Former Tuskegee Mayor Johnny Ford said today that Mississippi Indian casinos "contaminated" the Alabama political process by funneling millions of dollars in donations to quash gambling competition.
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| Johnny Ford |
Ford made a statement outside the Birmingham federal building, saying Alabama politics were tainted by the money convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff steered from his Indian gaming clients in Mississippi to defeat the expansion of gambling in Alabama.
Abramoff, who was jailed on corruption related charges including bilking his Indian clients, wrote in his new book that he steered $20 million to anti-gambling groups to prevent competition from sprouting up in Alabama.
Ford, who as a member of the Alabama Legislature introduced the bill that paved the way for VictoryLand dog track to open an electronic bingo casino, lashed out at the disclosure by Abramoff.
Ford said Mississippi gaming interests financed a political climate that was hostile to Alabama's homegrown gambling interests. The Mississippi casinos are now flourishing, he said, while VictoryLand is largely idle except for simulcast racing.
"This is unfair," Ford said.
Abramoff's book does not give details of where the money went. However, he said it was important to hide the source of the money from religious groups working against the expansion of gambling in Alabama.
The former Macon County mayor also urged the Department of Justice to not go forward with the McGregor's second trial on corruption related charges, scheduled for January.
McGregor and others are charged with offering or accepting bribes to try to pass a gambling bill before lawmakers in 2010. The legislation, if it had passed, would have set a statewide referendum on the legality of the electronic bingo machines that McGregor and others operated.
There were no convictions in the first trial, which ended in a mistrial. Jurors returned some not guilty verdicts but were deadlocked on other counts.
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