Gambling Magnate Dead at 78

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (Associated Press) — Alabama gambling magnate Milton McGregor, a gregarious fixture of the state’s business and political worlds who waged legal war to keep his electronic bingo casino open and was acquitted of federal vote-buying charges, has died. He was 78.

Public relations firm Direct Communications said McGregor died Sunday in Montgomery.

McGregor opened a dog track in 1984. He later filled it with thousands of electronic bingo machines, igniting a long battle with the state over the legality of the slot machine lookalikes.

He was a gregarious and charming fixture of the state’s business and political worlds. But a jury in 2012 acquitted McGregor and others on vote-buying charges brought by federal prosecutors.

McGregor is survived by his wife, two daughters and seven grandchildren.