Former Riverview Gardens superintendent Henry Williams barred from casinos
Henry P. Williams won’t be gambling in Missouri again anytime soon. At least not legally.
The Missouri Gaming Commission voted today to bar the former Riverview Gardens School District superintendent from any casino floor.
“He’s been convicted of I don’t know how many felonies, and there’s a connection between the money and the casinos,” said Gene McNary, the executive director of the commission. “We don’t want people like him on the floors.”
The move will require casino workers to call authorities and arrest Williams for trespassing should he set foot on the gambling floors of any Missouri casino, McNary said.
Williams, 67, is just the 14th Missouri resident barred by the commission.
He was driven out of Riverview almost two years ago after being accused of funneling district money into a personal life insurance fund, understating his income and double-dipping on district travel reimbursement.
In January, Circuit Judge Maura B. McShane sentenced Williams to 10 years in prison, then immediately suspended the sentence, reducing the penalty to five years probation plus 30 days shock time, and ordering him to pay $102,000 in restitution.
But court records also showed that Williams gambled as many as 20 days a month.
“Our records show he was a heavy gambler,” McNary said. “It was a pretty clear case.”
The gaming commission, he said, doesn’t want organized crime or “even unsavory characters” on the casino floors.
Certainly, McNary added, the task of keeping someone out is harder now without the player’s cards that were required before gambling limits lifted this year.
But the commission sends out photos of each on the exclusion list, McNary said. And casino workers have already caught some who recently tried to get back in.
Besides, McNary said, Williams would most certainly be caught if he won big, in which case workers must note his information for tax purposes.
Does this all mean Williams will just cross the river into Illinois?
That’s unlikely, McNary said. Missouri and Illinois have reciprocal agreements, and he expects Illinois to take up Williams’ case as well.
Again, THANK YOU David Hunn, for keeping RG in the front line of reporting the abuse of the RG for over the past 3-4 years. If it were not for your repeated, consistent coverage of our situation, our district’s doors would probably have been closed. The district is struggling and will be for a long period of time, due to our financial situation, but at least the ‘under current’ is no longer the problem. It still amazes me that this much damage could be done to our district in such a short period of time that Williams was with us. It is a pity that our district has had to endure what we have, in the past years.
Thank you, Gene McNary, for your insight in barring Williams from the casinos. For years, the staff of RG has known that Williams spent a great deal of time at the casinos, and have always felt that this is where some of the funding of the district was consumed.
Thank you, David! Thank you for bringing back to the forefront a story that lives on in the Riverview Gardens community.
The teachers of the Riverview Gardens School District are hardworking teachers who care about their students and are forced to make-do with less. Since his departure, teacher positions have been cut, salaries have been frozen and class sizes are growing because of Dr. Williams.
Riverview students are forced to get by with fewer resources yet still compete for scholarships and college acceptance with students in neighboring districts. They are forced to work hard to overcome the stigma of being a Riverview Gardens student; a stigma that was created by Williams.
The parents of the Riverview Gardens School District are respectable, hard-working citizens who don’t deserve to have their hard-earned money that should benefit THEIR children stolen by Dr. Williams.
Judge McShane’s sentencing of Williams was a joke. His 30 days of shock time was a slap in the face to those who are still picking up the pieces of the mess he created.
Thank you to the Missouri Gaming Commission for recognizing Williams as the “unsavory character” he is. The Riverview Gardens School District lost over $10 million in reserves under Williams and I am pleased to know they will not allow Williams to continue to spend funds stolen from Riverview Gardens taxpayers in Missouri casinos.
I urge anyone who is as sickened by Williams’ actions as I am to petition the Illinois Gaming Association to ban Williams as well.
Illinois Casino Gaming Association
Tom Swoik
Executive Director
2309 Parkview Drive
Springfield, IL 62704
(217) 546-0945
tfs@springnet1.com
Why would you remove my post?
Is free speech only to those whom own or work for the press?
It my truth something that cost you too much?
You swore.