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Gov.'s task force launches raid at White Hall gaming center
Published Thursday, March 19, 2009
WHITE HALL — Authorities seized 200 machines and hundreds of thousands of dollars from the city’s gaming center on Thursday.
Agents working for Gov. Bob Riley’s Task Force on Illegal Gambling raided the building early Thursday morning seeking illegal slot machines. Alabama Beverage Control Board officers, Alabama State Troopers and Lowndes County Sheriff’s deputies surrounded the White Hall Gaming Center at 6999 U.S. Highway 80, about 24 miles east of Selma.
David Barber, retired district attorney for Jefferson County and director of the task force, said the agency will seek a court date to determine the legality of the machines.
A press conference is set for 10 a.m. today in Montgomery. Officials say they will explain more about the raid.
Authorities took most of the day to remove less than a quarter of the building’s machines. Barber said they would take at least one of each type as evidence.
“We suspect all the machines are illegal, but we’re not going to seize 900 of them,” Barber said.
Rental trucks backed up to the front of the building, and men began gradually loading machines around 11 a.m. Riley’s press secretary Todd Stacy said although laws on illegal gambling had not been enforced before, the governor’s office is now cracking down on violators.
In a press release from Jan. 11, Gov. Bob Riley announced his campaign on illegal gambling.
He cited two cases, which ruled gaming machines that appear to be slot machines illegal.
“Well, the Alabama Supreme Court has already ruled that slot machine gambling, no matter if it’s called “bingo” or something else, is illegal (Barber v. Jefferson County Racing Association, 2006),” he said. “After this ruling, another court ruled specifically that electronic bingo was an illegal slot machine (VFW v. Green, 2008).”
White Hall resident Doris Gresham said she was inside the building when officers flooded in after 5 a.m.
“They were all over the place,” she said.
Gaming center security officer James McBride showed up 10 minutes early for his 8 a.m. shift, and was turned away. He said he noticed officials, including Attorney General Troy King, periodically checking machines for irregularities during the last month.
“It’s supposed to be a charity bingo hall, and whatever charity they represent is supposed to be on the game. And they didn’t see that,” McBride said.
Catherine Coleman Flowers works for non-profit organizations and previously worked in economic development for Lowndes County. She worried about the effects of an indefinite shutdown of the city’s largest employer. More than 100 people work at the gaming center. White Hall has a population of little more than 1,000.
“It’s the economic engine of this town,” Flowers said. “Think about what was here before the gaming center. There was nothing.”
Lowndes County already has one of the highest unemployment rates in the state at 17 percent.
Lowndes County Probate Judge John E. Hulett could not specify the gaming center’s economic contribution to the surrounding area, although he acknowledged the impact is significant. He is also worried about the potential loss of jobs.
“We’re one of the highest unemployed counties in the state, just about, so where’s that going to put us?” said Hulett.
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Posted by Liberty (anonymous) on March 20, 2009 at 8:05 a.m. (Suggest removal)
The only machine they should have removed was the EBT machine.
Get rid of the nanny laws.
Posted by duped (anonymous) on March 20, 2009 at 8:19 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Why did the Governor and the Attorney General choose White Hall? Why not Victory Land, the places in Birmingham, or Walker County, or Madison County, or... well maybe they're trying to punish the poor people for being poor. OR maybe those who have interest in those larger pools, who advertise with unmitigated audacity on tv, want the smaller fry out of the way. I don't think gambling in White Hall is on its way out at all. You can look for it to come in bigger and better. And practically franchised!
Posted by Dogbert (anonymous) on March 20, 2009 at 8:26 a.m. (Suggest removal)
duped, the reasons for not raiding VL should be pretty obvious. In the absence of legalized gambling, and thereby a State gaming commission, the Att. Gen. is the gaming commission. If the AG suspects a gaming location of impropriety - like not paying proper taxes, not distributing to charity as required, or paying out at lower odds than had been previously established, the the AG can make a case and go in and bust them. Or, the Governor can protect his buddy Milton's hindquarters and upstage the AG all in one move by trying clear out any competition.
Posted by snuffy (anonymous) on March 20, 2009 at 2:44 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Jack Abramoff said Friday that he has made statements to federal agents several times as to an agreement that he made with an U.S. congressman from Alabama through lobbyist Michael Scanlon to use Mississippi casino money to beat the 1999 lottery and to set up bogus money laundering operation under the name of the Christian Coalition. He also stated that the congressman later asked for major campaign contributions promising that if he was elected governor he would prevent any growth in Alabama that would hurt the flow of gambling money into the Mississippi casinos. Abramoff said that he cooperated with the John McCain senate investigation and that McCain knew about his dealings with the prior U.S. congressman from Alabama. When asked if the U.S. attorneys in Alabama asked him to cooperate in their investigations, he said that they have never contacted him.
Posted by catchem (anonymous) on March 20, 2009 at 3:09 p.m. (Suggest removal)
From what I've read, it looked like the Governors task force, not the Attorney Generals conducted the raid. As you know the Governor was very sensitive to Steve Flower's comlumn a couple of weeks ago, and it is common knowledge that he has had a falling out with Attorney General Troy King. The Govenor has been planning to run his son for Attorney General in next years election.
It has been rumored for the past two months that someone in White Hall was to be arrested in April concerning gaming, so could the Governor be getting ahead of the AG on this one? I do not gamble and I am not a Republican or Democrat, but it looks like more Alabama politics!
Posted by I_saw_what_you_did_in_Selma (anonymous) on March 20, 2009 at 3:12 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I was under the impression that the seized machines were either not calibrated to pay the correct odds or did not have the proper gaming permits. I may be wrong, though. I don't think it's just politics with White Hall being unfairly picked on. However, I wouldn't mind if White Hall were unfairly picked on as they unfairly picked on me several times out on Hwy 80. LOL!
Posted by pleasureme (anonymous) on March 20, 2009 at 9:30 p.m. (Suggest removal)
It's a sin to gamble and your right, it's the poor people who throw away their money on hopeing to win. But I bet they are throwing this money away and we are supporting them and their familys in other ways! These people don't care about you are your familys. The odds are aganist you to win. Most of the people who win have the money to throw away but they really never win because they are all ways putting it back in. Put your money up for your future not theirs!
Posted by bamafan (anonymous) on March 20, 2009 at 9:41 p.m. (Suggest removal)
The rich keep getting rich, and the poor will stay that way!!
Posted by denise69 (anonymous) on March 31, 2009 at 8 p.m. (Suggest removal)
The governor is spending more time and money on setting up boards, commissions and task forces instead of bringing economic development to the rural Black Belt counties of Alabama. Yes, the surrounding areas have flourished because they (Republicans & governor) have made it possible, but not the rural Black Belt counties. He only ordered the raid because he nor his croonies have any control in that establishment and did not come up with that idea. If you target one place you should target them all to make certain they are operating legally and not just choose one place and force to close that one without doing the same for others. The governor thinks he controls everything in this state. There are laws that surpass him and he needs to check himself. If this task force's director has been a district attorney in this state, then he should know the laws of this state and not enforce what he thinks or the governor forces him to do!
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