Just one hour before John Keeler’s federal trial for tax fraud was set to begin, the New Centaur and Spectacle Entertainment casino executive and former Indiana state lawmaker pleaded guilty to one count of filing a false tax return.
The charges involved a scheme to secretly direct $25,000 in casino cash to a Republican Party political action committee in Marion County. A week earlier, Keeler’s co-defendant, former state Senator Brent Waltz, pleaded guilty to two counts of making and receiving illegal campaign contributions and making false statements to the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Prosecutors dropped five other counts against Keeler as part of a plea deal. He faces up to three years in prison, but probably will serve less time, and will be required to pay restitution of $14,350. Waltz faces up to 10 years in prison, but like Keeler, probably will receive a much lighter sentence under a plea deal. Sentencing for both Keeler and Waltz has not been scheduled.
The pair’s guilty pleas are the latest developments in the multi-year federal investigation involving New Centaur LLC, the former owners of Indiana’s two horse racetrack casinos until 2018. Keeler was the company’s vice president and general counsel. To conceal the source of the funds illegally directed to the Republican Party PAC, Keeler and Maryland political consultant Kelley Rogers agreed that one of Roger’s companies would send a fake invoice to New Centaur; Rogers would then contribute most of the money to the PAC.
Keeler also had been accused of a similar scheme to funnel more than $40,000 in casino money to Waltz’s failed U.S. House bid in 2015. Those charges were dropped as part of the plea deal. Those allegations also involved fake contracts between New Centaur and companies controlled by Rogers. Rogers and Waltz then recruited and paid “straw donors” to contribute to Waltz’s campaign under their own names.
With the convictions of Waltz and Keeler, all pending cases in the investigation are completed. However, observers said other prosecutions might be forthcoming.
In a related development, at a recent pre-trial hearing, an attorney with the U.S. Department of Justice’s public integrity section claimed Keeler’s boss, former New Centaur and Spectacle Entertainment Chief Executive Officer Rod Ratcliff, was a co-conspirator. Ratcliff said he had been “falsely accused” and noted he has not been advised that he is a target of any grand jury investigation.
To date, Ratcliff has not been publicly charged with any crime. One of the most influential figures in Indiana politics, he has been a major contributor to Republican candidates. Last year, the Indiana Gaming Commission revoked his gaming license and permanently banned him from Indiana’s gambling industry.
