Tunica-Biloxi chairman booked on drug charges; council scrambling

Calling the arrest of its tribal chairman a “sad and difficult situation,” the Tunica-Biloxi Tribal Council has pledged to “meet around the clock if necessary to ensure that the tribe functions effectively under the guidance of this council’s leadership.”
State Police arrested recently elected chairman Joey Barbry Tuesday on multiple charges that he fraudulently obtained prescription drugs from several physicians.
Barbry, 36, of Mansura was booked at Avoyelles Detention Center #1 in Marksville on 14 charges of “obtaining CDS by fraud-doctor shopping,” a State Police spokesman said. He was booked at Rapides Parish Detention Center in Alexandria on seven counts of the same charge. Barbry was released on $15,000 bond from Avoyelles and $52,500 from Rapides detention centers.
Barbry had been under investigation since September when LSP Bureau of Investigation officers in Alexandria received a tip that he was allegedly obtaining fraudulent prescriptions for controlled dangerous substances from several physicians. After two months of investigation, state troopers secured arrest warrants from Avoyelles and Rapides parish authorities and arrested Barbry Tuesday.
“Upon learning of this news, the Tribal Council immediately began a series of meetings to deal with issues affecting the Tribe, the Tribal Council said in a prepared statement. “This is a sad and difficult situation for our chairman and the Tunica-Biloxi tribal membership.
"We want the community to know that we are concerned for Chairman Barbry and his family,” the council statement continued. “We have a responsibility to the tribal community and the people of Avoyelles Parish. We will meet around the clock if necessary to ensure that the Tribe functions effectively under the guidance of this Council’s leadership.”
Barbry was elected as chairman of the federally recognized Indian tribe in April. His father, the late Earl Barbry Sr., led the tribe from 1978 until his death in 2013, including efforts to obtain federal recognition in September 1981 and to establish the tribe’s casino in Marksville in 1994.
The Tunica-Biloxi Tribe has been in the Marksville area since the 1700s, the site of its federal reservation and largest enterprise, Paragon Casino Resort. Its tribal membership numbers approximately 1,200 throughout the United States, primarily in Louisiana, Texas and Illinois.
Paragon Casino Resort is the largest employer in Central Louisiana. Through its compact with the state, the tribe has made quarterly contributions to local governments totaling more than $40 million over the past two decades. However, increased competition from other Indian casinos and riverboat casinos in the state has decreased the tribe’s profits.
The tribe has declared a net operating loss for two of the previous three quarters -- the fourth quarter of 2013 and second quarter of 2014. The third quarter distribution, if there is one, is usually issued in mid- to late-November.