Alabama: Country stars push senator to vote

Country stars push senator to vote
Written by Sebastian Kitchen

Country stars George Jones and Randy Owen were among those encouraging state Sen. Bobby Denton to vote for gambling legislation in March 2010, according to phone calls secretly recorded by the FBI and played on Wednesday during a federal corruption trial.


In the secretly recorded conversations, Country Crossing developer Ronnie Gilley and his lobbyist Jarrod Massey talk about Jones and his wife attending the Alabama Music Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony and Awards Banquet to support Denton.


Denton was being inducted into the Hall of Fame on March 25, 2010.


Denton, according to Gilley, had asked Owen if he could sing his “Christmas in Dixie” on his “Christmas CD.” Owen, lead singer of the legendary country band Alabama, told Denton he would sing with him if he voted for the gambling legislation, according to Gilley.


“Randy has already talked to Denton about that. Randy’s got that covered,” Gilley said to Jennifer Pouncy, a lobbyist who worked for Massey, in one of the phone calls.


Gilley said “The only reason that Randy Owen is coming to that thing tonight is Denton.”


If Denton voted for the legislation, Gilley said Jones would sing with him too and that music executive James Stroud would produce it.


Pouncy also said Denton did not want to vote on the gambling bill on March 25 because he did not want the vote on the same day he was inducted into the Hall of Fame.


Gilley asked Pouncy if Denton would be OK with him calling and telling the senator “he has a lot of support coming from Nashville tonight.”


When asked why the country stars were reaching out to Denton, Pouncy said in court “they wanted him to vote yes on the bill.” Denton did vote for the bill, which was passed in the Senate, but died in the Alabama House of Representatives.


Pouncy was on the witness stand on Wednesday for a second day in a federal corruption trial that alleges casino interests bribed state lawmakers to vote for gambling legislation. Nine defendants, including four current or former state senators, are on trial in the case. Pouncy, Gilley and Massey have pleaded guilty in the case.


Denton, D-Muscle Shoals, is not a defendant. He retired in 2010 and did not run for another term. He has denied that he was offered anything of value in exchange for his vote.


Denton, known as the “singing senator,” recorded “A Fallen Star” as a teenager, recorded four songs for Judd Records that were distributed nationwide, and performed on the Dick Clark Show from New York City, according to his website. His recordings of “Sweet and Innocent” and “Back to School” were “big hits in several areas of the country,” according to the site.