Iowa: Judge upholds Daniel charges

Judge upholds Daniel charges
Daniel: ‘We’ll let a jury decide if I did anything wrong’
By BILL SHEA, Messenger staff writer , Messenger News

A judge has refused to dismiss charges against Fort Dodge businessman Steve Daniel in a criminal case stemming from an alleged illegal campaign contribution to Gov. Chet Culver made a little more than two years ago.

In a ruling issued Friday, Polk County Associate District Court Judge William Price rejected requests to toss out the charges of making a campaign contribution in the name of another and willful failure to disclose a campaign contribution. The ruling clears the way for a trial scheduled to begin Jan. 23 in Des Moines.

Price also refused to dismiss those same charges against Webster County Entertainment, a group led by Daniel that worked to get a state gaming license for the proposed Diamond Jo Fort Dodge casino.

Another co-defendant, Curtis Beason, of Davenport, fared a little better in Friday's ruling. Price threw out a charge of making a campaign contribution in the name of another which was filed against him by Special Prosecutor Lawrence Scalise. However, the judge allowed charges of failure to properly disclose a campaign contribution and obstruction to proceed to trial.

''The judge made his determination so now we'll let a jury decide if I did anything wrong,'' Daniel said Friday evening. ''I don't believe for a minute that I did anything wrong.''

He said he's ready for the trial ''whenever they want to have one.''

''On behalf of Steve Daniel, I was disappointed that the charges were not dismissed,'' Monty Fisher, Daniel's attorney, said Friday afternoon.

Fisher, of Fort Dodge, said he will meet with Daniel to decide their next move. He said they will consider filing an appeal with the Iowa Supreme Court.

Leon Spies, an Iowa City attorney representing Beason, said he was ''heartened'' that Price threw out one of the charges against his client. Spies plans to talk to fellow attorney Mark Weinhardt and Beason to map out their next steps.

Scalise did not return a call seeking comment on the judge's decision.

The ruling came in the wake of two days of hearings last month before Price.

In the ruling, Price described Daniel as an ''intelligent, well-spoken individual who is a respected local businessman.''

Price rejected the argument that the charges against Daniel should be dismissed because Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation agents did not tell him a criminal probe was under way. The judge wrote that Daniel was told his statements to agents could be used for any lawful purpose.

''At no time was he misled by DCI agents,'' he wrote.

He also wrote that the charge of making a campaign contribution in the name of another against Beason must be dismissed because there's no evidence Beason controlled the money that was donated.

Price wrote that other arguments raised by the attorneys seeking to get the charges dismissed are matters of fact which must be determined by a jury.

Scalise and fellow Special Prosecutor Richard McConville claim that Daniel funneled campaign cash to Culver on behalf of Peninsula Gaming LLC of Dubuque when he made his donation in November 2009. Scalise said during the November hearings that Beason was ''director, architect and orchestrator of the entire program to disguise the true source of the dollars.''

Peninsula Gaming is the company that was chosen to operate the Diamond Jo Fort Dodge if a state license was obtained. However, in May 2010 the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission declined to issue the needed license.

Attorneys in the case disagree on how much money was donated. Scalise and McConville have said the amount was $25,000.

However, Fisher has said the total was $11,000 paid in increments of $4,500, $4,500 and $2,000.

Prosecutors claim the donation was made shortly after Peninsula Gaming paid Webster County Entertainment $25,000 as a consulting fee. During last month's hearings, Scalise said that within days of the $25,000 being deposited in the Webster County Entertainment account, checks were written to Daniel, Jim Kesterson and Merrill Leffler Jr. Kesterson and Leffler are Fort Dodge men who were partners with Daniel in Webster County Entertainment. Scalise said the three then wrote checks to the governor's re-election campaign.

Kesterson and Leffler were never charged with any crimes.

Peninsula Gaming and its top officers, CEO Brent Stevens and Jonathan Swain, the chief operating officer, were initially charged with making a campaign contribution in the name of another and willful failure to disclose a campaign contribution.

The charges against Daniel, Webster County Entertainment, Beason, Peninsula Gaming, Stevens and Swain were filed on Oct. 11, 2010, following a probe by the DCI.

The prosecutors dropped the charges against Peninsula, Stevens and Swain on May 13. Peninsula is now paying the costs of the prosecution, a scenario that Fisher has called an ''extraordinary situation.''