Moe pleads not guilty to bribe charge

Orville Moe, the former operator of Spokane Raceway Park, was told by a federal judge Thursday he faces a possible prison sentence if convicted of two bribery charges returned last month by a grand jury.

The businessman and his attorney, Mark Vovos, had no comment as they left U.S. District Court in downtown Spokane after the brief arraignment before Magistrate Judge Cynthia Imbrogno.

Moe, 69, and Dale R. Perry, the former mayor of Airway Heights, were indicted on Sept. 19 after a lengthy public corruption investigation by the FBI.

Moe is charged with two counts of federal bribery. Perry, a 53-year-old state of Washington employee, is charged with two counts of bribery and two counts of soliciting a bribe.

The federal magistrate judge told Moe that if he is convicted, each count carries a possible prison term of not more than 10 years and a $250,000 fine. After serving the sentence, the defendant would be on supervised release for three years.

The case is built around allegations that Moe, who operated the Spokane Raceway Park drag strip and oval track in Airway Heights, loaned money to Perry in exchange for his influencing the Airway Heights City Council.

Perry stepped down as mayor on Dec. 31.

The indictment alleges Moe loaned Perry $109,000 in exchange for a series of actions by the City Council, including a March 1, 2004, vote to repeal an “admissions tax” enacted Nov. 3, 2003.

The tax would have applied to tickets sold at Spokane Raceway Park, and it would have given the city of Airway Heights the right to audit Moe’s business records to confirm how many tickets were sold.

Moe secured his loan to the mayor by listing his name on the deed of trust for Perry’s home in Airway Heights.

The indictment alleges Perry “corruptly solicited” money from Moe after similar unsuccessful attempts to secretly get money from Paul Sandifur, the president of Metropolitan Mortgage and Summit Properties, and Northern Quest Casino officials Tom Lien and Marianne Guenther.

Sandifur, Lien and Guenther are identified in the indictment, but not charged. The three likely would be called as witnesses if the case goes to trial.

First Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas Rice, who is handling the prosecution, told the judge Thursday that the U.S. attorney’s office was not seeking Moe’s detention prior to trial and was not asking for a bond.

The case has been assigned to U.S. District Court Judge Edward Shea.

“Do you understand what was stated in the indictment?” the magistrate asked Moe.

“Yes, I do,” Moe responded during the brief arraignment.

“May I enter ‘not guilty’ pleas for you?” the magistrate then asked.

“Correct,” responded Moe, dressed in a blue baseball jacket and black jeans.

The federal prosecutor asked the magistrate judge to make it clear to Moe that he could not possess firearms nor be in a house where weapons are stored.

Vovos said Moe has firearms but would arrange to have them removed from his North Side home where he has lived for more than 50 years with his wife, who is not charged.

The charges against Moe come two years after about 500 limited partners, who invested in a partnership that built Spokane Raceway Park, filed a lawsuit in Superior Court, alleging they had been cheated out of their $2 million investment.

Carl Oreskovich, the attorney who represented Moe in that civil suit, ended his relationship with the race track operator this summer for reasons that aren’t a matter of public record. Oreskovich is listed as being owed $140,000 in a U.S. Bankruptcy Court petition that Moe filed in August, temporarily freezing the state court lawsuit.

Earlier this summer, Moe was fired as general manager of Spokane Raceway Park and formally barred from the property by Superior Court Judge Robert Austin, who a year earlier named a court-appointed receiver to take over operations at the racing facility.