Louisiana Voice

Editor’s note: Ronnie Jones, former chairman of the State Gaming Control Board, is one of several state and local officials whose careers were left in tatters by former Sen. Karen Carter Peterson over her 22 years in the Louisiana Legislature, as a New Orleans political power broker, and as chair of the Louisiana Democratic Party.

It should be pointed out, as one reader did, that former 22^nd Judicial District Attorney Walter Reed, who was convicted of several counts of wire fraud, money laundering, and mail fraud, was sentenced in 2017 to four years, fined $15,000, ordered to pay $609,000 in forfeiture, $40,000 to the IRS, and $572,000 in restitution – compared to Peterson’s comparatively light sentence of 22 months for her guilty plea to diverting $140,000 in funds from the state Democratic Party and her campaign funds to her personal use, ostensibly to feed her insatiable gambling addiction.

Written on Nov. 29, 2022, immediately following Peterson’s guilty plea – and at the request of LouisianaVoice, the following is Jones’s reconstruction of how Peterson torpedoed Jones’s career when she blocked his reappointment as gaming control board:

I don’t recall exactly what year Ms. Peterson applied for the Self Exclusion List but her name came to our attention at the Board shortly after she filed and signed the paperwork.  Once I was aware that Ms. Peterson was on the list, I was confronted with what I thought might be a dilemma, a political and ethical dilemma.  The names on the list are considered confidential except for the Board, the State Police and the gaming licensees.  Nevertheless, did I have an obligation to share Ms. Peterson’s participation on the list with Governor Edwards?  He was, after all, the highest-ranking Democrat in the state and she was the influential head of the state Democratic party. 

It was a question quickly answered by my in-house counsel.  I’m paraphrasing, but the answer was a variation of “Not no, but hell no.  Have you lost your freaking mind?”  (She and I had a special relationship and she could be blunt but seldom wrong.)  The matter was then settled.  Peterson’s participation could not be shared with anyone not authorized by law or the gaming regulations.  Even the Governor was not entitled to know.

But there was another nagging question.  After considering who she was and the fact that she had admitted to a compulsive gambling problem, was it appropriate for me to reach out to Peterson and offer names, numbers and resources for managing her problem?  The question gnawed at me for more than a week.  After some discussion with staff we surmised that reaching out to Peterson would not likely be well received by the then-Senator.  She might entirely misinterpret my intentions as being disingenuous. 

Her reputation was well known around the capital and I knew that to conduct the Board’s business it would be necessary to appear from time to time before the Senate Judiciary B Committee.  Peterson sat on that committee.  Things could go badly in those meetings if Peterson perceived some malevolent motive on my part in confronting her with her addiction.  That would complicate the Board’s legislative business.  That, in turn, would be bad for the Board, but more importantly that would be bad for the state.  It wasn’t a risk I was willing to take.

Throughout the next few years, I had heard that Peterson was violating her Self Exclusion agreement by gambling. I knew it would only be a matter of time before her luck would run out.  Literally.

So, I wasn’t surprised when I heard from officials at L’auberge Casino in Baton Rouge in February 2019.  They had a slot winner who didn’t wait around for a significant win payout.  The size of the jackpot would have required producing identification and completion of legally required forms.  They had a photo and sent it along with the question, “Do we know who this is?” 

Before even opening the attached photo, I knew there were usually only two reasons a gambler heads to the exit before collecting on a jackpot:  they were either wanted by law enforcement or they were on the Self Exclusion List.  I opened the attachment and the player’s closely cropped hair style was unmistakable.  It was Peterson.  State Police was notified that it was the Senator.  They asked if I had an opinion on how the matter should be handled and I asked them to treat this case as they would any other.    

In due course State Police contacted Peterson and told her they wanted to meet with her.  I’m pretty sure she knew why she got the call.  At the meeting she was cited for trespassing, the appropriate legal charge for a gambler on the list who violates the terms by being on a licensed gaming floor.   

It didn’t take long for WWL TV to learn of the citation because even though the Exclusion List is not a public document a citation has no equivalent protection under the law.  Somebody called the TV station.  It could have been somebody associated with the property, someone in State Police or a number of other sources.  But it wasn’t me.  Nor was it anyone on my staff.  Indeed, at the time I reasoned that there were plenty of suspects out there who figured they had a score to settle with Peterson, for as many people as she may have assisted in her political career there was an equal number she had disrespected, upbraided or otherwise mistreated.

