Brent Waltz, Former Indiana State Senator, Appeals Sentence for Casino Campaign Funding

Article ByDavid Weir

August 22, 2023

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Posted in: US Gambling Crime News, Federal Gambling News, Indiana Gambling News

Former Indiana state senator Brent Waltz has sought to overturn his federal prison sentence, which he served for lying to the FBI and soliciting undeclared donations during his unsuccessful congressional campaign.

Waltz, who completed his prison term in March, is currently on probation.

He alleges that federal prosecutors stitched him up by offering him a plea deal that they knew came with the potential for a more severe sentence.

Waltz says his lawyer at the time was not aware of the potential consequences of the plea deal.

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A Plea Deal Gone Awry

Waltz, a former Republican representative from Greenwood, was indicted in 2020 for allegedly collaborating with an East Coast political consultant, Kelley Rogers.

The duo was accused of channeling funds from one of Indiana’s major casino companies, New Centaur, to Waltz’s 2015 U.S. House campaign. However, they used other people and entities, known as straw donors, including Waltz’s family and friends, to conceal the true nature of the donations.

Waltz first denied all charges, but then accepted a plea deal.

As part of that, Waltz admitted to receiving $40,500 in dark-money campaign contributions in 2016 from John Keeler, a former Republican state senator and then-general counsel and vice president for Centaur Gaming.

However, Waltz has now claimed that he was unaware of the specifics of the plea agreement, which made it more probable for him to face prison time. The $40,500 figure is just above the threshold for an increased penalty, even though the initially offending contributions were less than that amount.

Waltz’s former attorney, Russell Johnson, was also reportedly perplexed by the amount. But Waltz ultimately agreed to sign the deal.

Centaur owned two Indiana racing and casino venues, the Indiana Grand and Hoosier Park. It eventually sold both to Caesars in 2018.

The Significance of $40,500

Federal sentencing guidelines indicate that if the alleged amount is less than $40,000 in illegal donations, the chances of imprisonment decrease.

However, any amount exceeding $40,000 carries a “presumption of imprisonment.”

Waltz alleges that federal prosecutors intentionally set the $40,500 figure to ensure his imprisonment. He further claims that no one, including his former lawyer, was aware of this during the plea agreement discussions.

Waltz’s new attorney, Abraham Murphy, has supported these claims, stating that the plea agreement was designed to land Waltz in prison.

On the other hand, Johnson admitted that he did not research the implications of the dollar amounts during plea negotiations – which is a fairly basic omission for a high level lawyer representing a former Senator.

Despite the plea deal and subsequent prison term, Waltz maintains his innocence. He believes that the case against him was “extraordinarily weak” and is prepared to challenge the charges in court.

Waltz’s confidence stems from his claim that Rogers had concealed his illegal activities from him and did not think Waltz was aware of those actions.

Former Centaur owner Keeler spent two months in prison in 2022 on charges relating to the case.

After selling Centaur’s casino properties to Caesars, Keeler wrapped the company up and started Spectacle Gaming. It partnered with Hard Rock International to build Hard Rock Casino Northern Indiana. However, just days after building work started in 2020, Spectacle was removed from the project when news of the investigation into Keeler broke.

Rogers, meanwhile, is currently in prison on wire fraud charges, serving out a three-year sentence.