Ex-Birmingham, Ala., mayor won 555 electronic bingo jackpots worth $1.5 million in 3 years
By APWednesday, March 3, 2010
Filing: Ex-Birmingham mayor won $1.5M in jackpots
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Tax returns show an ousted Alabama mayor won 555 electronic bingo jackpots at one casino and claimed gambling winnings of $1.5 million over three years.
Former Birmingham Mayor Larry Langford was convicted of taking bribes from an investment banker and is to be sentenced Friday in federal court. Prosecutors filed papers Wednesday asking that he spend at least 24 years in prison.
A new filing in an unrelated lawsuit includes Langford’s tax records for 2006 through 2008. They show gambling winnings of about $1.5 million, along with losses of the same amount.
They show he won 555 jackpots at VictoryLand, whose owner was a frequent campaign contributor.
Langford tells The Birmingham News, which first reported the tax records, that he doesn’t remember hitting so many jackpots.
