FEDERAL COURT 

Bank manager spent $1 million in embezzled money on online gambling

MATTHEW LANE • NOV 4, 2016 AT 3:16 PM

mlane@timesnews.net

GREENEVILLE — A former bank manager has agreed to plead guilty to federal tax evasion charges after he embezzled nearly $1 million from various accounts and lost the money through online gambling websites.

Kenneth Miller agreed to plead guilty in U.S. District Court in Greeneville last month to a five-count information charging him with theft by a bank officer/employee and four counts of tax evasion.

Miller faces up to 30 years in prison and a $1 million fine on the theft charge and five years in prison and a $100,000 fine on the tax evasion charges. A change of plea hearing is scheduled for Nov. 28.

The charges are in connection to Miller’s embezzlement of nearly $1 million while he worked as the manager of a First Tennessee Bank location in Greeneville. Prosecutors say the embezzlement took place from April 2012 to February 2016.

According to court records, Miller started working at First Tennessee Bank in May 2000 and moved to various branches within the company until finally becoming the Financial Center Manager of the company’s Greeneville Main Street location.

First Tennessee fired Miller in February once the embezzlement was discovered.

Prosecutors say Miller misapplied $1.16 million from numerous savings accounts, certificates of deposit, lines of credit and individual retirement accounts. However, not all of the money was obtained by Miller.

Court records show Miller moved some of the money between accounts to conceal earlier misapplications of funds. Shortly after discovering the loss, First Tennessee reimbursed most of the losses sustained by account holders, court records state.

As far as personally benefiting from the embezzlement, prosecutors say Miller took just over $967,000, which was lost or spent at online gambling sites DraftKings and FanDuel.

In addition to the embezzlement, Miller filed false federal tax returns from 2012 through 2015, evading approximately $161,000 in federal income taxes. The total loss caused by Miller’s actions was $1.08 million, court records state.

Prosecutors are seeking an $883,000 judgment against Miller.

Once the story of Miller’s embezzlement broke earlier this year, his wife, Erica, filed two lawsuits in Greene County Chancery Court against DraftKings and FanDuel seeking the recovery of gambling losses. Erica Miller claims in her lawsuits that the DraftKings and FanDuel websites violate Tennessee gambling laws.

The two cases were transferred to federal court earlier this year, but have since been remanded to state court.

http://www.timesnews.net/Law-Enforcement/2016/11/04/Local-bank-manager-spent-1-million-in-embezzled-money-for-online-gambling

The widespread political support for all things 'horses' provoked curiosity about the training and treatment of horses for various uses that few question.  

Cruelty Exposed in Gaited Horse World

• by Alicia Graef
• May 19, 2012

A recent undercover investigation by the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) at a training barn for Tennessee Walking horses exposed the cruelty these horses endure to achieve an unnatural high stepping gait otherwise known as the “Big Lick.”

According to the HSUS, the investigation led to criminal charges for felony conspiracy to violate the Horse Protection Act (HPA), in addition to violations of the Tennessee Cruelty to Animals Statute against nationally recognized trainer Jackie McConnell, who has a history of horse abuse, and his associates, Jeff Dockery, John Mays and Joseph R. Abernathy after they were caught “soring” horses.

Soring of all breeds has been banned for decades under the HPA, but the technique is still used by unethical trainers to get that high step. The practice involves methods that include putting caustic substances, such as mustard oil, Croton oil mixed with kerosene or diesel oil, on the sensitive skin around their hooves at their pasterns, bulbs of their heels and coronary bands to cause blistering, burning and irritation and wrapping them in plastic wrap to make sure its absorbed, which makes them quickly lift their legs to avoid pain.

Chains may also be used to add to the pain because chemically burning the crap out of their legs apparently just doesn’t quite do the trick by itself. Some people also use Salicylic Acid to cover the visible damage that’s been done. After all of that, some are trained not to react to having their legs touched, which is what is happening to the horse in the video that is being beaten over the head.
Pads, or stacks, may also be used on the front hooves to raise a horse’s forehand to add even more animation, but this causes unbalanced feet, among other problems. Objects may also be placed between the pad and the hoof to cause even more pain and discomfort.

