FBI Reportedly Investigating Former Coushatta Tribal Chair, Council Members
Posted on: May 30, 2025, 10:05h.
Last updated on: May 30, 2025, 10:47h.
- The former chair of the Coushatta Tribe is reportedly under investigation
- The FBI and Louisiana State Police believe tribal officials stole money from the tribe
- Coushatta Casino Resort is northeast of Lake Charles
The FBI, Louisiana State Police, and National Indian Gaming Commission are reportedly probing claims that former tribal leaders of the Coushatta Tribe stole hundreds of thousands of dollars from the Native American community amid its $150 million expansion and overhaul of its casino resort in Kinder.
In March 2024, Casino.org reported on the Coushatta Tribe announcing a $150 million investment to bring another 204 hotel rooms to the remote Louisiana tribal resort. The property’s existing casino, restaurants, and approximately 800 hotel rooms were to receive cosmetic upgrades.
The Coushatta Casino Resort is Louisiana’s largest casino with almost 2,000 slot machines, 55 live-dealer table games, a bingo room, off-track parimutuel wagering, and a sportsbook. Located about 40 minutes northeast of Lake Charles, the tribal casino relies heavily on Texas to keep its business bustling.
Native News Online, a media outlet covering Indigenous-American communities across the country, broke the story on Thursday that Jonathan Cernek, the former Coushatta Tribe chairman who abruptly stepped down in August 2024, is under federal investigation for allegedly using casino credit cards for his benefit.
Before becoming tribal chair in 2021, Cernek spent eight years on the Coushatta Tribal Council.
Widespread Corruption Believed
Though the federal and state authorities have yet to publicly comment on their rumored probe, an anonymous source speaking with Native News Online revealed that Cernek didn’t act alone. The insider said several other former Tribal Council members are being looked at, too.
The source says Cernek and his cohorts allegedly used two Coushatta Casino Resort credit cards to swindle at least $350K from the tribe and its members which they were to serve. The $350K in charges, the source said, were unrelated to the casino’s operation or expansion.
Opened in 1995, the Coushatta Casino Resort employs 2,600 people and is an integral part of the Kinder community and economy. Along with the casino and hotel, the resort has eight restaurants, 20K square feet of meeting space, an outdoor pool with a lazy river, a concert venue capable of accommodating 4,000 people, a 100-spot RV park, and an 18-hole golf course.
The Coushatta Tribe’s Class III gaming compact with the State of Louisiana requires it to make annual payments totaling $7 million to the local governments of Allen Parish and the Town of Elton in exchange for the rights to operate slot machines and table games.
Tribal Corruption
The Coushatta scandal is only the latest to hit the tribal gaming landscape.
Three years ago this month, former Mashpee Wampanoag Chair Cedric Cromwell was convicted and sentenced to three years in federal prison after he was found guilty of bribery and extortion charges related to his Massachusetts tribe’s long-planned casino resort in Taunton. Cromwell’s predecessor, Mashpee Chair Glenn Marshall, also served federal prison time after he pleaded guilty in 2009 to violating federal campaign finance laws and embezzling tribal funds as the tribe sought federal recognition.
In Oklahoma, former Quapaw Nation Chair John Berrey continues to fight years of allegations that he stole at least $7 million from the tribe during his 18 years leading the tribe and its Downstream Casino Resort and Quapaw Casino.
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