A federal appeals court has sharply reduced a multimillion-dollar judgment against the owners of Balmoral Park, which sparked the horse racing track's December 2014 bankruptcy filing, the Chicago Tribune reported on Saturday. Chicago-area casino owners had, prior to that bankruptcy filing, won a nearly $78 million judgment against the Crete track and its president, John Johnston, in a lawsuit alleging Johnston agreed, in 2008, to give then-Gov. Rod Blagojevich a $100,000 campaign contribution in exchange for the governor signing legislation that benefited horse racing tracks in the Chicago area. The contribution was never made, although the legislation was signed by Blagojevich after his December 2008 arrest on corruption charges. The casinos had alleged a conspiracy on the part of track owners in violation of the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, and a jury agreed, awarding casino owners nearly $26 million in damages. Under RICO, that amount was tripled, to $77.8 million. In a decision earlier this month, a federal appeals court said the jury "did not have legally sufficient evidence to support a verdict finding a conspiracy to engage in a pattern of racketeering," reducing the amount of damages awarded to $25.9 million.
