Montgomery, AL – Former Gov. John Patterson says he's not surprised to see 11 people, including four state senators, accused of swapping cash for votes on gambling legislation.
Patterson says organized illegal gambling corrupts everything it touches, and it brings out the worst in good people.
Patterson's father, Albert Patterson, was gunned down in 1954 while trying to rid Phenix City of illegal gambling. Patterson replaced his father in the campaign for state attorney general and helped implement his campaign promise to clean up the town.
Now 89, Patterson says he has no inside information on the federal probe that resulted in 11 people being charged last week. But he says he believes federal investigators are after more people, including those who bankrolled electronic bingo casinos in Alabama.
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