Well the verdicts are in on the Alabama Gambling Corruption and now that it’s all decided, the only thing that can be concluded was that this whole case and investigation was a giant waste of tax-payers money. The defense said from the very beginning that the government had no case, turns out they were more than right.
The jury gave their verdicts and the results were that federal prosecutors didn’t get a single conviction in Alabama’s gambling corruption trial, not one!
Jurors acquitted or failed to reach a verdict on all the charges against the nine defendants, including Victoryland casino owner Milton McGregor and two sitting state senators.
McGregor who would likely say his innocence was never in doubt, was acquitted of one count of bribery and two counts of honest services fraud. The jury failed to reach a verdict on his 14 other charges and U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson declared a mistrial on all the undecided charges.
“This jury didn’t give the government a thing, not a single thing,” said Susan James, attorney for Country Crossing casino spokesman Jay Walker. – Fox News.
The Justice Department, which looks pretty silly after making such rash allegations and claiming it had undisputable evidence to back them up, issued the following statement:
“We appreciate the jury’s service in this important public corruption trial. Our prosecutors will discuss next steps as we move forward in this matter,” spokeswoman Laura Sweeney said in an email. – Fox News.
Just a recap:
State Sen. Quinton Ross Jr. was acquitted on all the counts against him.
State Sen. Harri Anne Smith was found not guilty of one count of bribery, one count of extortion and nine counts of honest services fraud. Jurors failed to agree on the other charges against her.
Former state Sen. Larry Means of Attala was acquitted on 14 of the 16 charges against him and got a mistrial on the remaining two, conspiracy and bribery.
Former state Sen. James E. “Jim” Preuitt of Talladega was found not guilty of 12 of 15 charges, with mistrials declared on one count each of conspiracy, bribery and lying to an FBI agent.
Walker, the Country Crossing spokesman, was acquitted of 11 counts of honest services fraud. A mistrial was declared on one count each of conspiracy and bribery.
Joseph Raymond “Ray” Crosby, a former legislative analyst for the Legislative Reference Service, got a mistrial on his only count of bribery.
Thomas E. Coker, a lobbyist for McGregor, was acquitted of 11 counts and got a mistrial on one count each of conspiracy, bribery and honest services fraud.
McGregor lobbyist, Robert E. “Bob” Geddie Jr., was acquitted of all charges.
Though it was all smiles and handshakes for the defendants after the ruling, Geddie’s lawyer Jimmy Judkins took some parting shots at the whole investigations:
“It’s an unbelievable thing that the government can put an innocent citizen through this with no evidence,” – Fox News.
So after all the “wire tapes” and “witnesses” and allegations of “corruption” the scoreboard reads decisively, federal prosecutors 0, innocent gaming lobbyists 1.
