Ex-Indiana Lawmaker Sean Eberhart Gets Year in Prison in Spectacle Entertainment Corruption Case

Posted on: July 11, 2024, 10:11h. 

Last updated on: July 11, 2024, 10:32h.

Philip Conneller @casinoorgphilc Read More
Expertise: Gaming Business, Regulation, Tribal Gaming.

A former Indiana state lawmaker has been sentenced to a year and a day in federal prison for his role in the Spectacle Entertainment corruption case.

Sean Eberhart, Indiana state rep, Spectacle Entertainment, Rod Ratcliff, Brent Waltz, John Keeler
Sean Eberhart, pictured in the Indiana Statehouse in Indianapolis before his fall from grace. He was found to have pushed legislation favorable to Spectacle Entertainment in return for the promise of a plum job. (INside Indiana Business)

Sean Eberhart, a Republican state representative for 16 years, pleaded guilty in November 2023, to a federal honest services fraud conspiracy charge. He admitted he accepted money and the promise of a future job from casino operator Spectacle that promised to pay $350K per annum.

In return, he promoted and voted for a 2019 bill that authorized the operator to relocate two gaming licenses. These were from casinos located on Lake Michigan that would be transferred to more lucrative locations in downtown Gary and Vigo County, Ind. The former property later became the Hard Rock Casino Northern Indiana.

Peddling Influence

Eberhart was a longtime representative of Central Indiana’s House District 57. He also sat on the House Committee on Public Policy, which oversees casinos and gambling in the state.

He used his position not only to grease the skids on the relocation of the two licenses, but also to reduce the transfer fee from $100 million to $20 million. In addition, he pushed forward favorable tax incentives for Spectacle.

Eberhart was facing up to five years in prison, but prosecutors recommended he serve one year as part of the guilty plea. The ex-lawmaker must also pay $60K in restitution, roughly equivalent to a year’s salary for a state representative.

A Rock and a Hard Place

In 2018, Spectacle Gaming acquired the Majestic Star Casino, which was formed by two adjacent Riverboat Casinos, with two gaming licenses for each vessel. The company quickly applied to have the licenses transferred so it could build two distinct venues while working with Hard Rock to bring a joint-owned branded casino to Indiana.

But less than a month after the Hard Rock project broke ground, state regulators announced that Spectacle and its executive vice president and general counsel John Keeler were under investigation for funneling corporate money to politicians.

Keeler was sentenced to two months in prison after he admitted directing $41K in funds to a political consultant working on State Senator Brent Waltz’s (R) failed 2016 congressional campaign.

Waltz later pleaded guilty to two felony counts of making and receiving conduit contributions and lying to the FBI. He served seven months in prison.

Keeler and Spectacle founder and CEO Rod Ratcliff were ultimately removed from the company. A subsequent restructuring made Spectacle a minority shareholder in what became the Hard Rock Casino.