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April 27, 2006

Prosecutors argue Lincoln verdict was just

PROVIDENCE _ Prosecutors today urged federal judges to reject appeals by former Lincoln Park executives Nigel Potter and Daniel Bucci, saying there’s more than enough evidence they hatched a scheme to bribe former House Speaker John B. Harwood.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office dismissed the idea that $4 million in proposed payments were intended for Harwood’s law partner, Daniel V. McKinnon, who’d done previous legal work for the dog track.

“Though discussed in euphemisms such as "bonus" and "incentive," this huge sum of money bore no relationship to the actual legal work performed by McKinnon,” prosecutors wrote in a 119-page legal brief filed with the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. “Even Potter admitted that he had no idea what McKinnon could possibly do to merit such largesse.”

“Most importantly, in their own discussions, Bucci and Potter clearly tied the payments not to McKinnon’s unremarkable legal work but rather to the success of their political agenda, including, most notably, the goals of increasing the number of (video-lottery terminals) and obtaining permission to install slot machines,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Donald C. Lockhart wrote.

In August, a federal jury convicted Lincoln Park, Potter and Bucci of conspiring to bribe Harwood with up to $4 million to secure state approval for at least 1,000 more VLTs and to block a rival casino.

In October, U.S. District Judge Mary M. Lisi sentenced Potter to three years in prison and Bucci to three years and five months in prison. She also imposed a $1.5-million fine on LPRI, the limited liability company remaining from Lincoln Park’s former owners.

-- Edward Fitzpatrick

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