The CBS TV news program “60 Minutes” recently broadcast a story about NFL players who lost millions of dollars in a failed electronic bingo casino and entertainment complex in southeast Alabama. Former state Attorney General Troy King was interviewed by reporter Armen Keteyian for the segment. Expected to become a major regional economic booster, the development became ensnared in the debate over the legality of electronic bingo. It also was the subject of a criminal investigation into whether several lawmakers were paid for their votes on gambling legislation.
The subject of the segment was investor Jeff Rubin, developer of the now-shuttered Country Crossing Casino in Houston County. “If I could go back in time, I wish I had never set foot in Alabama,” Rubin told “60 Minutes. In 2009 when the complex opened, it was one of the largest casinos in the state, with 1,700 electronic bingo machines.
Rubin said he got several NFL players to invest in the deal, which he told them would generate $100 million annually. But the fiasco cost dozens of players, including Ray Lewis and Terrell Owens, a total of $43 million.
Rubin added he wasn’t sure the investors actually saw a document outlining the risks—such as that electronic bingo machines could be considered illegal in Alabama. And they were. In fact, the casino portion of the complex was shut down after a raid in January 2010, two weeks after it opened. It reopened but was shut down again in 2012, after agents from state Attorney General Luther Strange’s office raided the venue, seizing 691 gambling devices, servers and gaming tables and $288,657 in cash.
The Houston County Economic Development Authority, operators of the casino, fought the seizure. But the Alabama Supreme Court ruled in 2014 that the seized electronic bingo machines were illegal.
King told “60 Minutes” in 2009 then-Governor Bob Riley formed an anti-gambling task force to investigate and raid electronic bingo casinos. King said he and Riley disagreed publicly over the gambling issue, with Riley claiming the games were illegal and King stating, “There was no way this could end short of somebody being destroyed, the governor or the gambling interests. It was Armageddon. There was no other outcome possible.”
Riley accused King of “showing more concern for the casino bosses in Alabama than for the enforcement of the law by dedicated law enforcement officials.” King warned Riley that raiding Country Crossing and another Alabama casino exposed the state to lawsuits that potentially could cost taxpayers millions of dollars.
Meanwhile, a pay-for-votes scheme aimed at legalizing gambling in the state entrapped several individuals. Developer and venue operator Ronnie Gilley was convicted of 11 counts of conspiracy, money laundering and bribery for offering legislators money and campaign contributions in return for their yes votes on a gambling bill. Two lobbyists for Country Crossings eventually pleaded guilty in connection to the bribery scheme. Former state Rep. Terry Spicer also pleaded guilty to a single count of federal program bribery. Ten others indicted in the scheme were cleared.
Gilley also testified at the March 2012 vote-buying trial of VictoryLand owner Milton McGregor, plus a lobbyist, a former casino spokesman and three state legislators. However, McGregor’s attorney and other defense lawyers challenged the credibility of Gilley and legislators who wore wire-taps in the investigation. A jury found McGregor and the others not guilty of all charges.
