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December 4, 2009

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Prosecutors drop charges against defendant in Indiana gambling case

Friday, Sept. 8, 2000 | 9 a.m.

The government dismissed its case against Vicky Strickland, who had been charged with operating an illegal gambling business and money laundering, after a pretrial conference on Wednesday.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Christina McKee and Winfield Ong would not say why they dropped the charges.

"They have not told us why they dismissed the case," said Strickland's lawyer, Richard Kammen. "We have not been given a reason."

Strickland is the daughter of tavern owners John and Cleo Neal. John Neal pleaded guilty in June to charges of operating an illegal gambling business, conspiring to defraud the IRS and money laundering. His wife pleaded guilty to similar charges. Neither has been sentenced.

Neal, of rural Yorktown, resigned as the head of the Teamsters union in Indiana after federal agents seized nearly $1 million in cash from his home.

Prosecutors on Thursday also dropped charges against co-defendant Terry Rhoades, who had been accused of operating an illegal gambling business.

But another co-defendant, Aaron Koons Jr., 59, pleaded guilty Wednesday to operating an illegal gambling business from 1994 through February 1999, when he and the others were indicted.

A jury was selected Thursday for the trial of three remaining defendants. That trial is scheduled to begin Monday.

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