Cover Story

By Kevin Lee and Rob Holbert

Lagniappe staff

(Part II of a two-part series)

Tony Castaldo felt outnumbered. It seemed clear someone had been in his office while he was gone.

The attorney general’s investigative agent found things out of order on his desk and in his files, while documents that had no business in his office were found in odd spots.

His paranoia was confirmed the morning his door lock came out into his hand. The locksmith said it had to have been an inside job by someone with the core key.

Castaldo’s misgivings ran through his head. He recalled the earlier warning from departing chief Jack Brennan. “Word has it you’re a Tyson loyalist. Keep your head down ‘cause they’re coming for you.”

He was sure a refusal to provide his boss, Alabama State Attorney General Troy King, with political fodder to use against former employer John Tyson was the root of the trouble.

“I reported the door lock incident to my boss,” Castaldo said. “I told (then supervisor) J. D. Shelton and he just said ‘OK’ like he always did.”

Clamp down

By July 2006, as King’s first run at public election was heating up, the AG’s office was looking into gambling charges, an area of particular interest to many in the Republican hierarchy and to conservative voters across the Alabama.

Gamblers were prosecuted around the state as small operations tried to slip in under Alabama’s codes. Spin-N-Win operations were hit. Slot machine facsimiles were seized.

In tiny White Hall, Ala., a charity bingo parlor morphed into a quasi-slots hall via the route officials there say they believed was legally allowable. Facility spokesmen claimed it brought in $4- $6 million annually to a Black Belt town fighting poverty and did so without the proclaimed attendant vices and crimes.

AG King’s staff began focusing on the town during this time and sought to shut down the hall, initially citing a legal loophole in the application process.

Finally in August 2007, White Hall Mayor John Jackson was indicted by the attorney general on charges of theft and ethics violations. The state claims Jackson took $46,609 in city funds and used his public office for private gain.

According to Jackson’s attorney, Julian McPhillips, dealing with the AG’s office has been taxing.

“We twice sent letters to the attorney general’s office, supplying evidence, complying with what they wanted,” McPhillips said, “and we never received any reply. We cooperated with the subpoenas and got no cooperation in return.”

McPhillips said he has documentation to prove the funds were reparations for Jackson’s personal loan to the city in a land purchase.

The purpose of the realty deal? A gambling hall.

McPhillips has his suspicions on why the King is so interested in these rural operations.

“I think he’s (Troy King) trying to curry favor with the big gaming interests in the state,” McPhillips said, “those who would rather see people spend their money in places other than these little halls.”

McPhillips feels the reason is evident.

“The Godfather of Alabama politics, Milton McGregor, has caused more money to go to more politicians than just about anyone in the state,” McPhillips said.

Milton McGregor is Alabama’s gambling kingpin. Like King, he is a proud son of the wiregrass with ties to Troy University.

McGregor owns racetracks near Birmingham and Montgomery that have netted him a mint-more than $2 billion gross in 20 years according to Central Alabama Business Journal-and spreading that money around has earned him a reputation as a top-notch political broker.

In late 2006, the Birmingham News connected McGregor to a number of PACs that gave almost $65,000 to King’s re-election campaign.

In December 2005, McGregor’s Birmingham Race Course was raided by Jefferson County Sheriff Mike Hale and 300 sweepstakes machines were seized before an injunction temporarily saved another 1,000 machines from seizure. The raid set off a legal battle that ultimately ended a year later when the Alabama Supreme Court sided with Hale concerning the machines’ legality, deeming them essentially slot machines.

The AG’s forces weren’t present at the racetrack bust and later blamed the absence on ignorance.

King’s critics believe it’s not a blatant quid pro quo.

“I’m not saying McGregor put King up to anything,” McPhillips stated, “I just think King’s trying to curry favor.”

Another who feels King’s office has lost vigor with certain types of cases is Bob Sertell. Sertell is the chairman of Casino Horizons Corp., and was under contract with King’s office to help investigate the use of illegal gambling machines in Alabama. An expert on gaming machines, Sertell was highly involved in the investigation of gambling machines at McGregor’s Birmingham Race Course.

