A former Indiana casino executive pled guilty Monday to involvement in a campaign donation scene benefiting former Indiana State Sen. Brent Waltz.
John Keeler, 72 of Indianapolis, pled guilty in federal court to one count of causing the filing of a fake tax return. Keeler faces up to 3 years in prison, according to a U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Indiana news release.
Keeler and Waltz, were indicted in September 2020 on charges of violating federal campaign finance laws, false statements and falsification of records, making illegal corporate contributions, and conduit contributions to Waltz’s unsuccessful 2016 congressional campaign.
Waltz, of Greenwood, served on the Johnson County Council from 2000 to 2004 and represented District 36 in the Indiana State Senate from 2004 to 2016. He left to run for Congress in the Ninth District but was defeated in the Republican primary by Rep. Trey Hollingsworth.
Keeler, formerly the general counsel and vice president for Indiana-based gaming company New Centaur, LLC, was originally charged with one count of conspiracy to make illegal corporate contributions, false statements and to obstruct justice; one count of making illegal corporate contributions, one count of obstruction of justice; and one count of making false statements related to the scheme. All of the other charges, except for causing the filing of a fake tax return, will be dismissed, according to court documents.
Waltz pled guilty last week to felony counts of making and receiving conduit contributions and making false statements to the FBI. He was originally charged with one count of conspiracy to make conduit contributions, false statements and to obstruct justice; one count of making and receiving conduit contributions; one count of obstruction of justice; and two counts of making false statements related to the scheme.
Waltz and Keeler, allegedly worked with Kelley Rogers, a Maryland-based political consultant, to transfer thousands of dollars from the accounts of New Centaur to Rogers, who would then contribute that money to Waltz’s 2016 congressional campaign. The plan was allegedly hatched at a meeting between Rogers and an unnamed New Centaur executive in April 2015 at the Indianapolis International Airport, the indictment says.
Rogers allegedly created fake invoices and agreements to make it appear like he was providing services for New Centaur, and recruited straw donors to each contribute $2,700 to Waltz’s campaign, the federal maximum contribution limit at the time, the indictment says.
Keeler paid $41,000 in New Centaur corporate funds to Rogers and directed him to funnel $25,000 to a local political party committee in Marion County. To further conceal the nature of the contribution, Keeler caused New Centaur’s federal tax return filed with the Internal Revenue Service to falsely describe the $41,000 payment to Rogers as a deductible business expense, according to the news release.
A total of 15 straw donors were involved, including three of Waltz’s relatives and one of his business associates. The straw donors are not named in the indictment. Rogers and Chip O’Neil, a Republican strategist who pleaded guilty in a separate campaign finance violation and fraud case, were responsible for recruiting nine of the straw donors, according to the indictment.
The straw donors were allegedly reimbursed by Rogers, who used the money he received from New Centaur. Rogers and O’Neil also each donated $2,700 to Waltz’s campaign and allegedly reimbursed themselves with money from New Centaur.
Rogers also allegedly transferred money from New Centaur to Waltz, who also recruited straw donors and either reimbursed them or paid them in advance, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
A straw donor, as defined in the indictment, is a person who contributes to a campaign in his or her name despite receiving advance payment or reimbursement of all or part of the contribution, acting as an intermediary between the true source of the contribution and the campaign receiving the donation. Federal law says the name and occupation of the donor, the amount and date given must be reported for donations of more than $200.
New Centaur transferred a total of $79,500 to entities controlled by Rogers for the scheme, according to the indictment, but Rogers allegedly kept $33,300 of that to pay for his consulting fees for his services to Waltz’s campaign.
Waltz also donated $10,800 of his own money to the campaign through straw donors, according to the indictment.
Waltz told the FBI Rogers paid him $12,000 because Waltz’s investment banking company was on retainer with Rogers’ company. Waltz further told the FBI he sold $100,000 in art and other items to loan money to his campaign, but the items were actually gifts, loans and other contributions to his campaign, the indictment says.
Federal Election Commission documents show $152,078 in individual contributions, $113,700 in loans to the campaign from Waltz, and no corporate contributions to the campaign.
The investigation into Waltz’s campaign first became public in January 2020 when O’Neil, a vice president at Strategic Campaign Group and an employee of Rogers, pleaded guilty to conspiracy in federal court in Virginia. He admitted to helping collect donations from small donors in the names of candidates who never received the money.
O’Neil said in court that at least eight people, including his girlfriend, were used as conduits for illegal corporate donations to a U.S. House candidate in Indiana. Court documents did not reveal the candidate, but Federal Election Commission records indicate Waltz received the funds.
Court records implicated an unnamed Indianapolis gaming company and its vice president and general counsel as part of the scheme. The Indiana Gaming Commission later acknowledged the company was Centaur Gaming and the executives were Keeler and Rod Ratcliff.
Ratcliff has not been charged in connection with the straw donation scheme.
The Gaming Commission forced Keeler and Ratcliff, to give up their ownership stakes in the projects last year and eventually pulled the license for the Terre Haute casino away from the operators they had previously been involved with.
Keeler and Waltz will be sentenced by Judge James R. Sweeney II at a later date.
