their profits. Pojoaque Pueblo became a federally recognized Indian reservation in 1936. Under previous contracts, they had exclusive rights to table games and were able to run slot machines and racetracks. It also paid the state 8% of the casino's bottom line under a revenue-sharing agreement.

When the contract expired in 2015, the tribe was unable to agree to the new terms set by the state of New Mexico and did not sign the new document until August last year. The dispute between the two parties was mainly about a larger share of revenue required by the state. In 2017, at the time, talachi claimed that it would result in Pueblo's loss of income at a time when the region's gambling industry declined. State authorities responded that Foakman had already agreed to different terms with seven countries.

However, Pojoaque has finally agreed to sign it and the new gambling deal now requires the state to pay 10.75% of the net wins at casinos, including Buffalo Thunder Resort, Cities of Gold Casino, Jake's Casino, etc.