Sertell said going up against someone with McGregor’s money and political clout was daunting, but Hale felt it was the right thing to do and thought he had the backing of King and other high-ranking public officials. Sertell likened the prosecution to being among the first waves of soldiers landing in Normandy on D-Day and the attorney general to someone who was waiting in the rear with the gear to land after the shoreline had been secured.

“Everybody in their fancy suits slapped the sheriff on the back and said ‘Go get ‘em,’ but they were looking for a later boat. Mr. King was one of those waiting for a later boat,” Sertell said.

Sertell says he has noticed changes in King’s prosecutorial interests since he was sworn in at the beginning of the year.

“Once the election was over, Troy King’s interest in fighting gambling seems to have diminished. My phone doesn’t ring anymore,” Sertell said.

In fact, though he is still involved in gambling investigations being run by other Alabama law enforcement agencies, Sertell claims King’s office has greatly cut back on efforts that would help stop the use of illegal gambling machines.

“At one point, he had a training program set up with us for Alabama law enforcement officers to understand how illegal machines worked and how they cheat people,” Sertell said. “For some reason, after the election, the attorney general felt there was no need for it. Anybody who’s been in Birmingham or Bessemer lately realizes there’s a need. The place is papered over with bingo parlors.”

Meanwhile, AG King’s forces were looking at Bessemer Circuit Judge Dan King in the summer of ‘06. No relation to the AG, the judge had been at the center of gambling cases for years and was now in danger as the state thought they had a case against him for tax, ethics and election law violations.

But while gazing at the judge, the eye of scrutiny wandered.

Perjury

During deliberation of charges against Dan King, investigation discussion focused on Tony Castaldo.

During a previous gambling trial in October 2005, a Castaldo answer to a defense attorney’s question stood out to the assistant attorneys general. When asked if he had told anyone in Bessemer he was with the Judicial Inquiry Commission, Castaldo said no.

Assistant Attorney General William Lisenby claimed to have notes from a July meeting in which Castaldo admitted to a tactic subscribed by a supervisor, a ruse in which Castaldo was to lead Carter to believe he was with JIC in order to smoke out a courthouse leak. Lisenby said Castaldo claimed to have told the clerk JIC “and our office are looking at things with regard to King.”

Castaldo said such a ploy would be futile. “I’ve known Earl Carter for five years,” he said. “We’re on a first name basis and he knows exactly who I work for.”

Castaldo claims to have been in the process of explaining this in the earlier trial when his response was cut short by the defense attorney. After leaving the stand, he recalled discussing the defense’s odd query with Assistant AG Sonny Reagan.

The AG’s office pursued the incident and investigator J. D. Shelton hand-delivered the report to the Jefferson County District Attorney.

The state would later claim the case proceeded independent of the AG, that they had no knowledge the perjury charge was in the works despite the fact Jefferson County Assistant DA Kathy Eades would state Castaldo confessed to Lisenby.

A grand jury convened. Sonny Reagan appeared before them and fingered Castaldo as a liar.

Around this time, Castaldo says, Chief Deputy AG Keith Miller contacted his attorney with an offer to deflect the indictment if Castaldo resigned. He refused.

Castaldo was notified of his indictment Aug. 2, 2006, and placed on administrative leave.

A hard-earned career was in danger. A guilty verdict would carry with it a sentence of up to a year in prison.

“I had to go turn myself in over a misdemeanor perjury charge,” Castaldo said.

“I got down to the jail and the guys there couldn’t believe it. I had to go through and even wear the clothes for a few hours. It didn’t feel good.”

Two months later, he was allowed to return to duty, but was transferred from a major investigations division to a basement office in the Welfare Fraud Division, a de facto demotion. Troy King once described the White Crimes Division as an “elite” group. Now, Castaldo was just another foot soldier.

Castaldo and his lawyer, Jim Pino, claim the pressure continued when once again, Chief Deputy AG Keith Miller phoned with an offer to make the perjury indictment disappear if Castaldo resigned, giving him a three-hour window in which to report to the facility and step down. Again, he declined the offer.

Why wouldn’t the AG just terminate Castaldo if they wanted him gone?

“If they had fired Tony there would have been a required personnel hearing and I think they didn’t want that with everything coming out right before an election,” Pino offered.

The court date arrived in March ‘07 and trial was quick.

The prosecution called Earl Carter to the stand and he verified how long he had known Castaldo and his occupation.

