In a daylong hearing Jan. 23 in front of an Alabama Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) Board panel, lawyers for the Alabama attorney general and Victory-
Land owner Milton McGregor debated the legality of electronic bingo, according to news reports.
The hearing to decide whether VictoryLand receives a liquor license for its casino floor yielded no result from the ABC Board panel, which is expected to make a decision by early February.
Following a two-year shutdown after a state crackdown on electronic bingo casinos, the VictoryLand casino floor reopened Dec. 18, 2012. Alabama Attorney General Luther Strange had said he was disappointed VictoryLand had “chosen the path of confrontation rather than accept our offer to prove that their operations are legal in court,” according to an al.com news report.
VictoryLand’s reopening was the result of a promise McGregor made after being aquitted by a jury in March 2012 of vote-buying charges, according to an al.com news report. VictoryLand attorney Joe Espy holds that the machines at VictoryLand are legal, according to news reports.
Strange asked the ABC Board in December to reject the liquor license application for VictoryLand “because the casino has a history of violating Alabama’s laws against illegal gambling,” according to an al.com news report.
The Jan. 23 hearing took place in a full room, and a separate overflow room for people to watch a video of the proceeding also was available, according to a report by the Montgomery Advertiser.
Espy said the casino had a license years before closing in 2010 and there were never any issues, according to a report on the hearing by the Montgomery Advertiser.
“We appreciate the ABC Commission providing the attorney general’s office an opportunity to present evidence in support of our protest,” Strange said. “Alabama law does not allow a business to have a license to sell alcohol if that business is engaged in unlawful gambling activities. We believe our evidence clearly showed that VictoryLand is operating several hundred illegal slot machines and their alcohol license application should be denied. We are not going to simply look the other way and let them have a bar to go along with their slot machines.”
Meanwhile, initiatives against electronic bingo continue in other areas of the state.
Strange recently recognized District Attorney Bill Adair for his office’s partnership in “a strong initiative to shut down so-called ‘electronic bingo’ casinos in Walker County,” according to a news release from Strange’s office.
Agents of the attorney general’s office and the district attorney’s office shut down illegal gambling operations involving 15 machines at Arrowhead Golf Course on Holly Grove Road and 20 machines at a private building on Valley Loop Road on Jan. 10. The Arrowhead Golf Course also was the subject of a similar law enforcement operation in September 2012.
‘These actions are the culmination of a joint investigation by the attorney general’s office and the Walker County district attorney’s office, with assistance provided by the Walker County sheriff’s office,” Strange said in the release. “From my first day in office, I have acted to ensure that illegal gambling laws are enforced consistently across the state. These cooperative law enforcement efforts in Walker County demonstrate our commitment to do so effectively.”
Strange added that until the Alabama Legislature acts “to create an effective deterrent for large scale illegal gambling, individuals will continue to engage in illegal gambling activity and openly defy the law. These individuals stand to make thousands of dollars in illegal gambling profits while risking only a slap-on-the-wrist misdemeanor charge. Law enforcement will continue to be forced to expend valuable resources to deal with the growing problem. The Legislature must change that weakness in our law and create a badly needed deterrent for large scale illegal gambling by increasing the penalty for operating an illegal slot machine casino to a felony.”
Last year House Bill 414, filed by Rep. Allen Farley, R-McCalla, would have made, among other things, the possession of 10 slot machines or gambling devices and the promotion of and conspiracy to promote illegal gambling a felony. The bill never came to the House floor for consideration.
(TAB)
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