Luther “Nat” Winn did not always own Greenetrack in Eutaw.
Paul W. Bryant Jr. was one of the founders and the majority share holder of the then-live greyhound racetrack that opened in 1978. But once Greenetrack got in trouble with animal rights groups in the late 1990s and became known as a “killing fields” track, Bryant wanted out and so he divided ownership of Greenetrack between the 171 employees and the government of Greene County. Winn was one of the employees who got a share. Bryant then moved his money to a Texas track.
In 1999, Winn bought Greenetrack and became its CEO and president. By 2003 he had incorporated bingo into his establishment and between 2004 and 2008 was operating slot machine-style gambling.
Winn, who grew up in Greene County, has recently had some run-ins with the law while trying to keep Gov. Bob Riley’s Task Force on Illegal Gambling from raiding Greenetrack.
On July 1, Winn was arrested twice. The first arrest came on charges of obstruction of government operations. He and 16 others, including Sen. Bobby Singleton, D-Greensboro, were arrested. The second arrest was on a misdemeanor charge of reckless endangerment for striking a state trooper in the arm and shoulder with the mirror of his truck. The charges were thrown out, dismissed respectively. Winn helped stage several protests against the task force this year but also had help from then-Greene County Sheriff Ison Thomas.
Thomas, who died in April, made headlines in February when he vowed to stop the task force if it came to raid Greenetrack. He later sent a letter to Attorney General Troy King informing him of his reasons and concern. Before Thomas became sheriff in 2007, he had served as Greenetrack’s chief of security and deputy sheriff.
In June, Riley appointed George Cook as the new sheriff, which drew a protest by Greene County residents for his stand against Greenetrack’s “electronic bingo” operation.
Share with others: