Alabama Corruption: Crying, contempt threat, shakedown

Gambling trial week 6: Crying, contempt threat, shakedown
Written by Sebastian Kitchen

Week six of a federal corrup­tion trial included tears from an embattled lobbyist, talk of a shakedown, information about more people being investigated and discussion about more bribes offered to state lawmakers. Most of the week included testimony from lobbyist Jarrod Massey, who has already pleaded guilty to his role in the corruption scheme. Ca­sino interests are charged with trying to bribe state lawmakers to support gambling legislation.

The following is a summary of the sixth week:

Monday

Massey, lobbyist for Country Crossing developer Ronnie Gilley, testified about bribing three state senators and said he pleaded guilty to bribing five. He outlined $10,000 in contributions to Sen. Quinton Ross in 2009, but said the senator pushed for more money and said he told a lobbyist who worked for Massey, Jennifer Pouncy, that he was not "feeling the love" after sponsoring gam­bling legislation in 2009.

Massey said Ross, D-Mont­gomery, later requested $15,000 to $20,000 in 2010 as the vote on the gambling legislation neared, but Massey said he told the senator he was not making contributions un­til after the vote, especially since Country Crossing had been closed since that January.

Lewis Gillis, an attorney for Ross, said there were inconsis­tencies and distortions in Massey's testimony. He said there was nothing sinister about Ross' calls and said they were routine calls from a candidate seeking cam­paign contributions. Ross is a de­fendant in the case. Pouncy and Gilley have also pleaded guilty.

Massey called Gilley, in a con­versation secretly recorded by the FBI and played in court, and said there was a "shakedown" with Sen. Larry Means saying he want­ed $100,000 for his vote. "He can 100 percent count on our support," Gilley said when he called back. Means, D-Attalla, is a defendant in the case. He lost his re-election bid in 2010.

Massey said that in a March 24, 2010, meeting he reaffirmed offers previously made to then-state Sen. Jim Preuitt, a defendant in the case. Gilley has testified that they offered country music stars to play at fundraisers for Preuitt, R-Talla­dega, and that a spokesman for Country Crossing, Jay Walker, of­fered to manage Preuitt's re-elec­tion campaign and run a poll for him. Walker is also a defendant in the case.

(Page 2 of 5)

Massey also outlined Monday moving thousands of dollars to Sen. Harri Anne Smith of Slocomb, an­other defendant in the case, through acquaintances of an em­ployee of his. He said he did it dur­ing her 2008 campaign for Con­gress after Gilley gave him two $20,000 checks to help with her campaign. Those people were reim­bursed for their contributions, Massey testified.

Tuesday

Massey said he was involved with other crimes not related to the ongoing federal corruption case and is cooperating with investiga­tors on other cases.

Massey said he gave then-state Rep. Terry Spicer about $3,000 a month and "other things of value" from 2001 or 2002 until 2008 or 2009. Spicer, D-Elba, is not a defen­dant in the case, but there has been testimony from Massey and Gilley about the former legislator.

Massey said his maximum pris­on sentence could be 55 years, but that federal sentencing guidelines show he could serve from 14 years to more than 17 years.

Defense at­torneys are arguing that he and Gilley are cooperating and trying to please prosecutors in hopes they can get their sentences further re­duced.

Massey said two FBI agents and an agent with the Alabama Bu­reau of Investigation came to his house on March 31, 2010, the day after the state Senate approved a gambling bill. He said the agents asked about bribery and corrup­tion. He said he lied to them and said he did not know anything. He said he was "scared to death" about them questioning him, and said he talked some before saying he want­ed an attorney with him to answer more questions.

Massey said he talked with Gilley at Gilley's office in Enter­prise and said the developer told him he wanted to extend equity in his company to him and Pouncy for showing they were loyal and for their hard work. "He was looking to buy our silence, looking for us to corroborate," Massey said in court.

Massey said the FBI talked to Pouncy the same day the agents talked to him. He said she talked to them for 45 minutes and was tear­ful, nervous and not herself. Mas­sey said her response concerned him because he knew agents would continue to pressure Pouncy. Mas­sey said her concerning behavior continued with her calling in sick repeatedly to work, and her retain­ing a lawyer. He said "she did not look well, appeared very nervous," and was "very jumpy." He then put her on administrative leave for more than 30 days and then fired her, in part, because she talked to federal authorities without a law­yer.

(Page 3 of 5)

Massey said he knew from the detail of the indictment "they had me on some kind of tape" because it was specific and used his termi­nology. He said he was most con­cerned about his offer of $1 million a year to Sen. Scott Beason, R-Gar­dendale, if he voted for the gam­bling legislation.

U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson granted a several min­utes break for Massey to pull him­self together because he became emotional and had trouble talking when discussing why he reported to prison early to begin serving his time even though he had not been sentenced. He became emotional when testifying about reporting early after talking with his wife and two sons, and not knowing when he would be with them again. Massey said he made the decision to begin serving his time "based on the severity of the acts I com­mitted" and the likelihood he was facing significant time in prison.