To help enforce regulations under the HPA, APHIS developed a program that appointed Designated Qualified Persons (DQPs) to inspect horses at shows before every class and disqualify horses who show signs of soring. DQPs may be vets, farriers, trainers or other knowledgeable individuals in the industry. This leads to an incredible conflict of interest since they may be Big Lick supporters with industry friends, which leaves the Tennessee Walking horse world to essentially self-regulate. However, larger shows are usually overseen by veterinary medical officers (VMOs), inspectors or investigators.

Unfortunately, the HPA doesn’t cover what happens at home, it only protects horses during transportation and at shows.

In 2006, the World Grand Champion Class was cancelled at the annual Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration for the first time in its 68 year history after seven of the 10 horses were disqualified because they couldn’t pass a USDA inspection. A total of 103 violations of the HPA were found at the show that year.


But even the number of violations isn’t always accurate. Some people just leave before getting caught. In 2008, one of the biggest shows in Kentucky practically shut down after USDA inspectors showed up, which left 40 horses who were shown when there were typically between 500 to 550. Talk about clearing a room.

Since the HSUS investigation was aired on CBS, at least one sponsor of the Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration, Pepsi, has withdrawn as a sponsor. McConnell is due in court on Tuesday and will reportedly be pleading guilty to one count with all other charges being dismissed. The Walking Horse Trainers’ Association board has also pulled McConnell’s credentials.

The really sad thing here is how surprised all of the industry organizations are pretending to be about soring. They may claim they don’t support it, but if they really didn’t, standards for the breed would not have developed into what they are now, abused horses wouldn’t place at shows, trainers would be getting fired left and right and Tennessee Walkers would be showing off their natural gaits, instead of being admired for hideous incredibly exaggerated, seizure-like movements that are the result of ongoing torture.

For information on how to help these horses, visit For the Tennessee Walking Horse.



Related Stories:
Five Horses Killed in Two Days at Cheltenham
Madeleine Pickens’ Wild Horse Sanctuary Moves Forward
Atlantic City Diving Horse Act Shut Down


Read more: http://www.care2.com/causes/cruelty-exposed-in-gaited-horse-world.html#ixzz1vQ6m9zU9

Tenn. woman slain at Hollywood's Tunica, Miss. casino was pregnant

Tenn. woman slain at Miss. casino was pregnant
By: HOLBROOK MOHR Associated Press
Published: April 06, 2012

JACKSON, Miss. --
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) A Tennessee woman who appears to have been killed with a sharp object at a Mississippi casino hotel was five- to six-months pregnant, authorities said Friday.

Brandi Nicole Floyd, 25, was found early Thursday on the floor of room 139 at Hollywood Casino's hotel in Tunica County, Miss. Nathaniel Yates III, believed to be Floyd's boyfriend, was arrested on suspicion of murder.

Floyd and Yates are from Collierville, Tenn. Casino officials said they were together when checking in to the hotel.

Deputies went to the hotel after receiving a report about a disturbance at 5:52 a.m., Chief Deputy Randy Stewart said.

Yates, 34, allegedly tried to escape by jumping through the glass of the first-floor window and was subdued with a stun gun. He remained hospitalized Friday at Baptist Memorial Hospital-Desoto Hospital with cuts and bruises from jumping through the glass. His injuries are not considered life threatening, Stewart said.

Yates was being guarded at the hospital and will be taken into custody when he's released, authorities said.

Stewart said an autopsy was being performed Friday and investigators will discuss those findings with county prosecutors and decide which charge or charges Yates will face. It's possible he could be charged with the deaths of Floyd and her fetus.

Steward said it appears a sharp object was used to kill the woman. A knife found at the scene was sent to the state crime lab for forensic testing to help determine if it was the weapon used in the slaying.

Stewart said Floyd's body was found on the floor of the room after Yates jumped out the window. Medical responders were called to the scene, but the coroner later declared her dead.

Tunica County, about 30 miles south of Memphis, Tenn., has nine casinos on the Mississippi River. Hollywood Casino has a 54,000-square-foot gambling hall and a 494-room hotel.

