Jay Walker, former aide to House speaker, found not guilty in Alabama bribery trial

Jay Walker, the former chief of staff to House Speaker Glenn Richardson in Georgia, has been found not guilty on 11 of 13 counts in a massive Alabama corruption trial.

Contrary to earlier reports, the Associated Press is reporting that the jury was unable to reach a verdict — and a mistrial was declared — on one count each of conspiracy and bribery.

Jarrell “Jay” Walker arrives at the federal building in Montgomery, Ala., on Thursday. After seven days of deliberation, a jury found him not guilty on all charges. AP/Dave Martin

From the AP:

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Jurors acquitted or failed to reach a verdict on all the charges against the nine defendants in Alabama’s gambling trial on Thursday, including Victoryland casino owner Milton McGregor and two sitting state senators.

McGregor 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. He said he would schedule a retrial on those as soon as possible.

Jurors deliberated for 39 hours over seven days before sending a note to the judge Thursday telling him that they reached some verdicts but they could never agree on the rest. After hearing from both sides, the judge decided to allow a partial verdict.

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.

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. Another McGregor lobbyist, Robert E. “Bob” Geddie Jr., was acquitted of all charges.

Jarrell W. “Jay” Walker Jr., public relations spokesman for Country Crossing casino developer Ronnie Gilley, 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.

The federal investigation grew out of three Republican legislators telling the FBI that they were offered campaign contributions if they would support legislation designed to keep electronic bingo games operating in Alabama. The three used recording devices to tape phone calls and meetings, and the FBI wiretapped phones in a yearlong probe that coincided with former Gov. Bob Riley creating a gambling task force to shut down privately operated casinos.

Riley contended electronic bingo machines, featuring flashing lights and sound effects, were illegal slot machines, while proponents portrayed them as a high-tech version of paper bingo, which is legal in some Alabama counties.

Riley’s task force seized machines and won court battles that resulted in the closure of all privately operated electronic bingo casinos. Three operated by the Poarch Creek Indians, who aren’t under state control, have thrived amid the shutdowns.

State legislators tried to pass bills in 2009 and 2010 to allow the games to operate, but both bills failed. Behind the scenes, federal prosecutors said, operators of the two largest private casinos and teams of lobbyists were offering millions in campaign contributions, benefit concerts by country music artists, free polling and hidden $1 million-a-year payments in return for votes.

Gilley, the developer of Country Crossing casino in Dothan, and two of his lobbyists, Jennifer Pouncy and Jarrod Massey, pleaded guilty to conspiracy and testified against the nine defendants.

Gilley and Massey talked about arranging a campaign fundraiser for Smith with country singers Lorrie Morgan and John Anderson to make sure she supported the gambling bill and testified about working with McGregor to offer a $1 million-a-year job to another senator who was helping the FBI. Pouncy testified about offering $2 million in campaign support to Preuitt, agreeing to give a $100,000 contribution to Means, and being aggressively pursued by Ross for donations as the Senate was approaching a vote on the gambling bill.

Republican Sen. Scott Beason of Gardendale wore a recording device in one meeting where Gilley, Massey and McGregor were seeking his vote, and he recorded McGregor saying, “Ronnie and I are just alike in that we’ve got a bad habit of supporting our friends.”

Defense attorneys argued that it’s normal to discuss campaign contributions in an election year and that none of the 12,000 phone calls recorded by the FBI featured any senator agreeing to commit bribery by exchanging a vote for a campaign contribution.

All four senators voted for the gambling legislation when the Senate passed it March 30, 2010. The FBI disclosed its investigation of Statehouse corruption two days later, and the bill died in the House without ever coming to a vote. Smith and Ross won re-election after being indicted, Means lost, and Preuitt dropped his re-election campaign.

One of the legislators who helped the FBI ended up getting appointed to a judgeship by the governor, and the other two were chosen by fellow Republicans for important committee chairmanships.

One thing that was never in dispute during the trial was the profitability of the games. Income tax records showed McGregor’s gambling business, which was the largest in the state, reported a profit of more than $40 million in 2009, when his games were operating, and a loss of $4 million in 2010 when they weren’t.

Some background from the Birmingham News:

Prosecutors accused McGregor of being the kingpin of a conspiracy to bribe legislators with campaign contributions and offers of business opportunities to vote for the bill, which was aimed at giving him and others a legal stamp of approval to offer electronic bingo machines at their casinos.

McGregor at one time had 6,000 of the slot machine look-alikes at his VictoryLand dog track, but the casino was shut down because of raids by then-Gov. Bob Riley’s anti-gambling task force. Riley contended the machines were illegal under state law.

The trial relied heavily on testimony from three people who pleaded guilty — Country Crossing entertainment center developer Ronnie Gilley; former Gilley lobbyist Jarrod Massey; and former Massey assistant Jennifer Pouncy.

The foundation of the prosecution also was built on recordings of conversations obtained either by legislators who wore wires or by phone taps.

Prosecutors argued to jurors that the recorded conversations showed an illegal scheme among defendants to swap money for votes.

But defense lawyers told jurors in closing arguments that there had been a complete lack of evidence during the trial and that prosecutors had tried to put a sinister spin on legal fundraising and lobbying by playing snippets of recorded conversations out of context.

- By Jim Galloway, Political Insider

For instant updates, follow me on Twitter, or connect with me on Facebook.