Federal prosecutor says millions caused
corruption
Deseret News August 3, 2011 By Phillip
Rawls, Associated Press
MONTGOMERY, Ala. — A
prosecutor in Alabama's
gambling corruption trial told jurors Wednesday that the defendants offered
money for votes to pass pro-gambling legislation because electronic bingo
machines were making millions of dollars and they didn't want to lose their
gravy train.
"These
defendants worked with each other to corrupt the Alabama legislative process and the reason they
did it is money," prosecutor Edward Kang said in closing arguments.
Defense attorneys
countered that prosecutors failed to tie the nine defendants to three people
who pleaded guilty to offering bribes to legislators and testified for the
prosecution. They said that's why the defense rested after calling only one
witness.
"There is a
total failure of proof and they can't get around it," said Joe Espy,
attorney for VictoryLand casino owner Milton
McGregor.
Wednesday was the
first of two days that are being devoted to closing arguments in the nine-week
trial. The sequestered jury will likely begin deliberations Friday and will
continue into the weekend, if necessary.
The prosecution
began its closing arguments by pointing out McGregor, the 72-year-old casino
owner, at the defense table. Kang said greed prompted McGregor to abandon
legitimate lobbying and resort to the promise of campaign contributions to get
votes for legislation designed to protect electronic bingo machines.
"For years
he had raked in millions and millions of dollars from the electronic bingo
machines at VictoryLand casino," Kang said. But
he said the casino had been forced to close in January 2010 by Gov. Bob Riley's
gambling task force and McGregor was desperate because he had to pay a $200
million note from his expansion of the casino complex in Shorter, 15 miles east
of Montgomery.
Kang said
McGregor's lobbyists, Tom Coker and Bob Geddie,
joined in the scheme because McGregor had become their financial gravy train
and they persuaded four senators to vote for the bill by promising quick
campaign contributions for the 2010 elections.
"Each of
these defendants was driven to crime — to bribery — because of their lust for
money," Kang said.
In addition to
McGregor, Coker and Geddie, the defendants are
independent Sen. Harri Anne Smith of Slocomb,
Democratic Sen. Quinton Ross of Montgomery, former Democratic Sen. Larry Means
of Attalla, former Republican Sen. Jim Preuitt of
Talladega, retired legislative employee Ray Crosby, and Country Crossing casino
spokesman Jay Walker.
The trial stems
from a proposed constitutional amendment to protect electronic bingo machines
and let VictoryLand and other casinos reopen after
being forced to close by the governor's task force. The four senators voted for
the bill when the Senate passed it with the minimum number of votes possible on
March 30, 2010. The FBI announced its investigation of Statehouse corruption
two days later, and the bill soon died in the House without coming to a vote.
Three people
pleaded guilty before the trial and testified against the nine defendants. They
were Country Crossing casino developer Ronnie Gilley and two of his lobbyists,
Jarrod Massey and Jennifer Pouncy.
Prosecutors said
Gilley and his lobbyists operated as one team with McGregor and his lobbyists
because both casino owners had so much money on the line and because McGregor
provided about $14 million in funding for Gilley's Country Crossing
casino in Dothan.
McGregor's
attorney cited a wiretapped phone call in which McGregor complained that he
didn't know what Gilley was doing sometimes. He also said that McGregor's
written agreement with Gilley required him to spend McGregor's money in a
lawful manner.
"There is no
evidence that any of these people, other than Gilley and Massey, entered into
an unlawful conspiracy," Espy said.
Espy said three
Republican legislators who helped the FBI's investigation and recorded phone
calls and meetings with some of the defendants were determined to do anything
to kill the gambling legislation.
The prosecution
urged the jury not to be distracted by racially demeaning comments made by one
of the three legislators.
Prosecutor Louis
Franklin said that he was offended like everyone else by a tape recording where
Republican Sen. Scott Beason of Gardendale referred
to customers of a gambling hall in a predominantly black county as
"aborigines." But Franklin
said defense attorneys brought out the comment to distract jurors' attention
from Beason's testimony about being offered bribes to
support pro-gambling legislation.
"This case
is not about race. This case is about whether these defendants participated in
a scheme to corrupt the legislative process," Franklin said.
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