Landowner claims conspiracy in Miss. Gaming Commission decision

Wednesday, June 10, 1998 | 3:55 a.m.

E.L. Pennebaker Jr. included the paperwork in arguments to the state Gaming Commission, which is considering a policy that would ban gambling on the Big Black.

"The proposed regulation is part of a scheme promoted by three Vicksburg casinos, the City of Vicksburg and their powerful financial and political friends to eliminate gaming competition," Pennebaker wrote.

Vicksburg casinos and city leaders have fought attempts to allow gambling on Pennebaker's land in Warren County close to the populous Hinds County.

The Gaming Commission will vote next month on the rule that would bar the site on the Big Black in eastern Warren County where Multi Gaming Management/Horseshoe Gaming proposed a casino, hotel and a NASCAR-style racetrack.

The commission is accepting public comments through June 20.

Pennebaker, who owns the land that would have been home to the casino, submitted three-page written arguments against the proposal and six pages of correspondence he contends proves a conspiracy to block the casino.

Ameristar Casino President Craig Neilsen, in a Dec. 18, 1996, letter to Deposit Guaranty National Bank president Howard McMillan, thanked bank executives for their help in the Gaming Commission's denial of Horseshoe's application on the Big Black River.

"It was a tremendous effort by a well-organized coalition that resulted in this victory ... your influence and reputation in this state certainly added credibility to our position," wrote Neilsen.

In a return letter, McMillan told Neilsen, "I agree with you that it was a tremendous victory and I certainly feel that it was the right decision."

Pennebaker successfully sued the Gaming Commission over the decision, and the Gaming Commission is appealing a 1997 Hinds County judge's ruling that the site is legal.

He also joined Multi Gaming Management in a lawsuit earlier this year, claiming that Ameristar, Harrah's and the Isle of Capri casinos in Vicksburg enlisted the help of Deposit Guaranty to block their proposed project. The $238 million lawsuit is pending.

Former Vicksburg city attorney David Ellis said there was no conspiracy, and he compared the effort to interest groups sharing common goals.

"It's a principle on which a democratic form of government is based," he said. "We (the city) did have a common interest with them (the casinos), and a common interest doesn't create a conspiracy."

Ellis' correspondence with Gaming Commission chairman Bill Gresham is included in Pennebaker's papers. On Oct. 3, 1996, Ellis told Gresham that Vicksburg leaders wanted the commission to "enact a regulation declaring sites which are not on (or very, very near) the Mississippi River unsuitable for gaming.

"If the Gaming Commission is inclined to address this issue by regulation, the City offers my services to work with the Commission to whatever extent you may desire in this regard," Ellis wrote.

Pennebaker's attorney, Bill Spell, said Wednesday that the Gaming Commission should pay special attention to Pennebaker's arguments and documents.

"The Gaming Commission is at a crossroads. What they do on this regulation is going to determine whether or not they will act objectively as a regulatory body and follow the law or whether they're going to cave in to some politicians and influential people, ignore the law and kill competition," he said. "It's a very serious thing."

Pennebaker said decisions made by the commission so far "tell me some very influential people are influencing the Gaming Commission - that is bad, bad, bad."

Paul Harvey, executive director of the Gaming Commission, defended the process.

"We listened to everybody across the board," said Harvey. "There is nothing I'm aware of as far as political influence, pressure."