Strather's AtMashpee LLC enabled former tribal chair with $4 million

As published 12.16.08 in the Boston Globe:

Marshall became tribal chairman in 2000, shortly after Herbert Strather, a Detroit-based businessman who helped develop a casino there [MotorCity Casino], became involved with the Mashpee Wampanoag.

Strather and other Michigan investors [AtMashpee LLC] formed a close bond with Marshall, at first agreeing to fund the tribal council's expenses at $10,000 a month and later upping it to $100,000 a month. In addition, the investors agreed to pay the cost of lobbyists, lawyers, and others involved in the recognition bid [a total of $4 million].

When Marshall's leadership was challenged in 2005, Strather wrote to tribal members urging his reelection. Strather, however, sold his interest last year, when they struck a deal with the developers of Connecticut's Mohegan Sun resort, Sol Kerzner and Len Wolman. [Strather had connections with Wolman's Waterford Group through Michigan-based construction firm Slavick Inc.] That deal would give the investors 6.5 percent of the gross revenue of a casino, hotel, and convention business, according to the court documents.