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Smith Playing Legal Games to Avoid Justice for Breaking Gaming Law

February 29, 2008

JEFFERSON CITY – Desperate to avoid taking responsibility for his illegal actions, Jeff Smith has again successfully delayed until the summer his trial for using false identification to enter a gambling boat.

Smith’s trial, originally scheduled for Tuesday, has now been delayed until July, nearly a year after Democrat Rep. Joe Aull illegally handed over his casino identification to Smith, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, during a lobbyist-sponsored night of drinking and gambling at the Isle of Capri casino in Boonville.

Media reports have said that the Missouri State Highway Patrol surveillance tapes show that Aull gave his gambling card to a lobbyist, who then hung it around Smith’s neck. Smith then showed the card as if it was his own and was allowed to enter the gambling floor.

“If this had been any other Missourian, justice already would have been served but instead Jeff Smith is dragging this case out at taxpayer expense with the hope that somehow he can escape justice. It’s just pathetic that a person who writes state laws is trying to avoid the consequences of those laws by playing legal games,” said Paul Sloca, communications director for the Missouri Republican Party. “It’s sad that while other Democrat lawmakers turned lawbreakers have accepted the legal consequences of their actions, Smith refuses to do so.”