INDIANAPOLIS — A former Indiana lawmaker has agreed to plead guilty to a federal rate alleging that he authorized guarantees of profitable employment from a gaming corporate right through his time in public place of business, federal prosecutors stated Friday.
Sean Eberhart, 57, agreed to plead guilty to conspiracy to devote truthful products and services fraud, in accordance to courtroom paperwork filed Thursday. The offense is punishable via a most sentence of 5 years in jail, 3 years of supervised unlock following any imprisonment and a $250,000 wonderful.
Eberhart’s legal professional declined to remark when reached via telephone Friday. A plea listening to had no longer been scheduled for Eberhart as of Friday afternoon, in accordance to courtroom information.
The former Republican state consultant represented central Indiana’s House District 57 for 16 years earlier than leaving place of business in November 2022.
He is accused of accepting repayment and the promise of long run employment in trade for favorable motion in the General Assembly, prosecutors stated.
In past due 2018, an organization known as Spectacle Entertainment sought to acquire two casinos and their accompanying state licenses situated on Lake Michigan in Gary, Indiana, and relocate them to places to downtown Gary and in western Indiana’s Vigo County, in accordance to courtroom paperwork.
The purchases and relocating of casinos calls for approval via the Legislature and governor, the U.S. Attorney’s place of business stated in a press unlock. Multiple telephone numbers indexed on-line for Spectacle have been disconnected as of Friday.
A invoice for the relocation was once presented and regarded as via the House Committee on Public Policy in 2019, which oversaw casinos and gaming in Indiana, and incorporated a proposed “transfer fee.” Eberhart was once a member of the House Committee on Public Policy, paperwork stated.
According to government, Eberhart used his place to recommend and vote for the a hit passage of the invoice on phrases favorable to Spectacle, together with the a hit relocation approval, lowering the switch rate from $100 million to $20 million and enacting tax incentives that would get advantages Spectacle.
In trade, Eberhart authorized the promise of long run employment at Spectacle, which incorporated annual repayment of no less than $350,000, government allege.
Eberhart despatched textual content messages referring to his efforts to protected law in choose of the corporate, pronouncing he would “make it right for” the founding father of Spectacle known handiest in courtroom paperwork as “Individual A.” The U.S. Attorney’s Office didn’t right away reply when requested whether or not Individual A could also be beneath investigation or will face fees.
Other proof got via investigators incorporated name information, virtual pictures of paperwork, “covert recordings of conversations with Eberhart,” and audio and video recordings and “different information of statements and movements in the Indiana legislature,” court documents said.
Republican Speaker of the House Todd Huston said in a statement provided to The Associated Press that he is “beyond disappointed and extremely frustrated” in response the news of Eberhart’s alleged movements.
“Any such habits runs counter to our core values and the entirety our meeting stands for and strives to offer protection to – a depended on, credible and clear establishment that’s accountable handiest to Hoosiers,” Huston said.
Spectacle has been embattled by federal investigations before. In 2022, longtime casino executive John Keeler was sentenced along with a former Indiana state senator, Brent Waltz, for their role in the illegal funneling of gambling money into the lawmaker’s unsuccessful 2016 bid for congress.
Keeler, who was a Republican legislator for 16 years in the 1980s and 1990s, was sentenced to two months in federal prison and fined $55,000. Spectacle, which was formed by a group led by Keeler and another longtime casino executive, was forced from ownership from two casino projects by the Indiana Gaming Commission following Keeler and Waltz’s indictments in 2020.
Waltz, a Republican from Greenwood, was once sentenced to 10 months in federal jail for serving to direction about $40,000 in unlawful contributions to his marketing campaign and making false statements to the FBI.
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