Gretna mayor details efforts to gain riverboat approval

Natalie Gott

Thursday, Feb. 10, 2000 | 9:05 a.m.

BATON ROUGE, La. - A former member of the now-defunct Riverboat Gaming Commission said he had no choice in his June 1993 vote to award temporary approval to six riverboats because his life had been threatened, a witness testified at Edwin Edwards' federal racketeering trial.

The commission member is Sam Gilliam, said Bernie Klein, who testified Wednesday that he had received support from Gilliam and other commission members for his application for the Gretna Belle.

Gilliam did not testify. Klein was to return to the witness stand today.

When the Riverboat Gaming Commission voted on June 18, 1993, it did not award a preliminary certificate of approval to Klein. Instead, Gilliam read the names of six boats from a piece of paper and the other members approved them, Klein said.

Klein said he met Gilliam in his office a few days later to talk about the vote.

"He basically told me he had no choice and he told me he had to do what he had to do," Klein said. "He said he was threatened. I asked him what that meant, he said, 'They threatened my life."'

It is unclear who allegedly threatened Gilliam's life.

Federal prosecutors are trying to prove that Edwards manipulated the riverboat licensing process during and after his last term as governor, which ended in January 1996. Edwards' son, Stephen, state Sen. Greg Tarver and four others also are on trial.

Klein said commissioner Louis James and chairman Ken Pickering also supported his application before the vote.

"What I thought was happening was a coup, that there was a takeover," Klein said of the vote.

Edwards' attorney, Daniel Small, objected to Klein's statements throughout his testimony, calling it hearsay that should not be admitted into court.

In a hearing after the jurors were excused for the day, Small said that Gilliam has testified that he never said he supported Klein's application and he has denied ever saying he was threatened.

Gretna Mayor Ronnie Harris earlier had testified that he had supported the Gretna Belle and had tried unsuccessfully to get Edwards' support for the boat.

A few days before the commission vote, Harris said Edwards called him to tell him that the Gretna Bell application would not receive a vote.

"The governor brushed me off," Harris said. "He said 'Your man is out."'

Harris said he never asked Edwards how he knew that the Gretna Belle would not get temporary approval.

Small later seized upon the fact that 28 applicants, not just Gretna, were turned away the day of the vote.

Harris and Klein had testified that they had sought help from then-House speaker John Alario for the Gretna project, although Alario was supporting another boat. Small noted that Harris had also lobbied Lt. Gov. Melinda Schwegmann, legislators and non-elected officials for help.

Also testifying Wednesday was FBI agent Dave Hudson, who read the jury a report of an interview he did with Edwards in April 1997.

Edwards discussed Tarver's efforts to win approval of a license for the Horseshoe casino in Bossier City from the Riverboat Gaming Commission.

Edwards also talked candidly about his other political allies' ability to get commission backing of other riverboat casino projects. He called the Boomtown in Harvey "Alario's boat," referring to state Rep. John Alario.

Horseshoe was "Tarver's boat," in Edwards' words, and an undisclosed riverboat in Chalmette was "Nunez's boat," according to Hudson's report.

Sammy Nunez was president of the Senate during Edwards' last term and had strongly supported a riverboat project planned by Circus Inc., despite criticism from some industry analysts that the project was too big and needed to be scaled back or moved. Circus eventually abandoned the project after Nunez was defeated for re-election in 1995.

Neither Nunez nor Alario are charged in the case; Tarver, a co-defendant with Edwards, was never charged in connection with Horseshoe.

Nunez's name came up in Klein's testimony also. Klein had testified that he had sought the support of commission member Floyd Landry, who called himself "just the messenger. I take my marching orders from Nunez."

Nunez got his orders from "the man who turned the key," Klein said, recalling his conversation with Landry. "The man who turned the key," was Edwards, Klein said.

Horseshoe has been in the news of late not just because of the indicted state senator's support of it, but also because it is operated by controversial Las Vegas gambling figure Jack Binion.

A report issued recently by Illinois gambling regulators questioned the validity of Binion's local partnerships in Bossier City and his use of shell operations to give the appearance he is doing business with minority- or female-owned vendors as promised. Binion's attorney, Anton Valukas, said the Illinois staff report is full of inaccuracies and misinterpretations.