MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) - A state senator working with the FBI recorded a casino lobbyist promising $1 million a year from two casino owners if he provided a key vote for pro-gambling legislation, according to testimony Tuesday in a gambling corruption trial.
   
"What I'm saying is there is a million out there and you can use it however," Country Crossing casino lobbyist Jarrod Massey said on the tape played Tuesday in federal court.
   
He said the money could be furnished through a public relations job that would require little work or Republican Sen. Scott Beason could direct where gambling interests made $1 million in political contributions. The recording was one of several that Beason made while helping the FBI with its investigation of Statehouse corruption.
   
Massey said his employer, Ronnie Gilley, developer of Country Crossing casino in Dothan, and Milton McGregor, owner of VictoryLand casino in Shorter, were working together to pass the legislation, and he would make sure they kept the commitment to Beason of Gardendale.
   
"I'm good with that," Beason replied.
   
Under cross-examination by McGregor's attorney, Beason acknowledged that McGregor was not there when the $1 million was discussed.
   
Nine people, including McGregor, are on trial in federal court on charges accusing them of buying and selling votes on legislation designed to protect electronic bingo machines at McGregor's and Gilley's now-closed casinos. Gilley and Massey have pleaded guilty and will testify later.
   
Beason, the first witness in the trial, will return to the stand Wednesday for the third day.
   
The Beason recordings played in court on Monday and Tuesday included meetings with Massey, Gilley and McGregor. The gambling advocates were short of the 21 votes they needed in the Senate to pass their legislation and were trying to get Beason on board. In most of the tapes, Beason was the first person to mention money.
   
That prompted a juror to send a note to the judge Tuesday asking if the meetings "could be considered entrapment?" The juror also asked if Beason was coached on what to ask the defendants.
   
After consulting with lawyers from both sides, the judge told the jury that entrapment is an issue of law and he would instruct the panel on the law before deliberations begin.
   
Then Beason testified that he talked with FBI agents about who would be at each recorded meeting, but "they never wrote anything down" for him to say in the meetings.
   
On one tape made Feb. 18, 2010, Beason recorded a meeting he had with Massey, Gilley and McGregor in Montgomery, where McGregor told him, "We need your vote."
   
Beason said he wanted to take a leadership role in the Republican Party, but lacked the financial means to do it.
   
"What can y'all do to help and how does that happen?" Beason asked.
   
"We damn sure support who supports us," McGregor told Beason, but the casino owner never mentioned any details of what the support might be.
   
In a recording from Feb. 19, 2010, Beason and Massey met in Homewood. Beason told Massey, "I want you to tell me what you have in mind."
   
Beason, a longtime opponent of gambling, was concerned about how a pro-gambling vote would be viewed.
   
"In order to do a lot of good, sometimes you've got to go through playing the process," Massey said.
   
Beason met with Gilley and Massey in Prattville on Feb. 23, 2010, where Gilley told him, "We feel like we are going to have the votes."
   
Then Massey told Beason, "We're solid as a rock."
   
Beason's recordings often contained critical remarks about other Republicans. In one comment, he accused former Gov. Bob Riley of trying to help Mississippi casinos by cracking down on gambling in Alabama. Beason said he was playing a role to keep the conversation going on the tapes.
   
McGregor's attorney, Bobby Segall, portrayed Beason as playing more than a role. He accused the Republican senator of being politically ambitious and trying to bring down McGregor because he contributes to Democratic candidates.
   
Beason said he does consider McGregor to be a threat to the Legislature's Republican majority, but that was not his motivation for contacting the FBI.
   
"My reason was to get to the bottom of what was going on in the Legislature," he said.

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