Massey said he would meet with Smith almost daily during leg­islative sessions. He said Smith suggested to them how they might want to win over some legislators.
Massey, when asked by an at­torney for VictoryLand owner Mil­ton McGregor, agreed he was a criminal, "offered bribes to a lot of people," and had violated the law for close to 10 years -- well before he started working with McGregor and others on the gambling issue. McGregor is a defendant in the case.

Wednesday

Massey said he paid Spicer in cash, that the money was not for campaign contributions and Spicer could spend it how he wanted, and that he tried to hide the payments. Massey said he paid Spicer for helping him obtain clients. He said Spicer also helped him advocate for those clients in the Legislature. A document that Segall said was accidentally put into a packet hand­ed to a juror with other evidence indicated Spicer is cooperating with the FBI or prosecutors, but did not indicate if he had pleaded guilty.

Segall asked Massey if he knew McGregor lent $13 million to Gilley related to the Country Crossing project and was not paid back. Se­gall said McGregor had no owner­ship in Country Crossing. Massey said it was his understanding McGregor was a consultant.

(Page 4 of 5)

Thompson threatened to hold Massey, who was often combative and sarcastic with Segall, in con­tempt of court if he continued to argue with Segall, lost his temper again, or asked questions of the at­torney. Thompson told Massey his duty was to answer questions.

Thompson also criticized Segall for arguing with Massey and criti­cized Emily Woods, a prosecutor with the Public Integrity Section at the U.S. Department of Justice, for her actions. He told them to stop talking over each other.

Massey admitted he was re­ceiving immunity for crimes relat­ed to bribing Spicer and some oth­er crimes he admitted to as part of his plea agreement. When Segall asked him how he was taking re­sponsibility for those crimes, Mas­sey became emotional talking about not hugging his wife and chil­dren, about being embarrassed by the situation, about his family be­ing embarrassed watching him on the stand, and about conversations with his wife from jail becoming public.

Massey said Gilley tried five times to bribe him to keep him from cooperating with authorities. He said Gilley offered him owner­ship in Country Crossing, offered to help with his legal bills, and of­fered to take care of his family if he got in trouble.

Thursday

Massey acknowledged that he said in a phone conversation from jail that he believes the federal au­thorities are targeting 20 more peo­ple in their corruption investiga­tion.

Susan James, an attorney for Walker, said leaving the court­house that Massey said in a call that there are 20 other people that federal authorities want to pursue in the corruption investigation, but did not have time now because of the current case. James said Mas­sey did not mention any names.

Massey said there was a list of 14 senators that he told the FBI were "in play" and that they were trying to sway to vote for the gam­bling legislation. Of those 14, eight voted against the bill on March 30, 2010, and six voted for it including Preuitt and Means.

Friday

James played a tape of Massey speaking with Walker on March 31, 2010, when the FBI first visited Massey. In the conversation, Mas­sey says the agents appeared at his house at 8 a.m. and told him they were investigating bribery related to the bingo legislation. On the tape, Massey says the agents said "'We're not here on a fishing expe­dition. We already know the an­swers to the questions.'" James played a second tape, recorded about a week earlier, where Mas­sey expresses frustration over the "total chaos" in getting a bill to­gether and says "discombobula­tion" and the distrust of McGregor was hurting matters.

(Page 5 of 5)

Massey testified that he pro­vided Spicer with tickets to Bama­Jam, sponsored by Gilley, and the Iron Bowl, along with money to purchase a $9,000 boat.

Massey and Bill Clark, an attor­ney for Means, got into an extend­ed argument over whether the gambling legislation allowed gam­bling in counties where it had not been approved by constitutional amendment. Massey angrily told Clark at one point that "you're a lawyer" and should be able to read the bill, at which the prosecution objected to Massey being argumen­tative and nonresponsive.

Clark also questioned the for­mer lobbyist on why he only brought up the accusation against Means after a number of prior meetings with the FBI. Massey said he was "trying to protect Means until the 11th hour." Massey also said the characterization of Means' request for $100,000 as a "shakedown" was his phrase and not used by Pouncy when she told him of the request.

On cross-examination by Jim Parkman, attorney for Harri Anne Smith, Massey identified his first bribe to her as contributions made to her 2008 congressional cam­paign by Gilley, an amount of $23,000 to $24,000 that was steered to the campaign via five intermedi­aries.

Massey said he used the indi­viduals to hide the source of the do­nations. Under further questioning from Parkman, Massey backed off his characterization of the transac­tion as a bribe. "I thought what I was doing was improper," he said. "I felt I gave something of a cor­rupt nature, and that concerned me."

At the end of the day, Parkman asked Massey "What is the reputa­tion of Ronnie Gilley for honesty and truthfulness?"

"I think it's in question," Mas­sey replied.