The trial of a Fort Dodge man accused of illegally channeling campaign money to former Gov. Chet Culver has been postponed for about a month.
Steve Daniel was to stand trial beginning Monday on charges of making a campaign contribution in the name of another and willful failure to disclose a campaign contribution.
However, Polk County Associate District Court Judge William Price ordered the trial to be delayed until Feb. 27. He also scheduled a Feb. 13 hearing on pre-trial motions.
His action came in the wake of a flurry of motions filed earlier this month by attorneys for Daniel and co-defendants Webster County Entertainment and Curtis Beason, who are seeking to have Special Prosecutor Lawrence Scalise disqualified and the charges dismissed.
Monty Fisher, the attorney for Daniel and Webster County Entertainment, confirmed Thursday that the trial has been postponed. He said the delay will give Price time to review all the pending motions in the case.
Scalise filed the charges against Daniel; Webster County Entertainment; Beason; Peninsula Gaming of Dubuque and its two top executives, Brent Stevens, the chief executive officer, and Jonathan Swain, its chief operating officer, on Oct. 11, 2010.
The special prosecutor alleged that Daniel funneled campaign cash to Culver on behalf of Peninsula Gaming at a time when he was heading the effort to establish the Diamond Jo Fort Dodge casino.
Webster County Entertainment was the group Daniel led. Peninsula Gaming was the company chosen to run the casino if a state license was awarded for it. Beason is a Davenport attorney who was advising the casino planners.
All of the defendants were charged with making a campaign contribution in the name of another and willful failure to disclose a campaign contribution. Beason was also charged with obstruction.
Scalise has said Daniel made a $25,000 contribution to Culver's campaign shortly after Peninsula Gaming paid Webster County Entertainment that same amount as a consulting fee. He has described Beason as the ''director, architect and orchestrator of the entire program to disguise the true source of the dollars.''
Attorneys in the case disagree over how much money was given to Culver's campaign. Fisher has said Daniel donated $11,000 in increments of $4,500, $4,500 and $2,000. He has also said that the donations were reported in a timely and accurate way.
On May 13, 2011, the prosecutors dismissed all charges against Peninsula Gaming, Stevens and Swain. The casino company is now paying for the prosecution, a fact which has been heavily criticized by defense attorneys.
In December, Price threw out the charge of making a campaign contribution in the name of another which had been filed against Beason.
The Diamond Jo Fort Dodge plan ended in May 2010 when the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission declined to award the needed license for it.
Contact Bill Shea at (515) 573-2141 or bshea@messengernews.net