“We called two or three character witnesses,” Pino said, “including some former members of the attorney general’s office and Ed May, the mayor of Bessemer.” The list of their character witnesses included former Castaldo colleagues and supervisors, including FBI veterans. All testified as to the superior quality of Castaldo’s work.

Revelations of events leading to the indictment were aired under oath, countering the AG’s earlier version of things.

“The prosecution called four members of their staff and their stories didn’t jibe,” Pino said. “They were completely contradictory. You would think that, for prosecutors, they would have things better prepared than that.”

Castaldo told how he initially served as a special investigator handling “attorney general matters of interest” that included public corruption cases and “favors for friends” of Troy King. He told how he was removed from that position just months after refusing the boss’ request for inside information on John Tyson, King’s opponent in the November ‘06 election.

The jury’s deliberation was swift, returning to the court in just over half-an-hour. “Well, the jury was out only 30 minutes,” Pino said, “and when you consider that they had to take the time to elect a foreman, that shows you how quick the process was.”

Castaldo was found innocent. Pino spoke with jury members afterward.

“Some of the jurors noted that their (the prosecutors) stories didn’t match up,” Pino said. “One of the jurors even told me he thought all four of them were lying. We talked to three or four jurors and they all felt that Tony was obviously innocent.”

Castaldo recalled jurors who voiced their well wishes. Afterward, he received a letter from one. The female from an “Over the mountain” Birmingham suburb wrote of the transparency of the case and expressed her concern for Castaldo’s well being. She relayed the relief she felt when she saw the faces of his family as the verdict was read. Castaldo was reluctant to share the missive, citing the emotion it elicited when he first read it.

“I’ve even gotten support from people that I helped to prosecute,” Castaldo said. “They told me they thought what happened to me was wrong. And these are people I put in jail!”

“Tony was a hard-working, honest cop who wasn’t interested in politics and the others there couldn’t understand because they’re all political animals,” Pino said.

“It’s my job to find justice,” Castaldo said. “That’s what I’m interested in. Some other people, they just lose sight of that along the way. They get caught up in the wrong part of it.”

After his acquittal, Castaldo resumed work in Welfare fraud.

But he wouldn’t be the last to feel Troy King’s political games were hurting people and damaging the office.

Politics

Former Alabama Secretary of State Nancy Worley was a magnet for controversy during her term of office that ended in 2006. When allegations of illegal campaigning arose, it surprised few.

The AG’s office claimed Worley sent campaign literature to five workers in her office, envelopes stuffed with election paraphernalia and solicitation.

King’s office discovered the incident and brought charges against Worley, attempting to charge her for not only the five misdemeanors for soliciting contributions but also five felonies for soliciting votes.

Montgomery County Circuit Judge Truman Hobbs, Jr., threw out the felony charges, citing them as “vague and overly broad.”

“I’m real worried that this statute … potentially criminalizes a lot of everyday conduct that happens all over the country,” Hobbs said in a pre-trial meeting with defense attorneys and prosecutors, according to the Birmingham News.

The judge said under the section, a state official could commit a misdemeanor for asking a subordinate for a $50,000 donation, but face a felony for asking them to erect a yard sign.

“There’s something just inherently illogical and wrong about that,” Hobbs said.

King has appealed Hobbs’ decision to the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals, so Worley was reluctant to talk specifically about it, however, she did relate some of her other experiences with King’s office.

Worley said she felt King’s office was uninterested in working with her.

“I sent several complaints over to the attorney general’s office, of which we did not hear anything,” Worley said.

In one case, she said, her office refused to certify a state senator who had not filed campaign finance forms. The senator sued to force her to certify the election, and Worley said King’s office-charged with defending constitutional officers in such a case-refused involvement until the trial date.

“I stood up in court and told the judge I’d had no representation,” Worley said.

Worley claims King’s actions toward her were politically motivated.

“It was the most politically charged atmosphere I’ve ever seen. Almost everything he did while I was in office was done to make me look bad. He was good friends with my opponent Beth Chapman,” Worley said.

Accusations by those who say King’s office is for sale when it comes to initiating investigations were completely dismissed by his spokesman. King’s chief of staff Chris Bence maintains that accusations of misuse of the attorney general’s investigative powers are simply sour grapes from people who have been the focus of probes or otherwise run afoul of the law.

