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Cover Stories Spring 2005 Mistrial Declared in Federal Trial of Lincoln Park Execs Rhode Island: After three weeks of testimony and five days of deliberations, a federal jury in Providence returned not guilty verdicts on five lesser wire fraud charges Feb. 25 in the bribery and conspiracy trial of two former Lincoln Park executives, Daniel Bucci and Nigel Potter. The sharply divided jury remained deadlocked on 20 counts, including the underlying bribery-conspiracy charges lodged against the defendants. U.S. District Court Judge Mary M. Lisi declared a mistrial on those counts. Bucci, the former CEO of Lincoln Park, and Potter, the former CEO of the track's British parent company, Wembley Plc, were accused of conspiring to bribe former Speaker of the House John B. Harwood to get approval for at least 1,000 more video slot machines at the track and to help block a proposed Narragansett Indian casino. Prosecutors said the two intended to funnel up to $4 million to the legislator through the McKinnon and Harwood law firm. Harwood's partner Daniel McKinnon has represented Lincoln Park for more than a decade. Neither Harwood nor McKinnon were charged. U.S. District Attorney Robert Corrente March 1 announced his decision to retry the case. "The basis of the allegations in the indictment is that planning to pay millions of dollars as an incentive or as gratitude to politically connected figures is fundamentally inconsistent with the notion of honest government," Corrente said. "This principal, in our view, is too important to the people of Rhode Island to be left unresolved." In other developments, Wembley has agreed to sell its U.S. operations, including Lincoln Park and a horse track and three greyhound tracks in Colorado-Pueblo, Post Time and Wembley Park-to BLB Investors for $339 million in cash. BLB, a consortium of gambling,
resort and real estate interests, plans to spend an additional $125 million
to upgrade the 1940s-era Lincoln track and casino operation. In return,
BLB wants an 18-year contract with the state to lock in place its share
of the video slots revenue. BLB has insisted the deal must be completed
by May 30. |