Indicted analyst did not report McGregor income for two years

Indicted analyst did not report McGregor income for two years
Written by
Sebastian Kitchen

Prosecutors charged on Thursday that former legislative analyst Ray Crosby did not report receiving monthly income from casino owner Milton McGregor in 2008 and 2009 until a federal investigation into alleged corruption became public.

Crosby did not originally report the income to the Alabama Ethics Commission, which is required for employees who are paid more than $50,000, in his statements of economic interest he filed for 2008 and 2009.

James Sumner, director of the commission, said on the witness stand on Thursday that Crosby did not report any income outside of his job as an analyst for the Legislative Reference Service for 2008 and 2009 until August 2010, when he filed an addendum to those reports.

Those forms are required for elected officials and public employees who are paid more than $50,000, and require those officials to report income, property and debt for them and their spouses.

“To have other sources of income related to their state work would be a conflict of interest,” Sumner said.

Crosby was paid more than $160,000 as an analyst working with state lawmakers to draft proposed legislation.

In his addendum, Crosby reported receiving less than $1,000 from Chevron USA Inc. and between $10,000 and $50,000 from the “MCGP,” the Macon County Greyhound Park. McGregor operates the greyhound park.

An accountant for McGregor, Lynn Byrd, testified Thursday that she wrote and McGregor signed 24 checks for $3,000 to Crosby. He received $3,000 each month from May 2008 through April 2010.

Federal authorities made the investigation into alleged vote buying in the Alabama Legislature public in April 2010.

McGregor and Crosby are among the nine defendants in a federal corruption trial accusing them and alleged coconspirators of offering or soliciting bribes to vote for pro-gambling legislation.