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Foxwoods Resort Casino?s crippling debt and the criminal history of several executives should be more than enough reason for the state to throw out the company?s bid to build another casino in Milford, Hopkinton Selectman Ben Palleiko wrote in a letter to the Massachusetts Gaming Commission this week.
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The letter is the most recent swing at a proposal to put a casino in Hopkinton?s backyard, a project the town has fought since its inception.
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The Gaming Commission is in the process of background checking applicants to sniff out questionable behavior or corruption.
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Palleiko?s letter says considering the Foxwoods proposal with knowledge of the company?s major debt and bad reputation would call into question the state Gaming Commission?s integrity and cast doubt on its promise to protect surrounding communities.
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"A decision to move the Foxwoods proposal forward will fly in the face of every assertion made by the MGC regarding the level of scrutiny and high expectations involved in this process," Palleiko wrote Monday.
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This most recent letter comes after an Associated Press story on May 19 about Foxwoods? debt.
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According to the article, Foxwoods? revenue has declined 12 percent in the past year. The company is also in contract disputes with employees who deny they received the high pay rate chief executive Scott Butera recently claimed they did.
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"The shortcomings raised in this article should finally, and conclusively, serve as the basis for this applicant being disqualified from further consideration," Palleiko wrote.
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His letter also mentions the "lengthy criminal record" of Foxwoods chief of staff Antonio Beltran, who has served prison time, had three convictions in a 15-year period and left one young victim paralyzed for life, according to a 1998 story in the Hartford Courant.
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The treasurer of Foxwoods and his brother have also been federally indicted on embezzlement charges. In January the men, Michael and Steven Thomas, denied charges they stole more than $800,000 from their Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation, which owns and operates Foxwoods.
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The chief of staff and treasurer are not on the list of individuals associated with the Milford proposal being scrutinized by the Gaming Commission, although rules allow others to be added to that list.
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Gaming Commission spokeswoman Elaine Driscoll Wednesday said she could not comment on Foxwoods executives? backgrounds while the backgrounding is ongoing.
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"Once the investigations are complete, which are expected to take several more months, the commission will make a suitability determination based on the findings of fact," she said.
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Contact Laura Krantz at 508-626-4429 or lkrantz@wickedlocal.com. Follow her on Twitter @laurakrantzmwdn.
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