Lawmakers push looser background rules for Detroit’s casino industry

Monday, May 15, 2000 | 12:03 p.m.

The 1996 state law says that a person convicted of a misdemeanor involving gambling, theft, dishonesty or fraud is automatically disqualified from getting a casino license.

Sens. Glenn Steil, R-Grand Rapids, and Virgil Smith, D-Detroit, introduced legislation last week that would give a person convicted of a misdemeanor at least 25 years ago or before the age of 18 a chance to qualify as a casino investor.

Steil is chairman of the Senate's Gaming Oversight Committee, which will hold a hearing on the bill Thursday.

Smith said Sunday that he was shocked at what happened to casino investor Roy Roberts and is pushing for the change because of that.

"I wanted to give the board some discretion to look at the circumstances," he told the Detroit Free Press for a story Monday. "Steil agreed."

Roberts, a former vice president of General Motors Corp., was one of 10 local investors in a 3-percent share of the MGM Grand Casino. The casino opened July 29, but Roberts and two other investors sold their stake after investigators discovered problems in their background investigations that would have cost them their licenses.

Records showed that Roberts was arrested in 1956 in Muskegon at age 17 for taking more than $100 from a friend's home. He pleaded guilty to larceny and was placed on 2 years' probation.

Nelson Westrin, executive director of the Michigan Gaming Control Board that administers the state gaming laws, said he had no position on the proposal but said it could help some people seeking casino jobs.

Westrin said "a large number" of people now are affected by the ban on casino employment for those with old misdemeanor convictions for theft, fraud, gambling or dishonesty.