Casino spokesman Jeff Strang has said gambling operations continued and that no other patrons were in danger due to the situation.

Hollywood Casino is owned by Wyomissing, Pa.-based Penn National Gaming Inc.

Sevier County realtor sentenced to two years in fraud scheme

Defense attorney Joe Baker argued McCarter has spent most of his life serving the community through sporting events and charitable deeds before succumbing to a gambling addiction that drained his finances.

"Mr. McCarter is before the court with half a century of law-abiding behavior," Baker said.



Sevier County realtor sentenced to two years in fraud scheme
By Jamie Satterfield

A high-rolling Sevier County realtor thought the odds were good he would pay back his unsuspecting victims before his crimes were discovered.

He lost that bet.

Now, Jacky Randall McCarter, a confessed gambling addict who once ruled as a "million-dollar producer" in the real estate market in Sevier County and enjoyed social prominence as well, is headed to federal prison for two years.

"It wasn't set out to be a scheme I honestly thought, somehow, someway, it would be repaid," McCarter said Friday of the money he stole in what IRS Criminal Investigator Susanne Lee called a real estate version of a Ponzi scheme. "They were my friends, they really were, and I didn't think in no certain terms this would happen."

U.S. District Judge Thomas Phillips was unmoved.

"He did this (thievery) not once but several times, obtaining fraudulent loans to pay off other fraudulent loans," Phillips said. "The defendant also derived money from embezzling from two local youth sports organizations."

McCarter's financial crimes have landed him in legal hot water in both state and federal court. Last year, he confessed in Sevier County Circuit Court to a slew of fraud and theft charges for bilking more than $500,000 from friends and business partners who gave him money to invest in real estate transactions he never made and stealing $25,000 from the English Mountain Youth Football Conference. He was sentenced to 10 years of probation.

He also pleaded guilty last year in U.S. District Court to five counts of mortgage fraud and money laundering. Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Morris said those charges involved a scheme to draw up fake quit claim deeds on various properties he did not own and use them as collateral to garner loans from Tennessee State Bank in Sevierville.

Lee testified McCarter also ripped off friends and business associates by taking money for properties he promised to buy for them but didn't. To avoid detection, he then would concoct fictitious buyers for those same properties, using money stolen from one victim via fraud to repay another.

She estimated that, from 2004 through 2008, McCarter's crimes netted him at least $713,000. The IRS launched its probe in 2009.

Defense attorney Joe Baker argued McCarter has spent most of his life serving the community through sporting events and charitable deeds before succumbing to a gambling addiction that drained his finances.

"Mr. McCarter is before the court with half a century of law-abiding behavior," Baker said.

But Phillips noted McCarter squandered the "advantages" he enjoyed as a member of a family whose name was both well-known and respected in Sevier County for decades now.

Millington Mayor Announces Retirement

Millington Mayor Richard Hodges Announces Retirement
Bofta Yimam
FOX13 News

MILLINGTON, Tenn. - Millington Mayor Richard Hodges is retiring. The embattled mayor made that announcement at Monday night's Board of Aldermen meeting.

Last month, Hodges was indicted on two counts of bribery. The charges came after an investigation into illegal gambling and corruption in Millington. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigations raided several city buildings, including Hodges' office, earlier this year.

Hodges had maintained his innocence, saying the investigation was political and he had done nothing wrong.

Still, he said few words before the city's attorney, Barbara Lapides, read his retirement letter in front of a packed hall. More than 80 people turned out, many expecting the mayor's decision to step down.

Bowing down to pressure, Hodges announced his retirement effective January 13, 2012. He blamed some media outlets for already convicting him.

The mayor says he'll stay in office for 60 days to finish some projects, and allow the media to focus on other issues.

Millington Mayor Indicted

Hodges’ Attorneys Urge Public to Withhold Judgment
By Bill Dries

Attorneys for Millington Mayor Richard Hodges said Thursday, Oct. 13, the public should withhold its judgment until both sides of the corruption case against him are heard in court.

