Alabama: Randy Own Performed in Exchange For Vote

Taped calls: Country stars push senator to vote for gambling bill
Written by Sebastian Kitchen

Country music 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 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" from 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, Gilley said in the recording.

"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 to tell him 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 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.

Jones and Owen, like some other country musicians, had or were going to have busi­nesses named for them at Gilley's Country Crossing in Houston County, which had restaurants, a bingo pavilion and other attractions. Gilley has said Jones was paid to be the national spokesman for the development.

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Pouncy was on the witness stand Wednesday for a sec­ond day in a federal corrup­tion trial that alleges casino interests bribed state law­makers to vote for the gam­bling legislation. Nine defen­dants, including VictoryLand owner Milton McGregor and 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.

Shakedown

In other conversations played in court, Pouncy, Gilley and Massey talked about securing the votes of Sens. Larry Means, D-Attal­la, and Jim Preuitt of Talla­dega, who was a Democrat at the time, but soon switched parties. Means and Preuitt are defendants in the case.

Federal prosecutor Steve Feaga played a tape again Wednesday in which Massey calls Gilley and said they were getting a "shakedown" from Means. Pouncy testi­fied that Means told her that morning that he was going to have a tough re-election campaign and needed $100,000. Pouncy said she was there when Massey called Gilley to relay the in­formation and referred to the "shakedown." Gilley ap­proved the contribution dur­ing the call from Massey.

Pouncy, when asked in court Wednesday, said she never used the term "shake­down."

Playing the game

Massey, in a phone con­versation with Pouncy played in court Wednesday, said Means is "playing this game."

"They're probably going to be fine at the end of the day," Massey said of the votes by Means and Preuitt.

Pouncy and Massey have said, in tapes played in court, that Preuitt's concern was not related to the bill or to money, but to him being up­set with McGregor and Paul Hubbert of the Alabama Ed­ucation Association.

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Preuitt also wanted to be sure, according to testimony, that Etowah County which is in Means' district was per­mitted in the legislation to have a casino.

The commitment

Pouncy testified Tuesday to offering $2 million in cam­paign contributions to Pre­uitt for him to vote for the gambling legislation, but said that he changed the subject. She said he later asked if the commitment would stand if the bill died in the House of Representatives.

In a March 24, 2010, con­versation between Massey and Pouncy, she said she told Preuitt "the commitment stands."

The long ride

Pouncy said the FBI ap­proached her March 31, 2010. She said an agent rode with her in her vehicle as they went to the FBI office. The lobbyist said she was nervous.
Pouncy said she lied origi­nally and said she would be shocked if anyone from her firm was involved in bribery. Those agents, she said, in­formed her that lying to an agent was a felony. Pouncy said she has not been charged with that crime.

Pouncy, who had a child in February 2009, tearfully said she was worried about her child, her husband and her parents. She said she hired an attorney and her attorney approached the U.S. Depart­ment of Justice about trying to reach a plea agreement so she did not have to serve time in prison.

The trial ended at 11:30 a.m. Wednesday for the fu­neral of U.S. District Judge Ira DeMent, who died Satur­day. Pouncy will return to the stand at 9 a.m. today.

Alabama: Randy Owen Offers to Sing in Exchange for Pro-Gambling Vote

Wiretap Suggests Country Stars Made Singing Offer to Alabama Senator for Vote on Gambling
FoxNews.com

Country music stars George Jones and Randy Owen offered to perform with a former recording artist-turned-state lawmaker in Alabama in exchange for his vote on pro-gambling legislation, according to phone calls secretly recorded by the FBI and played this week during a federal gambling corruption trial.

The stars sought to capitalize on a request that then-state Sen. Bobby Denton, known as the "singing senator," made before he was inducted into the Alabama Music Hall of Fame in March 2010, the Montgomery Advertiser reported.


When Denton had asked Owen, lead singer of the country band Alabama, if he could sing a song from his Christmas CD, Owen told him he would sing with him if he voted for the gambling legislation, according to wiretap of a casino developer and his two lobbyists who discussed the conversation.

Country Crossing developer Ronnie Gilley told lobbyist Jennifer Pouncy and her boss, Jarrod Massey, to let Denton know that if he voted for the legislation, Jones would sing with him too and that music executive James Stroud would produce it, the newspaper reported. All three involved in the case have pleaded guilty to charges relating to corruption, bribery and conspiracy.

Gilley said earlier in the trial that Owen, who may still be called to testify, also pushed then-state Sen. Charles Bishop to vote for the legislation.

Owen's manager did not return a message from FoxNews.com seeking comment.

Denton, who had traditionally opposed gambling legislation, voted for the bill that month. Even though it passed in the Senate, it died in the Alabama House after the FBI announced its investigation of state corruption the next month.

Denton, known for recording some of the first hits out of Muscle Shoals, retired from the Senate in 2010 but is not a defendant in the trial. He has not been accused of any wrongdoing. But the testimony on Wednesday focused on him to show how hard supporters of the bill were working to get the necessary 21 votes.

Pouncy has testified that she offered $2 million in campaign contributions to indicted Sen. Jim Preuitt and $100,000 to indicted Sen. Larry Means to win their votes for the legislation. Country Crossing, a family entertainment center that opened in 2009 with more than 1,700 electronic bingo machines, closed after being raided and accused of running illegal slots.

The bingo games have not been allowed to operate since the state Supreme Court tightened the definition of what constitutes an electronic bingo machine. Cross Country's facilities may be allowed to reopen this year if new machines are installed.

Venues at the facility are named after country singers, including Owen, Lorrie Morgan, John Anderson and Darryl Worley. A bed and breakfast is named for George Jones.

Denton said in an interview Wednesday with The Associated Press that he was not influenced by Jones' and Owen's participation in the induction. He said he decided to vote for the bill to avoid a fllibuster so the legislative session could get on to other critical issues like the state budget.

"As far as pressure or taking about the issue, we didn't do it," he said.

Prosecutors say they could wrap up their portion of the seven-week-old trial early next week after Pouncy's testimony wraps up Friday and four more witnesses are called. Defense attorneys are trying to stop two of the remaining witnesses from appearing.

Prosecutors want one of Gov. Bob Riley's former aides, Josh Blades, to testify about what Preuitt told Blades about another defendant, Sen. Harri Anne Smith. Prosecutors also want to present an FBI agent to offer government and bank records to back up testimony that has been presented by Gilley and others.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.