Alabama gambling magnate Milton McGregor, who waged a legal war to keep his electronic bingo casino open and thwarted federal prosecutors attempts to convict him, 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-running battle with the state over the legality of the slot machine lookalikes.
A gregarious and charming fixture of the state's business and political worlds, he advertised his casino with the slogan, "You can be a winner too." 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.
