Mayor gives thoughts on ex-Quapaw leader

The VIP entrance to Saracen Casino is shown Monday. 
(Pine Bluff Commercial/I.C. Murrell)
The VIP entrance to Saracen Casino is shown Monday. (Pine Bluff Commercial/I.C. Murrell)

The mayor of Pine Bluff weighed in on an 11-count indictment against the man who led efforts to establish Saracen Casino Resort in her city.

Shirley Washington said she had "mixed feelings" after learning that John Berrey faced fraud-related charges in Quapaw Nation court in Oklahoma. Berrey is accused of abuse of office, conspiracy and embezzlement in regard to a forensic audit and investigation into misappropriation of funds that began in June.

"We had a very good relationship with John Berrey from beginning to end," Washington said. "It's hard to believe it's true. It doesn't sound like the person I dealt with. He always seemed to be the man who was honest and true."

Berrey, who was indicted along with former secretary-treasurer Tamara Smiley-Reeves, contended that complaints against him were political, since he lost an election to Joseph Tali Byrd last summer.

Berrey, Smiley-Reeves and seven others also face a $7 million civil suit that alleges they committed fraud, constructive fraud, conversion and unjust enrichment.

Shortly after his indictment, Berrey took a shot at the operation of the casino in Pine Bluff.

"No one is talking about how they're failing at Saracen in Pine Bluff," he told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. "Nobody's talking about how they don't communicate with the leadership in Pine Bluff or Jefferson County. It's just smoke and mirrors."

Berrey accused Saracen Casino of eliminating the use of metal detectors and off-duty law enforcement officers for security. A Saracen-hired security guard was treated and released from a Pine Bluff hospital after he was shot during a gunfire exchange with two suspects, who were escorted out of the casino along with three other men because of inappropriate behavior on March 11, authorities said.

"They took all of that out," Berrey said. "There's no way you can make that the jewel of southeast Arkansas if you don't make people feel safe. They're letting down the whole community. ... They're making the tribe look horrible and they're blaming me."

A Saracen spokesperson deferred comment on Berrey's words to Quapaw secretary-treasurer Guy Barker, who denied that the casino is struggling.

"There is a reason no one is saying those things -- because Saracen is doing very well and our relationship with local leadership is strong," Barker said. "The former chairman's comments are wholly irrelevant to the charges he is currently facing. Additionally, his comments are baseless because he has not had access to tribal financial records for more than eight months."

Washington said she read Berrey's comments from an online article.

"I won't pass judgment, but it doesn't sound like the John Berrey I know," she said. "I think if you talk to anyone, they would tell you, 'Anything he told us he was going to do, he would do it.' I feel like if he were still in office, the project in Pine Bluff would be further along. It just crushed me when he wasn't reelected."

Berrey and Smiley-Reeves will appear in tribal court before Judge Diane Hammons on May 6 in Miami, Okla.

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