And so it came to pass that she was outed as a compulsive gambler by a TV news report, something I had known for years but had never divulged.  The following day I sent the following email to Peterson:

From: Ronnie Jones
Sent: Wednesday, April 24, 2019 7:13 AM
To: Karen Carter Peterson

Senator Peterson—

Thank you for your comments yesterday on the issue of compulsive gambling.  Although you should never have been forced to talk about this personal struggle so publicly, you have done so with courage and grace.  As my senator, you have made me proud.

You may not be aware but I have been an advocate for those who struggle with addictive disorders for years.  That continues today in my role as Chairman of the Gaming Control Board.  I believe the state has an absolute moral responsibility to provide resources for those who suffer from the disorder.  The industry, too, must bear a share of the burden for providing assistance and they know where I stand with respect to compulsive gambling.  I think there is more all of us can do to address the collateral damage, although unintended, that gaming causes throughout the state.  My pledge to you is that you shall always have my support so long as I serve in this capacity.

I look forward to visiting with you at your convenience.  I am leaving on some personal time this weekend and will be back in about 10 days.  Call when you feel like talking.

Ronnie Jones, Chairman

Louisiana Gaming Control Board

7901 Independence Boulevard

Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70806

And her reply:

From: Karen Carter Peterson
Sent: Wednesday, April 24, 2019 3:22 PM
To: Ronnie Jones
Subject: Re: Thank you

Thanks so much for this email. I would like to chat with you this evening before you leave if possible. Let me know what works for you. 

Best regards, 

Karen Carter Peterson

504-621-1697

From: Ronnie Jones
Sent: Wednesday, April 24, 2019 3:58 PM
To: Karen Carter Peterson
Subject: RE: Thank you

I have a neighborhood meeting this evening but I’ll be available in the morning if you have some time.

Ronnie Jones

Chairman

Louisiana Gaming Control Board

She never called.  Despite two follow up emails, she never responded.  But her silence was part of a larger pattern.  When she offered her objections to my reappointment as Chairman of the Gaming Board on June 2, 2020, it was on a list with 5 other appointees’ names, all from her district.  According to sources inside the closed-door Senate chambers, when she was asked to explain her objections to the nominees, she sat silent.  She had also declined to respond to three emails from me in the spring of 2020 preceding the confirmation process in which I told her I was up for reappointment and offered to meet with her and discuss any potential issues.   Crickets.

It was not until February 2021 when facing dismal polling numbers on her quest to fill a vacant Congressional seat that Peterson broke her silence.  Sort of.  She had been hammered during her campaign by several follow-up articles retelling her actions at blocking board and commission nominees without explanation.  She relented by penning a letter to the editor of The Times-Picayune/The Advocate asserting that she vetoed my reappointment because I had been too cozy with the industry.  “I believe we cannot have our regulators too close to the industry they regulate.”  She offered no evidence.  Because there was none.  She also said the Board needed an injection of new leadership because I had been there for 7 years.  My replacement, Mike Noel, who was otherwise well qualified, had been regulating gaming for 15 years.  Peterson’s math was as confusing as her unsupported suggestion of coziness.

After my abrupt ouster we all wondered what the real reason was behind her veto of appointments from her district.  One theory was pretty clear cut—that she blamed me for the leaked report of her transgression at L’auberge.  But that simply wasn’t the case.  I had ample opportunity for several years to “out” Peterson but as much as I disdained her, I had an ethical and legal obligation to keep my mouth shut.  Moreover, I was just one of six constituents she blocked.  Had it been just about me, a personal vendetta of sorts, she would likely have only included my name on the list.

It was a former Board member from the New Orleans area with deep roots in the junkyard political culture of the area who cleared things up for me.  He called after Peterson’s confirmation gambit to express his thanks for my service.  During the discussion I mused about being punished for something I didn’t do, leaking the report of gambling problem.  He countered quickly, “That wasn’t it at all.  This was much bigger than just you (and your reappointment).  This was about exacting revenge on the governor.”  It was an ah-ha moment.  And so, it began to make more sense to me.  She and John Bel had fallen on hard political times and as a state senator, one’s options at retribution against a sitting governor are limited.  This wasn’t really about me, not about me at least directly.  She shot at the governor and hit me in the head.  In the last conversation I had with the governor the day after the ouster, he thanked me for my work as chairman and said that he was sorry that I had been collateral damage.  I didn’t ask him what he meant but now I know.

Having had months to process all that transpired, since June 2020, I got the opportunity to offer my take on the senator when she wrote her letter to the editor.  It’s a response that’s been previously reported:  “I believe the consensus sentiment is that I spent 45 years in public service and served with honor, dignity and integrity,” Jones said . . . . “The jury is still out on Sen. Peterson.”  Well, it would seem, the jury has spoken.