Alabama: McGregor get caught

Milton McGregor who escaped conviction because Alabama voters apparently believe bribery, generous campaign contributions and vote-buying didnt fare as well with this jury.

This jury instead emptied his wallet with a $64 million reward for his chicanery.

Jury awards $64 million in bingo lawsuit
Written by Cody Muzio Special to the Advertiser
May. 25, 2012

Milton McGregor talks while at the law office of Melton Espy & Williams in downtown Montgomery, Ala., on March 8, 2012. A federal jury awarded plaintiffs $64.1 million in compensatory and punitive damages in a suit that contended VictoryLand owner Milton McGregor conspired with Macon County Sheriff David Warren to prevent potential competitor Lucky Palace casino from acquiring a license to operate charity bingo in Macon County. / LLOYD GALLMAN/ADVERTISER FILE

Attorneys for McGregor, who found himself back in court after walking away unscathed from gambling corruption charges in February, said they will appeal the verdict that the jury came back with after almost nine hours of deliberation and after an almost three-week civil trial.

Under the verdict, Lucky Palace would receive $42.21 in compensatory damages, 15 charities would divide $126,000 in compensatory damages and all 16 plaintiffs would divide $20 million in punitive damages.

From 2004, when Lucky Palace was conceived, through 2006, Lucky Palace obtained contracts with 22 associated charities, made preliminary agreements for funding and management and began discussions with Warren to build and operate a new electronic bingo facility across the street from VictoryLand.

But Lucky Palace failed to receive a license.

After being denied a bingo license because of the lack of an existing building, Lucky Palace began to propose amendments to the Macon County bingo rules and funded the sheriff’s opponent in the 2006 elections.

After those efforts failed, Lucky Palace and 15 of their contracted charities sued VictoryLand, McGregor and Warren, claiming violation of their constitutional rights under the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment.

The plaintiffs said that VictoryLand conspired with Warren to keep them out of Macon County, an “intentional interference with contractual and business relations,” that VictoryLand and McGregor had a “pervasive presence” in the lawmaking process and that they exploited a conflict of interest in the lawyers who helped draft the rules and regulations for bingo in the county.

The suit also alleged that Warren discriminated against the plaintiffs by applying his rules to Lucky Palace’s charities irrationally, arbitrarily and differently than he did to VictoryLand’s similarly situated charities.

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The rules were originally drafted by John Bolton and David Johnston, two VictoryLand attorneys, and Fred Gray Jr., an attorney for Warren and son of VictoryLand lawyer Fred Gray Sr.

These rules state that in order for charities to receive class B bingo licenses for Macon County, a company or individual must contract at least 15 Alabama charities to receive funding from the bingo operations, with a cap of 60 such contracted charities allowed to operate bingo in the county.

Additionally, the land and facility must be worth at least $15 million and must be inspected and approved as a “qualified location” by the sheriff’s rules.

Although Warren testified that the addition was intended to demonstrate a commitment on the part of the company before the license was to be issued, the rules do not specify whether the facility must be inspected before or after the issuance of licensing, a recurring subject of debate during the trial.

Representatives of Lucky Palace, including Paul Bracy Jr., the company’s founder, and Jess Ravich, one of the investors who expressed interest in the business, testified that they needed the licensing, or at least pre-approval for licensing, in order to receive the funding necessary to begin construction.

The defense maintained that the Macon County rules and regulations for electronic bingo were agreed upon and signed by the sheriff and thus his to interpret and enforce as he saw fit.

According to testimony, Warren interpreted the rules to require that a building and qualified location be present before a bingo license was to be given.

The defense also argued that even if Lucky Palace had built a facility, they would not have been eligible for a license.

Because VictoryLand had contractual agreements with 53 charities by the time Lucky Palace had originally hoped to be open in 2006 and the regulations required a minimum of 15 charities per operator and a 60-charity maximum for the county, there was no more room for another casino under existing rules, another impetus for Lucky Palace’s several proposed rule changes.

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Defense attorneys argued that VictoryLand’s agreements with its 53 charities were not only acceptable under Macon County rules, but also constitutionally protected competitive privilege.

Simply put, McGregor and VictoryLand’s lawyers said nothing done was illegal, just shrewd business.

The jury thought differently, voting that McGregor and VictoryLand intentionally interfered with contractual and business relations, that Warren, McGregor and VictoryLand conspired and that Warren violated the Equal Protection rights of the plaintiff charities.

James Anderson, Warren’s attorney, said that U.S. District Judge Keith Watkins reserved ruling on the charges against the sheriff.

Because the jury’s verdict found Warren had unintentionally misinterpreted the Macon County rules, Watkins will take the jury’s verdict in an advisory capacity and will rule on the charges himself.

Bracy called the result a win for the charities.

“It’s quite a victory,” he said.

“I had a lot of people depending on me, the charities, the investors and the people of Macon County, and all I prayed for them was justice. And it prevailed.”

But VictoryLand attorney Peter Tepley said there were still several issues pending in the case that could result in the judge throwing out many of the charges involved.

Tepley also said that an appellate process is already under way, calling questions of an appeal “the understatement of the year.”

Lucky Palace attorney Stephen Heniger said his team was ready.

“Bring it on,” Heniger said.




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