Hodges, who was indicted on two counts of bribery by the Shelby County grand jury and arrested in the Millington mayor’s office Wednesday, has hired attorneys Thomas Parker and Lori Patterson of Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz PC to represent him.

Hodges was released on bond Wednesday evening following his arrest, which came after raids by Tennessee Bureau of Investigation agents on several locations, including his home, Millington City Hall and the Millington Police Department.

An affidavit released with the search warrant documents said TBI was investigating allegations of illegal gambling in Millington in which Hodges had gambling debts and allegedly used his office to repay the debts or hold off repaying the debts.

“At this point, the state has merely presented an indictment and charged Mayor Hodges,” Parker and Patterson said Thursday in a written statement. “The indictment is a summary of the state’s theory, but it has very little detail. We look forward to learning more from the state about its theories in the case.”

They declined comment on details of the corruption case.

Tennessee: Millilngton Embattled Over Corruption

Mayor Hodges' Son Leads Prayer Vigil For Embattled City
Bonny Kinney

FAST FACTS
The son of embattled Millington Mayor Richard Hodges led a prayer vigil

A handful of supporters showed up to pray for the city

The vigil happened the same day the TBI released investigation documents
(Millington, TN 8/5/2011)

Unaware that the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation was preparing to release documents detailing the corruption investigation into his father, Daniel Hodges was rallying supporters to come to a prayer vigil at Millington City Hall. Hodges says it was not a rally for his father, Millington Mayor Richard Hodges, rather a call to God to care for the city.

"There is a lot going on right now and we just need to pray for God to put his hand on the city and just do what has to be done," said Angela Hodges, Daniel's wife.

Daniel Hodges said while he didn't know the documents were going to be released Friday, he did see the allegations against his father.

"I don't know what's true and what's false. I can't enlighten you on any of that. I wish I could. I wish I could stand here and say my dad is innocent or my dad is guilty. People are very quick to judge. There are obviously millions of rumors going around and they're not all true," Daniel Hodges said.

The TBI says Mayor Hodges participated in gambling at the Millington shop "Transmission Doctors." According to the documents, he had also accrued debt totalling more than $10 thousand, and was willing to offer city services in exchange for settling the debt. According to a confidential informant, Hodges talked about $40 thousand dollars worth of drainage work, and told him that the City of Millington was going to provide, "drainage work, curb cut, trees, grass and other work done outside of his business in Millington."

The documents also detail a conversation about giving the informant a real Millington police badge in exchange for money. Apparently Millington Police Chief Ray Douglas knew about the badge offer, but told authorities he did not want to give a police badge to the informant. The documents also state Chief Douglas knew about the gambling, but did not play.

The documents also say Mayor Hodges blamed the confidential informant for a previous suicide attempt by his wife, Rita, after the informant told the Mayor's wife he was still gambling at the transmission shop. Rita Hodges committed suicide the day before the city raids. On Monday, Mayor Hodges clutched a picture of his wife of 35 years, calling her his rock and promising to keep her picture at his seat in the City Aldermen chambers.

"None of us has really been able to grieve properly over this situation because of this other deal going on. But we trust in Jesus and that's where we put our own faith," Daniel Hodges said.

The young Hodges says whatever happens, he will always be there for his father.

"I will definitely support my dad no matter what the outcome is because no matter what happens with the Mayor's position and all that, he's still my father," Daniel Hodges said.


Commissioner responds to court documents mentioning his name and gambling
Tom Powell

FAST FACTS:
NC3 obtains court papers in Millington Corruption Case
Document talks about Commissioner Terry Roland's role as a whistle blower
Witness also claims he gambled with Roland

(Millington, TN) -- Name your game. Poker? Blackjack? If you're playing for money, it's gambling. In Tennessee that's illegal. So when court documents cited a witness telling investigators, "... Shelby County Commissioner Terry Roland used to gamble with him at the Transmission Doctor's office," we had to get Roland's reaction.

"No big deal," he said. "Yeah I was over there. As far as taking place in big high stakes gambling? No. I wasn't over there maybe two or three times. It's been over a year and a half ago, way before I took office."

