Gambling board member vents anger over Edwards remarks

Natalie Gott

Monday, April 10, 2000 | 4:38 a.m.

BATON ROUGE, La. - A member of the state gambling board testified in Edwin Edwards' federal racketeering trial Monday that she never met the state senator accused of helping Edwards manipulate Louisiana's casino licensing process.

While lending weight to defense claims that there was no conspiracy involving Edwards and state Sen. Greg Tarver, Sherian Cadoria also appeared to score points for the prosecution. On cross examination, she vented her anger over remarks Edwards made during secretly taped conversations in 1997.

In those conversations, Edwards implied that he knew how board members were going to vote on a riverboat casino license application by Eddie DeBartolo Jr. He also implied that black members of the board were influenced by Tarver, who is black.

"By inference, he's saying I'm one of those board members," said Cadoria, who is black and denied she was influenced.

Edwards, his son Stephen, Tarver and four others are on trial for allegedly manipulating the licensing of riverboat casino licenses before and after Edwards' final term as governor ended in January 1996.

Trial began Jan. 10 but has been marked by numerous delays, the most recent by the March 28 quintuple heart bypass surgery of co-defendant Bobby Johnson.

U.S. District Judge Frank Polozola ended that delay Monday morning when he rejected Johnson's request for a mistrial and said testimony would resume without him.

Polozola left open the possibility that a communications system would be set up so Johnson could monitor the trial and communicate with his lawyer, Patrick Fanning, while recuperating at home.

Fanning said Johnson does not want to hook up the teleconferencing system for several reasons, including that he would probably fall asleep during the proceedings because he is taking medicine that makes him drowsy and that he does not want his 10-year-old son to have to watch the trial proceedings.

With the Johnson issue out of the way, Tarver's defense resumed.

Cadoria was the third witness called, and she soon made clear her displeasure with Edwards' taped remarks.

In one 1997 conversation, Edwards is heard telling DeBartolo how he expects the March 13, 1997, vote on DeBartolo's riverboat license to turn out.

In another, Edwards is heard telling a man identified as Lafayette businessman Bennie Benezech that casino operator Jack Binion had "the blacks on the commission pretty well locked up" through a relationship with Tarver, a black state senator from Shreveport.

"He's talking about this person being a part of a conspiracy because it is my name that is a part of this board," Cadoria said angrily as she pointed to herself.

Cadoria also commented on allegations that Edwards received a $400,000 extortion payment from DeBartolo, a payment the defense characterizes as a legitimate payment for legal work.

Asked if she had known that DeBartolo paid Edwards $400,000 before the vote, she said no.

She also said DeBartolo had no reason to pay any money to Edwards. "This man presented the best presentation. He didn't have to bribe anyone. If you put up the best mousetrap, you'll catch the best mouse."

Had she known about the alleged $400,000 transaction, everything would have had to stop immediately, Cadoria said.

Cadoria said she was never bribed and that if anyone, including her own mother, had tried to bribe her, "they would have been turned over to the FBI faster than they could blink an eye."

Other witnesses included Howard Elliott Jr., general counsel for state police, whose testimony dealt with allegations that Edwards illegally helped former Treasure Chest Casino owner Robert Guidry obtain a riverboat license in 1993, when state police were in charge if issuing licenses.

Guidry has testified under immunity that he paid off Edwin and Stephen Edwards and co-defendant Andrew Martin.

But Elliott said he knew of no improper influence Edwards used.

Under cross examination, prosecutors focused on a meeting Edwards had with state police officials regarding a video poker license that Guidry was in danger of losing because of his relationship with an organized crime figure.

"Isn't it a fact that Gov. Edwards sat there with his son Stephen and that he reminded you that he and Bobby Guidry were buddies?" prosecutor Jim Letten asked Elliott.

"I don't think he was doing that to influence us," Elliott said.

Elliott said Edwards was unhappy because state police had failed to hold a hearing on the video poker issue and made other mistakes in their handling of the situation. Edwards told state police officials in the meeting that he would have been more direct in his criticism of their action had he not been a friend of Guidry's, Elliott said.

Defense attorneys also called attorney Jamie Perdigao, a lawyer for Horseshoe casino. Perdigao, who represents Horseshoe Casino, was present at two key 1997 meetings of the state gambling board. Perdigao said he did not see Tarver at either of the meetings in the state Capitol. Prosecutors pointed out that Tarver's office is in the Capitol, just a short walk away from the meeting room.

Also testifying was Shreveport secretary Janice Gatlin, who provided a possible explanation for the presence of Tarver's fingerprints on a crucial piece of evidence - a confidential report on casino license applicants that wound up in DeBartolo's hands.

Gatlin testified that on a Friday in May 1997 - well after the awarding of the license - Fuller brought a box of papers to Tarver's office and met for a few minutes with Tarver. She said Tarver asked her to help Fuller make copies.

Gatlin said she helped Fuller the next day. She said she saw copies of bank statements. She did not look at any other documents in the box. She said Tarver did not help make the copies.