Former Indiana State Representative Sentenced to Federal Prison for Accepting Bribes from Casino Company

INDIANAPOLIS- Sean Eberhart, 58, of Shelbyville, has been sentenced to one year and one day in federal prison, followed by one year of supervised release, after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit honest services fraud.

According to court documents, from 2006 to 2022, Sean Eberhart served as the elected representative of Indiana House District 57, which includes Shelby County and portions of Bartholomew and Hancock counties. During his tenure, Eberhart served as a member of the House Committee on Public Policy, which has jurisdiction over matters concerning casinos and gaming in Indiana.

From January to May of 2019, Eberhart conspired with Individual A to devise a scheme to use Eberhart’s official elected position to benefit that person’s company, Spectacle Entertainment. Spectacle Entertainment was formed by Individual A after Centaur, a company that owned and operated off-track betting facilities in Indiana, including the Shelbyville Casino in Eberhart’s District, was acquired by Caesars Entertainment in July of 2018. After that acquisition, Individual A formed Spectacle Entertainment and many of the same executives of Centaur continued in substantially similar roles as executives of Spectacle.

As part of the illegal scheme, Eberhart agreed to use his position in the Indiana House of Representatives to advocate and vote for a Gaming Bill that positively impacted Spectacle. Terms in the bill would authorize the transfer of the licenses for two casinos on Lake Michigan to Spectacle’s ownership in Gary and Terre Haute, Indiana, while reducing the usual $100 million transfer fee that Spectacle was originally set to pay, to only $20,000.

On March 27, 2019, during an Indiana House Public Policy Committee hearing, Eberhart vocally advocated to remove the $1 million transfer fee from the Gaming Bill entirely. At a hearing on April 23, 2019, hearing, Eberhart advocated in favor of a 20% tax rate that would save Spectacle tens of millions of dollars. The next day, Eberhart voted in favor of the Gaming Bill and those associated tax provisions.

In return for his advocacy and vote for the Gaming Bill, Eberhart accepted the promise of future employment at Spectacle, which included an annual salary of $350,000 and equity stake in the company.

“This criminal’s former constituents, and all Hoosiers, rightfully expect elected officials to act on the public’s behalf, and not to line their own pockets. Legislation must not be for sale to the highest bidder, especially when they have such a tremendous impact on our state and its economy,” said Zachary A. Myers, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana. “Public office is a public trust, and those who break that trust by taking bribes will be identified and held accountable. The federal prison sentence imposed today demonstrates our office’s commitment to root out public corruption at all levels of government and uphold the law regardless offenders’ status or position.”

The FBI investigated this case. The sentence was imposed by U.S. District Judge Matthew P. Brookman. Judge Brookman also ordered that Eberhart pay $25,000 in fines and $60,000 in restitution.

U.S. Attorney Myers thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Bradley P. Shepard, who prosecuted this case.

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