Alabama: 4th Person Enters Guilty Plea

Former Alabama Rep. Terry Spicer to become 4th gambling guilty plea
PHILLIP RAWLS Associated Press

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Former state Rep. Terry Spicer of Elba is due in federal court on Tuesday to become the fourth person to plead guilty in Alabama's gambling corruption investigation.

Court papers show U.S. Magistrate Judge Wallace Capel Jr. has scheduled a 9:30 a.m. hearing in Montgomery for Spicer to enter a plea to a single charge of bribery involving thousands of dollars in cash, campaign contributions and gifts.

Spicer was charged after two of the three people who have pleaded guilty in the case, casino developer Ronnie Gilley and casino lobbyist Jarrod Massey, testified in federal court about paying money to the ex-lawmaker when he was in the Legislature. Federal prosecutors charged Spicer through an information rather than indictment, which is the usual way a plea agreement is handled.

Justice Department spokeswoman Laura Sweeney said Monday the agency would comment after the hearing. Spicer and his attorney did not return phone calls seeking comment Monday.

Massey, who is awaiting sentencing, said Monday, "Our prayers go out to him and his family. We know what they are going to be dealing with."

Spicer, a 46-year-old Democrat, served in the Legislature from 1998 to 2010, when he was defeated. He was hired as Elba's superintendent in 2009 and has an annual salary of $106,941.

Massey, who is awaiting sentencing, said Monday that his prayers go out to Spicer because he knows what Spicer and his family are going through.
Gilley testified in federal court this summer that he gave Spicer $20,000 in campaign contributions for supporting pro-gambling legislation designed to help Country Crossing's electronic bingo casino open in Dothan. He also talked about providing tickets to his Bama Jam music festival in Enterprise.

Massey represented many clients at the Legislature, including Country Crossing. He testified that Spicer was a friend who used his legislative position to help Massey line up Lobbying clients. He said he made monthly payments to Spicer for a seven-year period ending in 2009. He said the payments started small but quickly escalated to $3,000 per month. He also testified that he provided $9,000 to Spicer in 2009 for a boat.

He testified the payments ended after Spicer, who worked for a community college during most of his legislative tenure, was questioned by federal authorities in 2009 as part of their investigation into corruption in Alabama's two-year college system. That investigation resulted in three legislators being convicted or pleading guilty.

The bribery charge against Spicer involves only his last term in the Legislature from 2006 to 2010 and does not relate to his superintendent's job, according to court documents.

Phone calls Monday to three members of the Elba Board of Education about Spicer's job status were not returned. The executive director of the Alabama Association of School Boards, Sally Howell, has said state law doesn't allow a city superintendent to remain in office after pleading guilty to a felony.

In addition to Gilley and Massey, the other person who has pleaded guilty in the gambling investigation is Country Crossing lobbyist Jennifer Pouncy.

Pouncy, Gilley and Massey testified at a federal court trial this summer where the jury acquitted two people indicted in the gambling corruption case and couldn't resolve the charges against seven others. The seven, including VictoryLand casino owner Milton McGregor and three present and former state senators, are scheduled for retrial starting Jan. 30 in Montgomery.





Prosecutors list hundreds of possible exhibits for Alabama gambling retrial
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Montgomery, Ala. — Prosecutors in Alabama's gambling corruption case have submitted a list of several hundred possible exhibits they may present at the retrial in January.

The list includes everything from financial records of some defendants to photos of upscale restaurants where talks about gambling legislation were held.

Prosecutors with the U.S. Justice Department submitted the 14-page list Monday as part of their preparation for the retrial of the seven defendants starting Jan. 30 in Montgomery. Many of the items were included in the first trial this summer, such as bank and phone records. But some items on the list weren't presented in the first trial, such as a photo of a fur coat.

Most of the defendants are accused of trading campaign contributions for votes on pro-gambling legislation.