User:Acdixon/Operation Boptrot

Operation BOPTROT, also referred to as BOPTROT, was an investigation by the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) into corruption among the Kentucky General Assembly, the state of Kentucky's legislature. The operation was highly successful, leading to the conviction of more than a dozen legislators between 1992 and 1995. The investigation also led to reform legislation being passed in 1993.

Background
In the late 1980s, the state of Kentucky was faced with the issue of whether and how to allow horse racetracks to accept bets on televised races from other tracks. Administrators of the state's eight racetracks worried that the practice would reduce interest in live races, yet they could not deny the popularity of and demand for the practice. The creation of the Kentucky Lottery in 1989 further squeezed the tracks' potential profits.

In Henderson, Kentucky, two tracks existed: Ellis Park, a thoroughbred racecourse, and Riverside Downs, a harness racetrack. Riverside Downs was already at a financial disadvantage because harness track racing was less prominent and profitable than thoroughbred racing. In 1988, the Kentucky General Assembly passed a measure granting all intertrack wagering in Henderson County to Ellis Park, bucking the convention of splitting simulcast racing dates between two tracks in close proximity to each other. Riverside Downs owner M.L. Vaughan feared the legislature's action would drive his track to bankruptcy.

Vaughan petitioned the General Assembly to change the law. He organized pickets, and eventually filed suit against the legislature. The state attorney general opined that the favoritism shown to Ellis Park was unconstitutional. Still, the legislature took no action. On September 23, 1990, outgoing Kentucky Senate majority whip Helen Garrett, contacted Vaughan and suggested that his issues with the General Assembly could be resolved for $100,000, to be split between the House, Senate, and Garrett.

Vaughan alerted the FBI to Garrett's offer and agreed to allow the Bureau to record his next conversation with Garrett. Garrett agreed to begin lobbying on Vaughan's behalf for $2000. The FBI provided the funds, and Vaughan consummated the deal, initiating Operation BOPTROT. The investigation initially focused on the Senate's Business Organizations and Professions committees ("BOP") and the horse racing industry ("TROT").

Operation Boptrot
The FBI employed Chris Koumas, a business associate of M.L. Vaughan, to conduct some of the undercover investigation in BOPTROT. Koumas, posing as a new investor in Riverside Downs, established a relationship with Henderson-area senator John Hall, who served as vice-chair of the BOP committees. In December 1990, Koumas accompanied Hall to Las Vegas, Nevada to attend the annual convention of the Jockeys' Guild. During the trip, Koumas attempted to pass bribes to several Kentucky legislators in exchange for their working to persuade Governor Wallace Wilkinson to include a measure to allow Riverside Downs to conduct intertrack betting on the agenda for a special session of the General Assembly. Some legislators refused the bribes, but wiretap evidence later showed that Hall accepted $4,850 – some of which he claims to have passed to other legislators. Representatives Clay Crupper of Dry Ridge and Ronny Lavman of Leitchfield accepted $400 each for their support.

Hall was a lame duck in 1990, and by 1991 had become a horse racing lobbyist. The FBI then decided to enlist him in the operation. Koumas invited Hall to an office in Louisville, ostensibly to meet with officials from Riverside Downs. When he arrived, he found FBI agents and members of the U.S. Attorney's office waiting. The agents utilized empty filing cabinets labeled with Hall's name to make it appear that he had been the major target of the investigation. Confronted with the evidence against him, Hall agreed to become part of the FBI's operation.

In late 1991, outgoing Governor Wilkinson was preparing to appoint an arbitrator to settle another dispute between Riverside Downs and Ellis Park. On November 1, Koumas arranged a meeting with John W. "Jay" Spurrier, III, a veteran lobbyist for Kentucky Utilities and chairman of the state harness racing commission, and William McBee, a former state representative and chair of the BOP committee. Koumas recorded the conversation in which Spurrier and McBee agreed to fix the arbitration hearing in favor of Riverside Downs in exchange for $50,000. The plan was for $20,000 of the money to go to Bruce Wilkinson, Governor Wilkinson's nephew, who was to oversee the selection of arbitrator. Spurrier and McBee would split $10,000, and the remaining $20,000 would go to a middleman who would launder the money as a consulting or legal fee. McBee's wife was the original choice to be the middleman, but she refused. The FBI caught a substantial break, however, when John Hall was named as a replacement. They quickly alerted Hall to the plan and instructed him to participate in the scheme when contacted.

On Governor Wilkinson's last day in office, the arbitrator ruled in favor of Riverside Downs. The arbitrator, however, was never made party to McBee and Spurrier's plot, but they were apparently unaware of this, and continued with their plan to pass money to Bruce Wilkinson for his "help." On January 7, 1992, the FBI wired John Hall and his briefcase with recorders. Then they loaded the suitcase with $30,000 in twenty-dollar bills, each photocopied, initialed in invisible ink, and dusted with fluorescent powder. Hall met McBee as scheduled, and McBee instructed him to take the money to an unlocked room in the Holiday Inn Capital Plaza in Frankfort and leave it in a dresser drawer. Spurrier waited in an adjacent room until the drop was made, then retrieved the suitcase and returned to his condominium in the same hotel where he and Bruce Wilkinson counted out their shares.

Convictions as a result of Boptrot

 * Sen. Art Schmidt (R) pleaded guilty to a 1993 indictment for withholding fact that he took a $20 cash payment from another senator tied to Operation BopTrot. He was sentenced to probation and fined $2,500.
 * Sen. Patti Weaver (D) pleaded guilty after 1993 indictment charging that she was promised help finding a job in exchange for support of legislation. She was sentenced to weekend incarceration, probation and community service and was fined $10,000.
 * Sen. Virgil Pearman pleaded guilty after 1993 indictment charging that he took an illegal $3,000 campaign contribution. He was sentenced to three months in a halfway house, probation and was fined $5,000.
 * Rep. Bill Strong pleaded guilty after 1993 indictment charges that he took an illegal $3,000 campaign contribution and did not deposit the money into his campaign fund. He was sentenced to three months in a halfway house, probation and was fined $3,000.
 * Sen. Landon Sexton (R) pleaded guilty after 1994 indictment charging that he took an illegal $5,000 cash campaign contribution. He was sentenced to 15 consecutive weekends in jail, home detention for two months and probation for two years. In addition he was fined $5,000.
 * Rep. Richard Turner (R) plead guilty to a 1993 charge that he filed a false campaign finance report. Charges that he took an illegal $3,000 cash campaign contribution were dropped.