Prosecutors outline second alleged scheme in Edwards corruption trial

Natalie Gott

Tuesday, Feb. 15, 2000 | 8:34 a.m.

BATON ROUGE, La. - A St. Louis attorney who unsuccessfully tried to obtain a riverboat casino license was to testify today in former Gov. Edwin Edwards federal racketeering case, prosecutors said.

Edwards, his son Stephen, state Sen. Greg Tarver, Eunice cattleman Cecil Brown and three others are standing trial on charges they accepted payoffs from casino applicants. The alleged schemes occurred before, during and after Edwards' fourth term that ran from 1992 through 1996, prosecutors say.

Because of the complexity of the case, prosecutors have divided the case into seven alleged schemes. Attorneys on both sides are allowed to make "mini" opening statements before prosecutors present evidence on each of the plots.

In presenting the second scheme Monday, Assistant U.S. Attorney Todd Greenberg said Brown met with St. Louis attorney Russ Meyer in 1991, while he was trying to win a riverboat casino license for a boat in Westlake, near Lake Charles.

Brown said he could get a license because of his close friendship with Edwards, who was running for governor at the time and anticipated winning the race and being in office when the licenses were awarded, Greenberg said.

Also, Brown told Meyer he had been promised by Edwards the right to give away one of the licenses, Greenberg said.

In return for helping Meyer, Brown demanded a 25 percent ownership interest in the casino and a $75,000 payment for consulting fees, Greenberg said. Brown would get another $75,000 if Meyer's application was successful, Greenberg said.

Brown made it clear to Meyer that Edwards would receive part of the 25 percent interest - and that the money would "grease the wheels that needed to be greased," Greenberg said.

Brown also told Meyer that if he could not raise the money, the license would go to someone else, Greenberg said.

"This is the way we do business in Louisiana," Greenberg quoted Brown as saying.

Meyer and several other St. Louis businessmen, not all identified in court, were "bowled over by the clout and power Cecil Brown had" and agreed to the terms, Greenberg said.

They formed a company, The Louisiana Riverboat Gaming Corp., and applied for a license in 1991. A year later, Meyer and his partners in Louisiana Riverboat formed a second firm called New Orleans Riverboat Corp. to seek a license for a casino in the New Orleans area.

Brown took the applicants to meet Edwards at the Governor's Mansion several times, Greenberg said. While Edwards never guaranteed the partners a license, he confirmed he knew what Brown was doing and approved of the effort, Greenberg said.

Neither application was approved even though the two companies paid Brown nearly $350,000 from 1991 through 1993, Greenberg said.

"Cecil Brown made it very clear to these investors if they paid the money he asked for, they would have a gaming license," Greenberg said.

State police, working with the now-defunct Louisiana Riverboat Commission, awarded the riverboat licenses. But prosecutors contend Edwards had power over the process and masterminded the kickback schemes.

Brown's attorney, Rebecca Hudsmith, said the money paid to Brown was for legitimate consulting fees. She also said Louisiana Riverboat hired Brown as a consultant because Brown constantly bragged about his friendship with Edwards.

Brown was "something of a bragger and he regularly boasted to anyone and everyone who would listen about his friendship with Edwin Edwards," Hudsmith said.

Brown's work for Louisiana Riverboat was simply "good, old-fashioned capitalism" and not illegal, Hudsmith said.

Edwards attorney, Daniel Small, said prosecutors have no evidence that anything corrupt happened.

"Not one of these St. Louis businessmen have ever been charged," Small said.

Greenberg said one of the investors, Carl Bolm, had been granted immunity in exchange for his testimony in the case.

Bolm paid Stephen Edwards $25,000 for lobbying work he did for Louisiana Riverboat, Greenberg said. But instead of actually lobbying for Louisiana Riverboat, Stephen Edwards was working for Players Lake Charles, a competing company also trying to get that area's riverboat license, Greenberg said.

Stephen Edwards' friend, Ricky Shetler, was a consultant for the Players application. He has pleaded guilty to conspiring to funnel $550,000 in cash, cars and furniture to the Edwardses and is expected to testify for the government.