Alabama: Sen. Quinton Ross never asked for money on vote

Sen. Quinton Ross never asked for money on vote, lobbyist says
Written by Sebastian Kitchen

Gambling lobbyist Jennifer Pouncy became rattled by an attorney for Sen. Jim Preuitt on Thursday, admitting Preuitt never asked for anything from her, they had no agreement that he would receive $2 million in exchange for his vote on gambling legislation and that he might not have even heard the offer.

She also said none of the other senators on trial for their alleged role in a corruption scheme said they wanted money in exchange for their votes.

Pouncy, on the witness stand for a third day in a federal corruption trial related to Alabama politics and bingo gambling, cried as she tried to answer questions from Preuitt attorney Ron Wise. Pouncy worked for lobbyist Jarrod Massey and they lobbied for developer Ronnie Gilley, who had a bingo pavilion at his Country Crossing development.

Pouncy has testified to offering Preuitt $2 million for his vote. She said he changed the subject when she made the offer.

"The impression I got was that I offended him," she said.

When Wise asked whether Preuitt, R-Talladega, did not hear her, she said "I guess it's a possibility."

Pouncy said later she didn't remember saying Preuitt did not hear her.

"I don't remember what I said 20 minutes ago," she said.

Wise asked Pouncy, "Jim Preuitt never asked you for anything did he?" She responded, "No, sir." Pouncy also admitted being wrong about dates she met with Preuitt.

Pouncy, Massey and Gilley have pleaded guilty in the case, which charges nine defendants including Preuitt for their alleged role in a scheme in which casino operators tried to bribe state lawmakers with money, campaign contributions and appearances at campaign events from country music stars in exchange for voting for gambling legislation.

Slew of checks

Pouncy, who has said Sen. Larry Means, D-Attalla, asked for $100,000 to help with a tough re-election campaign, said Thursday that Means was clear he wanted what was best for Etowah County, where he lived. She also said he did not ask for the $100,000 in exchange for his vote, but that is what she told Massey.

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Pouncy said Sen. Quinton Ross, D-Montgomery, never threatened to vote for or against the bill if he did not receive a contribution and that there was never an agreement with Ross concerning his vote. Prosecutors and government witnesses have accused Ross of pushing for campaign contributions leading up to the Senate vote on the gambling bill. Pouncy has said Ross became more demanding.

"He was upset because Jarrod was not returning his phone calls," she said Thursday.
Massey contributed to Ross in December 2009.

Pouncy agreed that Massey wrote a "slew" of checks for contributions to candidates in November and December 2009, for people who did and did not support gambling, and for Democrats and Republicans.

Pouncy said several of those checks were probably written after candidates called their office

"I think there was some pressure," she said and added that was not uncommon.
Pouncy said Thursday there is nothing improper in itself about a candidate asking for money.

Pouncy said Ross never told her how much he was seeking from Massey. She and Massey have said Ross was demanding $20,000 to $25,000.

Means and Ross are also defendants in the case.

False statement

FBI Agent George Glaser testified Thursday to interviewing Preuitt and Pouncy soon before the investigation into the corruption became public. He said he told both of them that lying to a federal agent is a crime.

After some argument from attorneys, U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson ruled that Glaser could testify to the charge against Preuitt for making a false statement to a federal agent, but that the jury was not to take into consideration any testimony about other charges or other defendants.

Thompson said comments by Preuitt during that interview clearly would have been an effort by the former senator to conceal the conspiracy.

Preuitt, Glaser said, told him he had been lobbied by Pouncy and had talked to Gilley, but was not aware of any corruption.

When asked about her original discussion with agents on March 31, 2010, Pouncy said, "I don't remember a lot because I was pretty upset and pretty scared."

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Pouncy said she worked for Massey for little more than a month after she began cooperating with the FBI before she was placed on administrative leave and subsequently fired. She said Massey became paranoid and kept part of the office off limits to her.She said she was never asked to wear a wire.

Pouncy said Massey and Gilley tried to keep her from cooperating with authorities even after she had began to talk to the FBI. Pouncy said Massey was willing to pay her legal fees and had said he would give her a raise.

Changing testimony

On Thursday, defense attorneys received a transcript of the court proceedings from when Pouncy entered a plea agreement and pointed to what they said were serious discrepancies between her comments then and comments she has made in court this week.

Attorneys for the nine defendants tried to have Pouncy's testimony stopped and sought to have Thompson instruct the jury to ignore her previous testimony.

When asked during a September hearing on her plea agreement if she made the $2 million offer to Preuitt when talking to him about his vote, she said "not at the direct time." She did say that it was her understanding the contributions were being offered in exchange for his vote.

Pouncy also has testified in this case that Preuitt later asked her if the financial commitment would still be there if the Senate passed the bill but the Alabama House of Representatives did not. After talking to Massey, she said she went back to him and said the commitment was there.

When asked in plea proceedings whether Preuitt asked if that commitment would still be good regardless of the House vote, Pouncy replied, "he didn't ask me that."

Pouncy, in her plea proceeding, said she didn't know what the commitment was because Preuitt didn't commit to taking the $2 million. She has said this week that they offered Preuitt the $2 million, country music stars to perform at his campaign events and other campaign help including running a poll for him.

When asked in her plea proceeding about Ross, Pouncy said he was demanding contributions to ensure his continued support of gambling legislation and that he would no longer support the bill if he did not receive the money. In this case, Pouncy and Massey have said Ross was always a supporter of the legislation and that they did not discuss his vote with him.

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Pouncy, in her plea proceeding, said Ross called Massey on March 30, 2010, and asked for $25,000 in exchange for his vote. The Senate voted on the gambling bill on March 30.

Pouncy and Massey have said Ross and Massey talked that day at the State House, but Massey said he told Ross he would not contribute then, but would after the vote.

Susan James, an attorney for former Country Crossing spokesman Jay Walker, apparently became suspicious that the plea agreements of Massey and Gilley were public, but that Pouncy's remained under seal.

James pushed attorneys for VictoryLand owner Milton McGregor to make a motion to have the documents unsealed. They received the documents Thursday morning.

Bill Baxley, an attorney for lobbyist Tom Coker, said this was possibly the most important issue taken up in court. McGregor, Walker and Coker, a lobbyist for McGregor, are defendants in the case.

Baxley, a former state attorney general, said the prosecution should have provided the information sooner. Defense attorneys said they would have handled the case differently if they had known about the testimony from that proceeding.

Prosecutor Steve Feaga said they received the transcript at the same time and that Pouncy's testimony was consistent. He said the plea deal with Pouncy was different and handled under seal because she pleaded before the original 11 defendants, including Massey and Gilley, were indicted and arrested.

"It was not in our possession," Feaga said of Pouncy's testimony. He said the prosecution also did not object to defense attorneys filing for the transcript.

"This one didn't come to us because it was sealed," Feaga said.

The judge overruled the arguments from defense attorneys, but said that could be used in questioning Pouncy, who will return to the witness stand for a fourth day today.

The witnesses following Pouncy will be former state Sen. Steve French, R-Mountain Brook, and Josh Blades, then-deputy chief of staff for Gov. Bob Riley and currently chief of staff for House Speaker Mike Hubbard, R-Auburn. A prosecutor said each of those should only take about an hour on direct examination.