We asked Roland if he took part in games with lower stakes, like games for five or ten dollars a hand. An informant told investigators that's what went on at the transmission shop. "No," Roland said. "I was playing, we were cutting for, I might have played cut for five dollars once or twice, or I cut for whoever was going to buy refreshments and stuff. You know what I'm saying? Harmless."

What's not harmless, Roland says, is what the court papers say about Millington Mayor Richard Hodges, that the mayor offered city services to settle a $10,000 gambling debt with an informant.

Roland says he did nothing wrong during his limited visits to the transmission doctors. "The last time I was over there was a year and a half ago, before I took office. Now (if) anybody wants to make a big deal about that, that's on them, but I'm not backing up."

He says he's not backing away from helping in the ongoing investigation into corruption in Millington. Roland says he's the one who blew the whistle about a year ago, when he brought complaints about corruption to the authorities.

Roland says once the case went public he started to receive threats from "some of those involved." Roland would not say specifically who is making the threats.

Commissioner Roland also wanted to clear up several rumors he's heard surrounding the case and his role as a whistle blower. "Do I have a personal vendetta? No. Did I take pleasure in pushing for this investigation? No. Do I have any aspirations to run for mayor? Is this political? No."

We asked for an update on the case from the TBI. "When the investigation is complete, we'll turn the case file over to the DA who will then determine who will face what charges. Details of those charges aren't available at this time," a spokesperson wrote in response.

Tennessee: Gambling Addict at heart of corruption investigation?

Although Gambling Addiction appears unsubstantiated at this time, this ongoing investigation appears to be a matter of long standing involving government corruption.

Shelby County Commissioner Got Calls About Corruption In Millington, Prior To TBI Raid

But there is talk around town of the Mayor's mounting debt and talk of a gambling habit and funneling of money through the Public Works Department. At this point it is all just talk. But County Commissioner Terry Roland, who represents Millington, ...



Officials search city offices in Millington for evidence of possible misconduct
By Kevin McKenzie

After the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and Shelby County County District Attorney's Office shocked Millington city government on Wednesday with search warrants in a probe of official misconduct, the waiting began.

"It's hard to react until you know all the facts," said Mike Caruthers, a Millington alderman.

A spokesman for the district attorney's office gave no hint of what the facts may be but said the scope of the search for evidence of possible misconduct by public officials stretches beyond the city limits of Millington.

"Not only here, but throughout Shelby County," said Vince Higgins, a spokesman for the district attorney's office, offering limited information to reporters outside Millington's City Hall on Wednesday.

The gathering of evidence revealed an investigation, but no details about it or even if criminal indictments or charges will follow.

State investigators and Shelby County Sheriff's Office deputies swept into Millington on Wednesday with search warrants and several white, cardboard file boxes for holding evidence.

A complaint to the district attorney's office in December 2010 triggered the probe, Higgins said.

The raid on city offices arrived the day after Millington Mayor Richard Hodges' wife, Rita Hodges, 68, reportedly took her own life in the couple's home not far from City Hall, according to police.

Hodges was stunned by the timing. He said he felt the decision to press the investigation Wednesday was deliberate, coming right after the death of his wife.

"Oh, yeah, there's a connection," Hodges said. "This day wasn't planned six months ago."

Asked why he believes the search warrants were served Wednesday, Hodges said, "To try to break me down."

The state district attorney's investigators arrived at City Hall and separate facilities housing the departments of planning and public works. A morning staff meeting was in progress at the police department when search warrants were served and undisclosed evidence gathered.

Public Works Director Jack Huffman confirmed that investigators arrived at his department at 8:15 a.m. and "went through every piece of paper down there."

The authorities locked the doors and wouldn't let city personnel out, Huffman said.

"They said we hadn't done anything wrong, don't get upset, that they just wanted to look through some records," he said.

The investigators did not take any records with them, Huffman said.

However, the TBI and district attorney's office teams collected undisclosed items in several white file boxes they carried away.

The Transmission Doctors, a private transmission repair business on Easley at Wilkinsville, also was a focus of the state investigators. Building permits for the business were among the evidence gathered in the city's planning department. A reporter seeking comment at the business was asked to leave the property.

