Four charged after trying to use campaign contributions to land gaming license

A special prosecutor Monday (Oct. 11) filed charges against four people and two gambling entities for allegedly making illegal campaign contributions to Gov. Chet Culver's re-election campaign in connection with efforts by Webster County officials to land a state gaming license.

Named in charges filed in Polk County District Court by special prosecutor Lawrence Scalise were Martin Brent Stevens, Jonathan Swain, Steve Daniel, Curtis Beason, along with Peninsula Gaming Partners LLC, and Webster County Entertainment LLC. All those named were charged with violating the state's campaign disclosure law, and Beason was charged with a separate count of obstruction, according to a statement issued by Scalise.

“The charges were filed against those and only those whose conduct it is alleged is supported by the evidence, which led to these accusations,” Scalise said in the statement. “The evidence did not disclose a basis for any criminal charges to be brought against any other person. It should be noted that a trial information is merely an accusation and these defendants and each of them are presumed to be innocent and unless proven guilty.”

Scalise, who was hired by the Iowa Executive Council to independently investigate the allegations, said the rules of professional conduct for attorneys prohibited him from making any further comments about the case.

“We are pleased but not surprised that the findings confirm what we have been saying all along. No one in my office or my campaign did anything wrong; we complied with all campaign finance laws,” said Culver in a statement.

“While we are glad to have this matter resolved, this finding changes nothing,” he added. “Because we knew we had acted appropriately, we have not been worried about this process, but rather, we have been focused on the November election. We will continue to work tirelessly until Election Day to highlight the important choices at stake in this election for our working families, our children and our seniors.”

Guy Cook, an attorney representing Peninsula Gaming, said the company and it executives who were named in Scalise's three-count trial information deny any wrongdoing and will enter not guilty pleas at the Nov. 1 arraignment.

“The company, Peninsula Gaming, adheres to the highest standards of regulatory compliance, business practice, and ethical conduct. They do things by the book and they deny these charges and they look forward to a positive resolution,” Cook told Radio Iowa. We do dispute the charges and submit that no crime whatsoever was committed.”

Jeff Boeyink, manager of the Gov. Branstad 2010 campaign, called the filing of criminal charges against casino executives for making illegal campaign contributions to Culver's campaign a “sad day for Iowa.”

“Gov. Culver has created a culture of corruption in this state that has now led to the filing of criminal charges and further eroded the public's confidence in Iowa's long-standing tradition for open, honest, and transparent government,” Boeyink said. “Iowans deserve a government as good as its people and the Culver administration has let them down time and time again. Terry Branstad will every day work to bring honesty and integrity back to state government and to once again earn the people's confidence that their interests are being well served.”

The Iowa Executive Council enlisted Scalise as a special prosecutor to look into allegations of improper contributions to Gov. Chet Culver's re-election campaign from Fort Dodge casino interests, specifically to probe claims that casino backers passed money through a third party to the Culver campaign.

Julie Pottorff of the Attorney General's Office said her boss, Tom Miller, concluded that the office had no actual conflict of interest but had an appearance of a conflict because Donn Stanley moved from being a division head in Miller's office to managing the Culver-Judge re-election campaign.

The state Division of Criminal Investigation probed donations from three Fort Dodge businessmen who reportedly gave $25,000 to the Culver campaign last November and December after they had received $25,000 from Peninsula Gaming. The company and businessmen were partners in an effort to get a casino license in Fort Dodge.

Earlier this year, Stanley confirmed that Culver asked Dan Kehl, chief executive of Lyon County Resort and Casino LLC, for a contribution in November 2009, about the same time the group applied for a casino license. He said it was notable that the state's Racing and Gaming Commission - whose members Culver appoints - rejected the Fort Dodge application while approving the one for Lyon County.

Political contributions from casino interests are fairly regular in Iowa politics, with Branstad, also a beneficiary. But questions were raised about Culver after he took the unusual step earlier this year of asking the state Racing and Gaming Commission to approve four pending license applications. The panel approved a license for Lyon County, but rejected applications made by Fort Dodge, Ottumwa and Tama County officials.

Stanley said Culver was making good on a 2006 promise to back applications in communities that had approved gambling referendums.