NFL Probes Country Crossing

National Football League officials are investigating whether a group of players invested in the failed Country Crossing casino and entertainment complex in Dothan, Ala., that was shut down last year for operating electronic bingo machines.

An NFL spokesman confirmed June 17 an investigation is under way following a report by Yahoo! Sports. The report said about 25 players including Terrell Owens, Santonio Holmes, Santana Moss, Gerard Warren and Adalius Thomas allegedly invested $20 million in Country Crossing’s casino.

League rules ban players from any involvement in gaming operations, so anyone breaking that rule faces suspension or fines and would have to get out of investment.

Mark Culver, chairman of the Houston County Commission that oversees the development, said he doesn’t have specific knowledge of any NFL players investing in the project.

“We wouldn’t have intimate knowledge of who has and who hasn’t invested,” Culver said. “But from early on in the project professional athletes were talked about, so it would not surprise me that athletes had been invested in the project.”

Boxing champ Floyd Mayweather Jr. was an initial investor in the stalled development and sued to get his money back in August 2009. Mayweather reportedly was to be paid $4 million plus $1 million in interest by June of that year by Ronnie Gilley Entertainment and Resorts Development Group II. It didn’t happen.

Gilley, VictoryLand casino owner Milton McGregor and eight others are accused of trying to bribe legislators to pass a bill that would make electronic bingo machines legal in Alabama. Gov. Bob Riley deemed the machines illegal slots last year and formed an anti-gambling task force to shut down casinos using them.

Country Crossing, which had about 1,700 machines on the premises, shut down in early 2010 under threat of task force raids.

Gilley pleaded guilty April 22 to 11 counts including conspiracy, bribery involving public officials and money laundering, and reportedly agreed to help the prosecution.