“I can tell you this, no one initiates an investigation other than Chief Investigator Chris Browning, or the attorney general himself,” Bence said. “I’m not going to dignify claims by someone who has been criminally investigated by this office, someone who has been fired or someone who may have political motives.”

Bence also denied the existence of the memo some insiders claim was written by investigator J.D. Shelton that reportedly urged King to stop pursuing investigations spurred by political donor Stan Pate.

“If what they are telling you is true, the proof would be a copy of that memo. Without a copy, it’s just talk,” Bence said.

Bence said the AG’s office has racked up an impressive list of enemies because of its investigative efforts, and that those people could be behind any complaints about King’s office.

“Something is either a fact or rumor. If it’s a fact, put it on the table. Otherwise, it’s just a rumor. Everything I’ve heard is rumor, either by someone who is or has been the subject of an investigation,” Bence said. “We’re not on Don Siegelman’s Christmas list. We’re not on Freeman Jockisch’s Christmas list. We have angered some people in very high places. Sometimes you’re better known by your enemies than your friends.”

The list of those who seemingly won’t be buying Troy King a Christmas present appears to be growing, though. Recently, James Sumner, director of the Alabama Ethics Commission openly complained during an Aug. 3 interview on Alabama Public Television that King’s office has not brought charges against any public official forwarded to them by the ethics commission since King took office in 2004. In speaking with Lagniappe, Sumner said it was hard for him to say whether politics have played a role in the AG’s decision not to follow up on cases presented by the commission.

“That’s really hard to answer,” Sumner said. “There is no overt indication that’s the case. What we do have is a continuing problem of not having our cases treated seriously by them. I would think they would be cases they would jump right on.”

Sumner, who started his career in the attorney general’s office 33 years ago, said he has tried to mend fences with King. He recalled a Feb. 23, 2007, meeting in which he says he was told King’s office would be reviewing all cases sent over by the ethics commission.

“They said we’ll get back to you, but we heard nothing. And that was February,” Sumner said.

When asked if the ethics commission is currently investigating King and his office and whether that might have something to do with the lack of cooperation, Sumner said he could not comment.

“I can not comment on that. We just don’t discuss investigations currently going on here,” he said.

He did say Tuscaloosa businessman and King backer Stan Pate brought a number of complaints to the commission, but that they never amounted to anything.

“No one’s come to us and said the attorney general’s not going to prosecute because someone said they’re going to give him a campaign contribution,” Sumner said. “He just seems to have a reluctance to prosecute high-ranking public officials.”

Sumner said the ethics commission presents the cases as files that are designed to make it easy for the attorney general’s office to obtain an indictment. One of the frustrations he expressed is that generally when they send over a case, they never hear back one way or another from King’s office, and generally find out through the grapevine that the attorney general has declined to pursue the case.

“We often refer things to the attorney general. We never hear back. We may hear second-hand that the attorney general’s not going forward,” Sumner said. In fact, Sumner said the commission has taken to sending many of its cases to local district attorney’s offices in hopes they will be pursued.

“It’s inconsistent to me not to take on these matters of serious ethical lapses by public officials,” he said.

Future governor?

Troy King defeated John Tyson in the 2006 bid for attorney general and rumor fills the state capital he is readying for a run at governor in 2010. Some close to King and Gov. Bob Riley also claim the governor is no fan of his attorney general choice and is not supportive of any King gubernatorial run. King spokesman Bence says the AG and the governor have a good working relationship and “are personal friends.” Riley’s office did not return a call seeking comment on King’s performance since being appointed.

Tony Castaldo returned to his office in Welfare Fraud after his aquittal, eventually resigning from the AG’s office in early August.

Still, this man who was found innocent continues to worry about the legal bills hanging over his head, the cost of defending himself against charges that were dismissed in less than half an hour. When asked their amount, Castaldo responded “tens of thousands.”

The system declared him to be in the right yet he is the one paying up when the smoke clears-paying a fine for being wrongfully prosecuted.

To Castaldo, it doesn’t sound like the “justice” he sought for others.

E-mail Rob Holbert at rholbert@lagniappemobile.com

---

Archives