State of Midlands v. Avery Bancroft and Chase Covington

## Synopsis

On April 19, 2015, officers from the Midlands State Police Department arrested Chase Covington, the chair of the Midlands Gambling Commission, and Avery Bancroft, a local businessperson, on suspicion that Bancroft bribed Covington in an attempt to procure Covington’s support for a new casino license. Covington argues that no bribe occurred. Bancroft admits that a transfer of money took place but argues that Bancroft was entrapped by the actions of law enforcement.

## Witnesses

### Prosecution

* "Mickey Keenan"
* Tracey Minetos
* Pat Sikorsky
* F. Reese Warren

### Defense

* Avery Bancroft
* Chase Covington
* J.D. Lorean
* Ali Thomas

### Swing

* Devyn DelSesto
* Corey Hyde
* Danny Hoy

## Other Case References

* State v. Sinclair can almost be considered a "sequel" to this case. As "Mickey Keenan" reappears as Jamie Robinson, the victim in that case. Several references are made to the Bancroft and Covington trials which are still ongoing at the time of that case.
* Tracey Minetos used to own the bar Chuggie's, which is the same bar that was depicted in Daniel v. Chuggie's Sports Bar and State v. Dawson.
* Chase Covington's financial disclosure form shows some of the many gifts Chase received while a member of the Midlands Gambling Commission. These include a Diving Trip from Hayden Hathaway (a reference to Allen v. Neptune), a Midlands Marauders Hockey Ticket (a reference to State v. Harmon), a painting from Shannon Stark (a witness from State v. Owens), a statue from Max Heisman (a witness from Ginger v. Heisman), and a watch from J.C. Longstreet (a witness from State v. Bowman.)
* This case features several references to Blitz News Network. BNN is the defendant company in Walton v. BNN.
* This case also features several references to Drew Walton, who is the Plaintiff from Walton v. BNN.
* The alternative proposal to Bancroft's casino bid was a joint bid made by Shannon Stark, the gambler from State v. Owens, and J.C. Longstreet, the amusement park owner from State v. Bowman.
* An email from Corey Hyde to Avery Bancroft discusses Bancroft meeting with Hayden Hathaway from Allen v. Neptune, to discuss buying Hathaway's company after they had faced "legal troubles," this is referring to that case.
* Avery Bancroft's Campaign Finance Report shows that Bancroft made contributions to several political campaigns, these include 2008 and 2011 campaigns for Ryan Sullivan, who is the parent of the deceased from State v. Dawson, the 2012 Reelection Campaign for Drew Walton, and both Elizabeth Ginger and Max Heisman's campaigns for the 2015 Truman Election, as chronicled in Ginger v. Heisman.
* London Bennett from State v. Dawson is mentioned as being a frequent visitor at Bancroft's Black Bear Casino.
* A piece of case law in this case is Ginger v. Heisman, which was the Nationals Case for 2015. This is the first of many future cases that would site that case law.

## Trivia

* This has so far been the only case to offer the choice of two possible defendants.
* This case briefly featured an audio exhibit. The audio exhibit was a wire recording of Avery Bancroft, Chase Covington, and Corey Hyde, discussing a potential bribe, and was only admissible if neither defendant was called to testify. The exhibit was removed during winter case changes, with only a transcript of the exhibit available instead.