- Republican former Indiana state Rep. Sean Eberhart has agreed to plead responsible to a federal cost of conspiracy to commit sincere providers fraud.
- Eberhart, 57, is accused of accepting guarantees of employment by Spectacle Leisure, a gaming firm, in trade for development of coverage favorable to it.
- “Any such conduct runs counter to our core values and all the things our meeting stands for and strives to guard,” Republican state Home Speaker Todd Huston mentioned of the scandal, stressing the significance of the legislative physique’s status as a “trusted, credible and clear establishment that’s accountable solely to Hoosiers.”
A former Indiana lawmaker has agreed to plead responsible to a federal cost alleging that he accepted guarantees of profitable employment from a gaming firm throughout his time in public workplace, federal prosecutors mentioned Friday.
Sean Eberhart, 57, agreed to plead responsible to conspiracy to commit sincere providers fraud, in line with court docket paperwork filed Thursday. The offense is punishable by a most sentence of 5 years in jail, three years of supervised launch following any imprisonment and a $250,000 positive.
Eberhart’s lawyer declined to remark when reached by cellphone Friday. A plea listening to had not been scheduled for Eberhart as of Friday afternoon, in line with court docket information.
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The previous Republican state consultant represented central Indiana’s Home District 57 for 16 years earlier than leaving workplace in November 2022.
He’s accused of accepting compensation and the promise of future employment in trade for favorable motion within the Common Meeting, prosecutors mentioned.
In late 2018, an organization known as Spectacle Leisure sought to buy two casinos and their accompanying state licenses positioned on Lake Michigan in Gary, Indiana, and relocate them to places to downtown Gary and in western Indiana’s Vigo County, in line with court docket paperwork.
The purchases and relocating of casinos requires approval by the Legislature and governor, the U.S. Lawyer’s workplace mentioned in a press launch. A number of cellphone numbers listed on-line for Spectacle had been disconnected as of Friday.
A invoice for the relocation was launched and regarded by the Home Committee on Public Coverage in 2019, which oversaw casinos and gaming in Indiana, and included a proposed “switch payment.” Eberhart was a member of the Home Committee on Public Coverage, paperwork mentioned.
Now-former Indiana state Reps. Sean Eberhart, a Republican, left, and Charlie Brown, a Democrat, discuss throughout a legislative session on the Indiana Statehouse in Indianapolis, Feb. 24, 2010. (AP Picture/Darron Cummings, File)
In line with authorities, Eberhart used his place to advocate and vote for the profitable passage of the invoice on phrases favorable to Spectacle, together with the profitable relocation approval, lowering the switch payment from $100 million to $20 million and enacting tax incentives that might profit Spectacle.
In trade, Eberhart accepted the promise of future employment at Spectacle, which included annual compensation of a minimum of $350,000, authorities allege.
Eberhart despatched textual content messages relating to his efforts to safe laws in favor of the corporate, saying he would “make it proper for” the founding father of Spectacle recognized solely in court docket paperwork as “Particular person A.” The U.S. Lawyer’s Workplace didn’t instantly reply when requested whether or not Particular person A can be underneath investigation or will face costs.
Different proof obtained by investigators included name information, digital photographs of paperwork, “covert recordings of conversations with Eberhart,” and audio and video recordings and “different information of statements and actions within the Indiana legislature,” court docket paperwork mentioned.
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Republican Speaker of the Home Todd Huston mentioned in an announcement supplied to The Related Press that he’s “past disillusioned and intensely annoyed” in response to the information of Eberhart’s alleged actions.
“Any such conduct runs counter to our core values and all the things our meeting stands for and strives to guard – a trusted, credible and clear establishment that’s accountable solely to Hoosiers,” Huston mentioned.
Spectacle has been embattled by federal investigations earlier than. In 2022, longtime on line casino govt John Keeler was sentenced together with a former Indiana state senator, Brent Waltz, for his or her function within the unlawful funneling of playing cash into the lawmaker’s unsuccessful 2016 bid for congress.
Keeler, who was a Republican legislator for 16 years within the Nineteen Eighties and Nineteen Nineties, was sentenced to 2 months in federal jail and fined $55,000. Spectacle, which was shaped by a gaggle led by Keeler and one other longtime on line casino govt, was pressured from possession from two on line casino initiatives by the Indiana Gaming Fee following Keeler and Waltz’s indictments in 2020.
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Waltz, a Republican from Greenwood, was sentenced to 10 months in federal jail for serving to route about $40,000 in unlawful contributions to his marketing campaign and making false statements to the FBI.
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