New York State Governor Kathy Hochul has a dark cloud looming over her head in the form of a major conflict of interest. Before we get into the thick of things, let’s recap:

Last Monday, the Seneca Nation of Indians (SNI) tribal council voted unanimously to pay New York State (NYS) $564 million from casino revenue. The five year legal standoff reached its culmination when Governor Kathy Hochul subpoenaed KeyBank, successfully freezing Seneca bank accounts in a move that has been deemed unethical. Less than 24 hours after SNI paid up, the Department of the Interior issued new draft regulations with wording specific to the Seneca dispute, seemingly in their favor.

The same day, Hochul announced that $418 million of the Seneca payment would be used to fund the building of the new Buffalo Bills football stadium in the governor’s hometown. Plans for the new stadium have been under fire by major news outlets, such as Bloomberg, New York Times, NY Post, US News, and Jacobin Magazine with the appropriate headline “The Buffalo Bills New Stadium is a Scam.” The inclusion of the Seneca payment will whack the taxpayer burden nearly in half, resulting in a big win for Hochul’s ratings. Buffalo Bills owner, oil and gas billionaire Terry Pegula, is receiving a $418 million gift just four years after Seneca led opposition forced his company JKLM Energy to scrap their fracking plans near the Allegany River.

New York State Governor Kathy Hochul and husband Bill Hochul, general counsel and Senior VP of Delaware North

Now that we are all caught up on the situation, let’s talk about the ten thousand pound serpent in the room; I’m talking, of course, about Delaware North. On the surface, Delaware North is your friendly neighborhood concessions company, employing scores of high school teens seeking seasonal positions. Few know that there is a dark, seedy underbelly to Delaware North, and Last Real Indians intends to shine a spotlight on it.

First of all, Delaware North is not just a concession company - they are also a gaming company in direct competition of the Seneca Gaming Corporation. A former Delaware North executive who wishes to remain unnamed has told us that we wouldn’t believe the money they make from gaming. We were also dazzled with fantastic stories about mafia and “intimidation tactics,” but for legal reasons we can neither confirm nor deny these speculative stories; so we will leave it at that.

Delaware North was once known as Emprise, but they changed their name after a federal jury racketeering conviction in 1972; where they were found guilty of concealing the mafia’s ownership of the Frontier Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. Arizona sports journalist Don Bolles testified in court against Emprise after investigating their long term sports stadium contracts, which Bolles found to be suspicious and riddled with mafia related activity. Four years later, Don Bolles was assassinated by a car bomb. As he lay dying, his final words were “Emprise…Mafia…” Definitely a good reason to rebrand the company after that fiasco. Interestingly enough, at that time (and probably still today) Phoenix was run by a group of influential wealthy elite known as the “Phoenix 40.” During the 1990’s, Buffalo was run by a similar politically charged group of wealthy elite known as the “Group of 18” or “Buffalo 18.” Sources close to Delaware North have told us that one of Jeremy Jacobs’s luxury vehicles sports a golden buffalo, emblazoned with the number 18.

The death of Arizona sports journalist Don Bolles

The Group of 18 reportedly passed the torch to another group in the year 2000. This new group, known as “43x79 Group,” is still very active today in Buffalo politics. 43x79 Group was co-founded by Jeremy Jacobs, and according to WatchDog website LittleSis.org, includes members Louis P. Ciminelli and co-founder Jordan Levy. Ciminelli, whose company was hired as construction manager for the Seneca Niagara Casino, is currently serving time in federal prison for his part in the Buffalo Billion Scandal. As for Jordan Levy, he has been a long standing board member of Seneca Holdings, LLC; SNI investment arm funded by casino money. He also runs 43North, the financial arm of the Buffalo Billion initiative.

After it was discovered that Jordan Levy hid $700,000 in his wife’s name, he testified in a 2015 federal court case against former New York State assemblyman Sheldon Silver (Silver was convicted of corruption and died while incarcerated on January 24 of this year).

One subsidiary of Seneca Holdings, LLC is a company called Seneca Solutions, whose customers include: United States Department of Defense; US Defense Intelligence Agency; US Defense Information Systems Agency; US Department of the Air Force; US Navy; US National Guard; US Department of Justice; and US Department of the Army, just to name a few.

Further proof of 43x79 control over Buffalo, as well as their influence over New York State budgets and spending, can be found in the document; “Thinking Beyond Municipal Boundaries: Cost Reduction Opportunities” which states: “In late summer 2003, CGR (Center for Governmental Research Inc.) was engaged by the 43 X 79 Group, a group of business leaders from the Buffalo area, to identify opportunities for the City of Buffalo to reduce its cost structure. At the same time, the State of New York imposed a Control Board (formally known as the Buffalo Fiscal Stability Authority) on the City of Buffalo and other government entities related to the City. The fiscal discipline imposed by the Control Board requires the City to identify cost saving measures so that it can match expenses with available revenues. Thus, 43 X 79 asked CGR to evaluate cost reduction strategies that the Control Board would find useful in its ongoing effort to help the City live within its means.”