Hodges and the apparent owner of the transmission business, Marlin T. Roberts, have financial as well as civic ties.

In his 2011 statement of disclosure of interests with the Tennessee Ethics Commission, Hodges listed Roberts as a loan holder that the mayor owes.

The subject of official misconduct by the mayor arose earlier this year in a leaked memo that Memphis attorney Ted Hansom prepared for several Millington police officers. They were upset by the higher pay given to at least one officer hired after Hodges took office in January 2009.

Prompted by the memo, an investigation by the city attorney found no evidence that Hodges had offered the police officer a job in exchange for the work during his election campaign. However, the April report reprimanded the mayor for violating a policy that would have prevented the higher pay.

The news of the raid drew the attention of residents who have been critical of City Hall or various issues, including Rhonda O'Dell, 45, the city's former storm water manager who was let go when the new budget year began this month.

"People are not tolerating this anymore," O'Dell said of public corruption in Shelby County and nationwide.

At the counter in Millington's City Hall, Tracey Boldien, 45, said she moved to neighboring Tipton County from Memphis last spring because she was sick of corrupt politicians and high taxes, among other things.

Sheriff's deputies guarded the door of the Millington mayor's office as a group of investigators nearby in the City Hall lobby gathered the evidence collected. Television crews recorded the scene.

"I'm thinking I'm getting away from corruption," Boldien said, "and apparently I'm not."

-- Kevin McKenzie
Staff reporters Tom Bailey and Chris Conley contributed to this article.

DA Gives OK to Gambling Machines, Then Orders Bust

DA Gives OK to Gambling Machines, Then Orders Bust

By Phil Williams
Chief Investigative Reporter

SHELBYVILLE, Tenn. - NewsChannel 5 Investigates went undercover to investigate gambling in one Middle Tennessee community, and it has now forced the local district attorney to do an about-face.

That exclusive investigation discovered that the law was letting one man get away with operating video gambling machines in the Bedford County area, while literally crushing his competition.

But luck finally ran out for the machine's operators.

Last week, Shelbyville police fanned out across town, seizing dozens of machines from local convenience stores and confiscating thousands of dollars in cash. The raids came just three weeks after NewsChannel 5 caught up with District Attorney Chuck Crawford, who had insisted there wasn't a problem.

"Gambling seems to be wide open in your district with his machines," NewsChannel 5 Investigates noted.

Crawford answered, "I don't so."

But police got clearance to move in after the DA's tone suddenly changed.

"I just know what he told us, and he told us that they were illegal and to go get them," said Shelbyville Police Chief Austin Swing.

For more than a year, NewsChannel 5's hidden cameras had discovered virtual electronic casinos -- with video poker and slot machines of all sorts -- being run with the DA's blessing.

At one store, a $5 bet hit the big jackpot, resulting in a $102 payout.

Another store where we found gambling in full view was right across the street from the police department. Yet, when we returned, the store's operator didn't seem too worried.

"Have you ever been told that this is illegal gambling?" we asked, getting a shrug from the operator.

Swing admits police didn't know what to do.

"To me, they're all illegal and that's what the law says, but then it seem to come down to who did you ask," Swing explained.

In fact, last fall, the DA got court orders to destroy other gambling machines that had been seized in raids eight years ago -- at the same time he entered into an agreed order returning so-called "Free Spin" or "Free Draw" machines owned by Keith Heflin.

Heflin is a wealthy Shelbyville businessman who travels the world with a former director of the DA's drug task force -- one of the agencies responsible for investigating gambling in the district. That man, Chris White, had unsuccessfully tried to convince Metro Police back in 2007 not to investigate Heflin's machines.

The current task force director, Timothy Lane, counts Heflin among his Facebook friends.

NewsChannel 5 Investigates told DA Chuck Crawford, "You returned his machines to him, while destroying other people's machines."

"I returned the machines that there was still some dispute about whether or not they were gambling devices," Crawford said.

