Miami News-Record
Wednesday, October 23, 1996
Bar owner testifies against Walker
By Ron Holmes
Miami News-Record
TULSA – In the basement of the federal building here is a vending machine which dispenses cups of tepid, truly bad coffee. Hardly remarkable except perhaps for the cops themselves. Each is printed with a five-card poker hand. On the bottom a hole card shows. It is likely some federal employees working in the building occasionally gamble on these vended poker hands-perhaps for the cost of the coffee, maybe more. But the point is that they could gamble with these cups. That is the purpose of the printing.
It is a minor fact, but one which lends an interesting parallel to the proceedings which took place upstairs Tuesday morning.
The prosecution began its case in the trial of Ottawa Count Sheriff James “Ed” Walker. He is charged with 12 counts of extortion, obstruction of justice and illegal gambling, a spin-off of the raid by federal agents last year of several area businesses.
Actually, U.S. Attorney Steve Lewis called his first witness late Monday afternoon. Ottawa County Clerk Carol Randall and it was the second trip Randall has made to Tulsa for this trial. She was also there in September when Walker’s trial was originally scheduled. After calling her to the stand, Lewis asked her to read the oath of office and loyalty oath, which Walker had signed when he took office. Then he dismissed her.
But Tuesday morning Lewis got down to serious business, calling Special Agent, Jerome L. Simpson Jr., an FBI expert in organized crime, and a dapper little guy who looks amazingly like Peter Sellers of “Pink Panther” fame. No kidding, they could be brothers.
After the three U.S. attorneys in their dark, power-suits hoists and wheeled three video gambling machines before the jury, Simpson began an in-depth explanation of gambling and of the devices, demonstrating each machine several times. The FBI gives me money to gamble,” he told the court, describing his undercover work.
The 78 machines seized last fall were of the video poker and video slot machine type, and as such have one important difference from the gambling devices found in places such as Las Vegas. The seized video devices do not dispense winnings. If a player wins, points are accumulated on the machine. Gambling occurs if the business owner pays off on these accumulated points.
The purpose of Simpson’s testimony was to establish that gambling had being conducted. He told the jury that these types of machines are used across the country and that their only purpose is for gambling, but Simpson admitted he was not a part of the Ottawa County investigation.
Like others, Tuesday, the cross-examination by Walker’s attorney Gary Richardson, was interesting as much for what was allowed by the court as for what was not. In addition to the fact that Federal Judge H. Dale Cook runs a tight ship court-wise, there are some areas which Richardson would obviously like to explore but which are out-of-bounds. Perhaps rightfully so, as the tall gray-haired Tulsa attorney is attempting to paint a picture of widespread corruption in Ottawa County and of a frame-up by prosecution witnesses.
After asking Simpson to look at photographs of smaller machines from a Texaco truck stop in Tulsa County, attorneys were asked to approach the bench, when they returned the matter was dropped.
Richardson also asked Simpson if he knew whether, under Oklahoma law, possession to the machines were illegal if no payoffs involved. Simpson replied that he didn’t know. And Richardson asked, “Have you ever been involved in an operation where VFW and Elks Clubs were raided?”
“Yes,” replied Simpson,
“Do you know what happened in this case?” Richardson continued.
“Objection,” cried Lewis.
“Sustained,” said the judge.
The next prosecution witness was Donald Hogan, owner of Hattie’s Bar in Commerce, one of the establishments targeted in the raid. Hogan himself has pleaded guilty to gambling charges and awaits sentencing. He admitted that one requirement to his agreement with the U. S. Attorney’s Office is that he testify against Walker. Hogan told of a visit to his home, in which Walker asked him for a donation to the Sheriff’s Department to help buy radios and tires for patrol cars. He said he made a donation and was given a receipt, but that later, Walker asked him to let friend and machine vendor Michael O’Brien put a machine in his establishment, Hogan said that he refused because he already had gambling and other machines provided by George Roberts of Ozark Amusements but offered to introduce Walker to Roberts.
Hogan said that he arranged a meeting at his house for the pair, and while he did not listen to their conversation, that Roberts told him later that they would have to pay 10 percent of their gambling machines profits to Walker. The money was divided up each Wednesday, Hogan said. “I would take out 10 percent, put a clip around it and put a “W” on it for Walker.” He said that George Roberts son, Mike, made the payoffs and that he never witnessed any money changing hands.
On cross-examination, Hogan said he initially lied to federal investigators but changed his story after his attorney set up a meeting with federal authorities. “I wasn’t promised anything,” he said.
Richardson also focused closely on two letters sent to Ottawa County bar owners regarding gambling machines, one in June of 1994 and another in November. In the first letter Walker told bar owners that he wouldn’t tolerate under-age drinking or drugs and warned them that if gambling machines were not removed, they would be checked by deputies in the future.
In the second letter, Walker told owners to remove the machines as that appeared to be the only way to prevent gambling.
Hogan also told the court that following the first letter his wife called District Attorney Ben Loring and asked if the machines could be put back in. “If you were paying protection, why would you call the DA’s office?” Richardson asked.
“Because I wasn’t going to pay him any more,” said Hogan. Hogan also testified that he secretly taped a conversation with another machine vendor for federal agents, and Richardson questioned why he did not do the same with Walker, Hogan replied that he wasn’t asked to do so. Following Donald Hogan, his wife Judy testified much to the same evidence. She said that in her phone call to Loring he advised her that the machines are not illegal so long as no payments are made, but admitted she did not tell him she had been making payoffs.
Judy Hogan, also told the court that she had initially lied to federal investigators, and Richardson, pointed out some discrepancies between her testimony before the grand jury and what she had told the court. She told Tuesday’s court that Mike Roberts had told her that the letters from Walker were coming and to ignore them, a story she had not told the grand jury.
When Richardson questioned her about it, she said, “I was very nervous. It was the first time I had been in a court room."
She also said, "I realize (the gambling) was illegal, but the state people, the tax people, all the law enforcement people knew we had the machines.” She said that the Oklahoma Tax Commission visited yearly to check the licenses on her machines and that ABLE even sent undercover agents to check on under-age drinking.
The prosecution team is expected to display the smoking guns today, by calling George and Mike Roberts to the stand. They allegedly made the payoffs to Walker.
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