Buffalo News Article from April 23, 2006

The origins of Delaware North date back to mafia-run 1915 Buffalo, NY. At that time, brothers Marvin, Charles and Louis Jacobs started a modest peanuts and popcorns concession company. Also at that time, Cosa Nostra co-founder and mob boss Stefano Magaddino was slowly rising to power. He would succeed Buffalo crime boss Joseph DiCarlo after his death in 1922. Today, Delaware North is owned by billionaire Jeremy Jacobs, son to one of the company’s original founders (he is also owner of the Boston Bruins). Jacobs testified in the 1972 federal racketeering case on behalf of Emprise [National Archives: Identifier 7327672, Hearing Transcripts of the Select Committee on Crime for the 92nd Congress].

So what does any of this have to do with New York State Governor Kathy Hochul or the Seneca dispute? Well, for starters Hochul’s husband, William Hochul, is gainfully employed as general counsel and senior vice president for Delaware North. Hochul had to sign an agreement, recusing herself from all state dealings with Delaware North, and her husband had to sign an agreement recusing himself from all company dealings in state matters. Delaware North holds the concessions contract for the current Buffalo Bills Stadium, and it would be downright shocking if that contract were not renewed at the new stadium.

Here’s the real kicker: The original 2002 gaming compact between the Seneca Nation of Indians and New York State granted SNI exclusive gaming rights within a specified territory. This exclusivity was violated by partners New York State and Delaware North with three racetrack casinos within the forbidden zone. This violation led to the 2013 settlement which was at the center of the five year long controversy (ending dramatically this past Monday). The fact that Delaware North was directly involved in the violation of the exclusivity compact seems like a major conflict of interest when one considers the Hochul household income, brought to you in part by Delaware North.

We agree, it’s a lot to digest. Unfortunately, there’s more. Delaware North also holds the concessions contract to the Niagara Falls State Park, which includes Goat Island where tourists are sold overpriced ice cream, french fries and bottled water. Goat Island was included in the nine year long land claim which the Seneca Nation of Indians brought against New York State. That land claim ended in June 2002, and just two months later the original gaming compact was signed. A slew of evidence, including public testimonies by former Congressman John LaFalce, former Seneca President Duane Ray, and a chain of news articles; connect the land claim directly with the gaming compact. Oh, and there’s also this:

Page 582, paragraph two of the New York Legal Research Guide states: “In 1996 the state appeared to link negotiations on land claims to casino gambling and the collection of state tax revenues from sales to non-Indians.”

There appears to be a revolving door between Delaware North and the Seneca Nation of Indians; for example, attorney Rajat Shah received a reported $750,000 annual salary as counsel for the Seneca Gaming Corporation from 2005 until his controversial termination in 2009. Two years later, he was hired by Delaware North as vice president of corporate development and external affairs.

In 2013, around the same time that the contested settlement was signed by SNI and NYS, the latter voted to legalize state gambling. Interestingly enough, in 1993 - the same year that SNI brought the land claim to court against NYS - former United States President Donald Trump testified in Congress against Indian gaming. According to The Buffalo News, Trump claimed that he had a list of organized crime figures who were trying to infiltrate gambling facilities run by Natives. Trump testified, “It’s obvious that organized crime is rampant on the Indian reservations… This thing is going to blow sky high. It will be the biggest scandal since Al Capone, and it will destroy the gambling industry.”

Trump’s potentially prophetic testimony, coupled with former Secretary of the Interior Gale Norton’s suspicious “non-decision decision” certainly makes for compelling drama. While current Secretary of the Interior Debra Haaland continues to investigate the SNI/NYS gaming compact, let’s finish up our look at Delaware North:

According to The Public, the Jacobs family donated more to Trump’s presidential campaign than anyone else in Western New York. Jeremy Jacobs’ nephew, Chris Jacobs, is a Congressman representing the 27th District in New York. The same article in The Public calls Jeremy Jacobs “Buffalo’s Billionaire Deportation Profiteer,” citing a connection between ICE and Delaware North offices.

A 2018 article published in The Daily Beast reveals a deep dive investigation of an $800 million tribal contract to run ICE detention centers. This contract, found on the ICE government website, is for the Buffalo Federal Detention Facility. A similarity begins to emerge between the Seneca Nation of Indians and Ahtna, Incorporated (as the tribe is now called): Both are corporations. In 1848, after mounting tensions brought upon by the Ogden Land Company; the Seneca Nation of Indians withdrew from the Iroquois Confederacy and Longhouse traditions, choosing instead to incorporate under New York State law as a corporate subsidiary.

Ahtna, Incorporated (the company with the $800 million ICE contract); is one of thirteen Alaska Native Regional Corporations formed under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) of 1971. According to Wikipedia, “Some Natives have argued that ANCSA has hastened cultural genocide of Alaska Natives.[37][38] Some Natives critiqued ANCSA as an illegitimate treaty since only tribal leaders were involved and the provisions of the act were not voted on by indigenous populations.[38] One native described it as a social and political experiment.[38]

The cover page for the $800 million ICE Detention Center Contract with Ahtna, Incorporated

These criticisms should sound awfully familiar, and will resonate with the Onöndawá’ga (Seneca) People. A corporation, by definition, is not sovereign. Indigenous People are sovereign. Corporations are controlled by people, but legally, corporations are “artificial persons.” They provide an excellent cover for illegal activity, especially those that are owned and operated by Indigenous tribes.

Delaware North: Head Of The Snake