Indiana ex-casino magnate pleads guilty to tax fraud involving contributions to political action committee
Keeler's guilty plea came a week after a former state senator pleaded guilty to other federal charges
The transition from mostly in-person gambling at casinos to relying more on mobile apps signals a shift in the gaming industry as a result of the pandemic.
A former Indianapolis casino magnate pleaded guilty Monday to his role in a tax fraud scheme that concealed his contributions to a county political party as a business expense, prosecutors said Tuesday.
John Keeler, 72, former vice president of gaming company New Centaur LLC, funneled more than $40,000 in corporate funds to a middleman so he could contribute to the Greater Indianapolis Republican Finance Committee, a political action committee associated with the Marion County Republican Party.
Rows of video poker machines at a casino. ( Kim Kulish/Corbis via Getty Images / Getty Images)
As part of his plea agreement, prosecutors dropped five other counts against Keeler as part of his plea agreement, The Indianapolis Star reported. He will be required to pay a restitution of $14,350.
Keeler also admitted to working with an out-of-state political consultant to funnel $25,000 to the Greater Indianapolis Republican Finance Committee.
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At the time, in 2016, the Marion County Republican Party was struggling financially, according to the plea agreement. Keeler wanted to help but believed Indiana law prohibited casino company contributions.
Keeler's guilty plea came a week after his co-defendant, former state Sen. Darryl Brent Waltz, 48, of Greenwood, pleaded guilty to other federal charges for receiving more than $40,000 in illegal campaign contributions for his unsuccessful 2016 congressional campaign.
Southern District Court of Indiana (Google Maps / Google Maps)
Keeler also was accused of directing illegal corporate contributions through straw donors to Waltz, who was a Republican state senator for 12 years until giving up his seat in 2016 for an ultimately unsuccessful run in the GOP primary for the 9th Congressional District. Those charges were dropped as part of Keeler's plea deal.
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Keeler and Waltz were indicted following a lengthy FBI investigation into Spectacle Entertainment that led the Indiana Gaming Commission to force the company out of its ownership of projects for new casinos in Gary and Terre Haute.
The commission also raised financial misconduct allegations against former Spectacle CEO Rod Ratcliff, who agreed to give up his state casino license, ending more than a decade as a heavyweight in Indiana's gambling industry. Ratcliff has not been charged with any crime.
A woman playing a slot machine at a casino. (AP Photo/Wayne Parry / AP Newsroom)
Ratcliff and Keeler were leaders of Centaur Gaming, which sold Indiana's two horse track casinos in Anderson and Shelbyville to Las Vegas-based Caesars Entertainment Corp. in 2018 for $1.7 billion. They led a group that then formed Spectacle Entertainment to buy the Gary casino operation.
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Both Keeler and Waltz are scheduled to be sentenced at a later date. Waltz faces up to 10 years in prison and Keeler faces up to three years in prison.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.