But the problem is that the Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals ruled more than seven years ago that Heflin's machines -- the same kind that the DA returned -- were indeed illegal gambling devices. The court specifically reject Heflin's claim that people weren't paying to gamble, that they were really just buying the sports cards that his machines dispensed.

The Tennessee Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal of that decision.

But the DA's agreed order declared that Heflin's "collectible card dispensing system" does not meet the criteria of the state Supreme Court decision that outlawed video gambling in Tennessee.

"What you've got is a criminal offense going on in that county and the district attorney has blessed it because he thinks that it is a legal activity, which I suggest it is not," said Nashville attorney David Raybin, who helped write Tennessee's criminal code.

NewsChannel 5 Investigates told Crawford, "I've got a decision from the Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals that says that they are illegal gambling devices."

"Well," the DA answered, "if that is the case, maybe we ought to go pick them up."

Some of the machines just seized by police appear to match serial numbers of the devices that the DA had put back on the streets. Officers also confiscated the cheap phone cards that the machines now dispense -- cards that patrons had simply left behind after gambling.

"I'll remember your name Mr. Williams because I won't be talking to you anymore today or any other day," Crawford said emphatically. The DA had failed to return numerous calls to his office.

Still, Crawford refused to say why, for years, his office had ignored the higher court ruling, leaving the gambling laws in his district non-existent when it came to one man and his machines.

"Are you essentially giving one man the license to gamble in your district, sir?" NewsChannel 5 Investigates asked.

The DA walked away without answering, pulling the courthouse door to slam it behind him.

Heflin and his lawyer refused to go on camera to answer our questions. But late last week, they filed a lawsuit against the DA, asking a judge to order Crawford to stick with their original agreement. The judge is expected to rule later this week.

As for that seven-year-old ruling, Heflin claims that people are buying phone cards that have some real value.

But we discovered $400 of his phone cards that had been left behind in just one store. Heflin claims his games are just like McDonald's Monopoly games, although it's not clear that anyone has left $400 of Cokes just laying on the counter after getting their Monopoly pieces.

In addition, Heflin's phone cards provide 30 minutes of service for $5. Yet, one of the stores busted last week advertised that it sold almost 1,000 minutes for $10.

Nashville authorities have also prosecuted people in Nashville for gambling with Heflin's machines.

The man who bought rights to distribute the machines here has now sued, claiming that Heflin misrepresented that his machines were legal.

Tennessee: Gambling Influence

Wamp Says He Would Oppose Legalized Gambling In Tennessee

Zach Wamp, Republican candidate for governor, said he would oppose legalized gambling in Tennessee.

He called on Knoxville Mayor Bill Haslam "to publicly disclose all of his holdings, investments and partnerships with casino gambling interests."

The Wamp campaign said, "Haslam’s stake in gambling operations was the focus of an article published last week in the Knoxville-based Metro Pulse.

"Pilot Oil Corporation, which is co-owned by Haslam and members of his family, operates casinos and other casino games in at least three states through its subsidiary, Pilot Travel Centers. In Nevada, Pilot has partnered with Leisure Gaming in the operation of hundreds of 24-hour slot machines throughout the state.
Pilot also has a stake in gambling in Montana through an agreement with Town Pump, Inc, which offers keno, poker and other casino games at travel centers around the state. In addition, Haslam’s business partner, CVC Capital Partners, owns and operates major multi-national gambling interests.

"The Luxembourg-based CVC Capital Partners purchased a 47.5 percent stake in Pilot Travel Centers from Mayor Haslam and his family in September 2008. Earlier that same year, CVC Capital Partners purchased Magnum Corporation, an international gaming operator based in Malaysia that boasts annual revenues approaching $1 billion."

“The international gaming interests that Mayor Haslam has partnered with may think they can do business here in Tennessee, but they are dead wrong,” said Rep. Wamp. “Their gambling dollars are not welcome here, and casino gambling will not come into our state as long as I am governor. Period.
He said he was calling on Mayor Haslam "to immediately itemize for the public all of his holdings or investments with casino gambling interests, including the names and locations of his partners and the facilities they operate; the earnings he receives from those investments; and whether he intends to spend any earnings received from those operations on his campaign for governor."