Guidry testimony ends

Natalie Gott

Tuesday, Feb. 8, 2000 | 9:35 a.m.

BATON ROUGE, La. - A weary Robert Guidry ended six days of testimony in the Edwin Edwards federal racketeering trial Monday, his final day punctuated by verbal sparring among attorneys who received a stern warning from the judge.

"One more outburst and each of you owe me $500, payable on the spot," U.S. District Judge Frank Polozola warned Assistant U.S. Attorney Fred Harper and defense lawyer James Cole at one point.

During his six days on the stand, Guidry, testifying under a plea agreement with prosecutors, said he made a deal in 1994 with then-Gov. Edwards, his son Stephen Edwards and aide Andrew Martin. The alleged deal called for Edwards to help Guidry get a lucrative license to run a riverboat casino, in return for which he would begin paying the three $100,000 a month after Edwards left office.

The Edwardses, Martin and four others are on trial for what prosecutors claim was a series of schemes to illegally profit from riverboat casino licenses.

Guidry spent his final day on the stand being questioned alternately by Harper and defense attorneys, Harper seeking to bolster Guidry's allegations, defense attorneys raising doubts.

Cole, defense attorney for Stephen Edwards, continued to question whether Guidry really kept enough cash on hand to make the alleged extortion payments totaling about $1.5 million.

Attorneys on both sides repeatedly objected to the line of questioning and even argued with each other, which brought the reprimand from the judge.

Guidry had testified early on that he kept between $1 million and $1.5 million in cash in his home, stashed away in various hiding places, including his freezer. Even then the amount was an estimate, Guidry said Monday.

Under friendly questioning from Harper, he reviewed his finances from 1994 until the time the last payment allegedly was made in April 1997. Between 1994 and 1996 alone, Guidry said he made $43 million.

Guidry said he might have had more than $2 million of that in cash at his house even after the final 1997 payment.

"You expect the jury to believe you forgot about one million to one and a half millions dollars?" Cole later asked.

Guidry repeated that he was unsure how much cash he really had, but insisted he paid the three men.

Guidry has pleaded guilty to an extortion charge for paying the Edwardses and Martin a total of $1.5 million to ensure state approval of the Treasure Chest casino. Guidry was fined $3.5 million and could face five years in prison. He said he made about $34 million with the Treasure Chest between 1994 and 1997.

He sold the casino in October 1997 for $72 million to Boyd Gaming.

The wear and tear of the trial was beginning to show for Guidry, who at one point, while lawyers conferred at the bench with Polozola, leaned back in the witness chair and closed his eyes.

"Six days on the witness stand is a long time," he said later as he left the courthouse.

Also Monday, a juror who had fallen asleep during testimony last week was dismissed by Polozola and replaced by an alternate.

He was identified as juror number 453, a laborer from East Baton Rouge Parish, and one of only two black jury members. He was replaced by a white male.

"What happened was by no means intentional by Mr. 453," Polozola said.

During jury selection, the man had indicated he approved of legal gambling and occasionally visited riverboat casinos. He disagreed with the idea that Edwards was responsible for past or current problems with the state gambling industry. He expressed no opinion on the use of wiretaps and plea bargains.

He was replaced by juror No. 235, a 49-year-old white man from East Baton Rouge Parish. He works as a research technologist in a laboratory.

The man said he does not oppose gambling, and that he does not think people who work in the industry are more likely to break the law. He agreed somewhat that there was corruption in the awarding of riverboat casino licenses. He disagrees with plea bargains, but approved the use of wiretaps.

Prosecutors called three more witnesses to testify after Guidry was dismissed. They include a tape enhancement specialist, an engineer from Mobile, Ala., who did work for Treasure Chest Casino and an architect from Boyd Gaming Inc., which ran the gaming operations at the casino.

Architect David Mason said had no knowledge of Guidry's alleged contact in the governor's mansion, who Guidry claims was Martin.

Mason said he and others were concerned they would have to shut down Treasure Chest in 1995 because fire marshals had ruled that a barge connecting the boat to the land was a fire hazard.

Guidry testified that he contacted Martin about the problem. Guidry claimed that after meeting with Martin, fire marshals gave Treasure Chest a time extension to get the barge into compliance with safety regulations.

FBI agent Goeffrey Santini will be on the witness stand Tuesday.