MONTGOMERY, Ala. - A federal prosecutor
admitted Thursday the FBI made mistakes in wiretaps on indicted casino
owners Milton McGregor and Ronnie Gilley, but they aren't serious enough
to throw out the recorded phone calls that are at the heart of
Alabama's gambling corruption case.<p class="textBodyBlack"><span id="byLine"></span>Defense
attorneys argued a judge should throw them out because FBI agents broke
rules by listening to phone calls between the casino owners and their
attorneys, by feeding information from some of those calls to the chief
investigator, and by dragging their feet on turning over records of the
wiretaps until threatened with sanctions by a federal judge.</p><p class="textBodyBlack"><span id="byLine"></span>"It's
not the way the most powerful institution in the world should behave,"
McGregor's attorney, Sam Heldman of Washington, said.</p><p class="textBodyBlack"><span id="byLine"></span>At
the end of the hearing, U.S. Magistrate Judge Wallace Capel Jr. did not
indicate when he will rule, but he said he could find no similar case
where wiretap evidence had been suppressed.</p><p class="textBodyBlack"><span id="byLine"></span>Defense
attorneys said it would be unusual, but they said the problems they had
getting the required records from the FBI was equally unusual.</p><p class="textBodyBlack"><span id="byLine"></span>Gilley,
the developer of Country Crossing casino in Dothan, and McGregor, the
owner of VictoryLand casino in Shorter, had their phones tapped by the
FBI in March 2010 while they were making an unsuccessful effort to get
the Legislature to pass a bill that would allow their closed electronic
bingo casinos to reopen.</p><p class="textBodyBlack"><span id="byLine"></span>They
are scheduled for trial June 6 on charges accusing them and eight
others of buying and selling votes on the failed legislation.
Prosecutors would have a much more difficult time pressing their case
without recordings from the wiretaps.</p><p class="textBodyBlack"><span id="byLine"></span>In
the hearing Thursday, Assistant U.S. Attorney Steve Feaga said FBI
agents did everything they could to avoid listening to privileged phone
calls between the casino owners and their attorneys, but the agents were
using new, complicated equipment. He also said changes in technology
made it difficult for them to find all relevant emails to turn over to
the defense.</p><p class="textBodyBlack"><span id="byLine"></span>"There were mistakes made. We don't think those mistakes rise to the level of prejudice," he told the judge.</p><p class="textBodyBlack"><span id="byLine"></span>The
FBI agent who oversaw the wiretaps, Doug Carr, spent much of the day on
the witness stand. He was supposed to testify Tuesday, but the judge
delayed it after learning prosecutors still hadn't given defense
attorneys all relevant FBI documents about the wire taps. He also
threatened prosecutors with sanctions if they didn't supply the
documents.</p><p class="textBodyBlack"><span id="byLine"></span>Defense attorneys said they got a 3-inch stack of documents, including emails and text messages, after the judge's threat.</p><p class="textBodyBlack"><span id="byLine"></span>Under
questioning by defense attorneys, Carr acknowledged FBI agents weren't
trained on new wiretap recording equipment until the morning the
wiretaps began on March 1, 2010. He said agents listened to a few
attorney calls that they shouldn't have, but he said it was usually
because they didn't catch the attorney's name or the intent of the call
at the beginning.</p><p class="textBodyBlack"><span id="byLine"></span>"It was inadvertent," he said.</p><div class="textBodyBlack">Copyright
2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not
be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.</div>
admitted Thursday the FBI made mistakes in wiretaps on indicted casino
owners Milton McGregor and Ronnie Gilley, but they aren't serious enough
to throw out the recorded phone calls that are at the heart of
Alabama's gambling corruption case.<p class="textBodyBlack"><span id="byLine"></span>Defense
attorneys argued a judge should throw them out because FBI agents broke
rules by listening to phone calls between the casino owners and their
attorneys, by feeding information from some of those calls to the chief
investigator, and by dragging their feet on turning over records of the
wiretaps until threatened with sanctions by a federal judge.</p><p class="textBodyBlack"><span id="byLine"></span>"It's
not the way the most powerful institution in the world should behave,"
McGregor's attorney, Sam Heldman of Washington, said.</p><p class="textBodyBlack"><span id="byLine"></span>At
the end of the hearing, U.S. Magistrate Judge Wallace Capel Jr. did not
indicate when he will rule, but he said he could find no similar case
where wiretap evidence had been suppressed.</p><p class="textBodyBlack"><span id="byLine"></span>Defense
attorneys said it would be unusual, but they said the problems they had
getting the required records from the FBI was equally unusual.</p><p class="textBodyBlack"><span id="byLine"></span>Gilley,
the developer of Country Crossing casino in Dothan, and McGregor, the
owner of VictoryLand casino in Shorter, had their phones tapped by the
FBI in March 2010 while they were making an unsuccessful effort to get
the Legislature to pass a bill that would allow their closed electronic
bingo casinos to reopen.</p><p class="textBodyBlack"><span id="byLine"></span>They
are scheduled for trial June 6 on charges accusing them and eight
others of buying and selling votes on the failed legislation.
Prosecutors would have a much more difficult time pressing their case
without recordings from the wiretaps.</p><p class="textBodyBlack"><span id="byLine"></span>In
the hearing Thursday, Assistant U.S. Attorney Steve Feaga said FBI
agents did everything they could to avoid listening to privileged phone
calls between the casino owners and their attorneys, but the agents were
using new, complicated equipment. He also said changes in technology
made it difficult for them to find all relevant emails to turn over to
the defense.</p><p class="textBodyBlack"><span id="byLine"></span>"There were mistakes made. We don't think those mistakes rise to the level of prejudice," he told the judge.</p><p class="textBodyBlack"><span id="byLine"></span>The
FBI agent who oversaw the wiretaps, Doug Carr, spent much of the day on
the witness stand. He was supposed to testify Tuesday, but the judge
delayed it after learning prosecutors still hadn't given defense
attorneys all relevant FBI documents about the wire taps. He also
threatened prosecutors with sanctions if they didn't supply the
documents.</p><p class="textBodyBlack"><span id="byLine"></span>Defense attorneys said they got a 3-inch stack of documents, including emails and text messages, after the judge's threat.</p><p class="textBodyBlack"><span id="byLine"></span>Under
questioning by defense attorneys, Carr acknowledged FBI agents weren't
trained on new wiretap recording equipment until the morning the
wiretaps began on March 1, 2010. He said agents listened to a few
attorney calls that they shouldn't have, but he said it was usually
because they didn't catch the attorney's name or the intent of the call
at the beginning.</p><p class="textBodyBlack"><span id="byLine"></span>"It was inadvertent," he said.</p><div class="textBodyBlack">Copyright
2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not
be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.</div>