INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — A federal judge on Wednesday sentenced a former Indiana lawmaker accused of proposing a bill that favored a casino company in exchange for job promises to a year and a day in prison.
Former State Rep. Sean Eberhart pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit fraud in November and agreed to pay $60,000 in restitution, roughly equal to his annual salary as a lawmaker. He faced a maximum prison sentence of five years, but prosecutors recommended leniency as part of the plea deal. the Indianapolis Star reported.
Eberhart’s attorney, Pat Cotter, declined to comment on the sentencing when contacted by The Associated Press by email.
Eberhart, a Republican, represented Indiana’s central House District 57 for 16 years before leaving office in November 2022.
According to court documents, in 2018 a company called Spectacle Entertainment wanted to buy two casinos on Lake Michigan in Gary, Indiana. The company wanted to move the facilities to downtown Gary and to Vigo County in western Indiana. The Legislature passed a bill in 2019 authorizing the move.
Eberhart served on the House Committee on Public Policy, which oversees casinos and gambling in Indiana. Prosecutors accused him of using his position to successfully advocate for the move and obtain favorable terms for the company, including tax breaks, in exchange for a future job that would pay at least $350,000 annually.
The embattled casino company has been the subject of several federal investigations in recent years.
In 2022, former casino director John Keeler was convicted, along with former Indiana Sen. Brent Waltz for their role in a scheme to illegally funnel gambling money into the lawmaker’s failed 2016 bid for Congress.
Keeler, who served as a Republican lawmaker for 16 years in the 1980s and 1990s, was sentenced to two months in prison and a $55,000 fine. The Indiana Gaming Commission forced Spectacle officials to give up their ownership interests in the Gary and Terre Haute casino projects following Keeler and Waltz’s 2020 indictments.
Waltz, a Republican from Greenwood, was sentenced to 10 months in prison for helping to funnel about $40,000 in illegal contributions to his campaign and making false statements to the FBI.
