Contract Controversy Reveals Lottery's Tangled Roots

On the other side, LTE -- with longtime businessmen P. Leonard Manning and George Walker in charge -- have lawyer Frederick D. Cooke Jr., who has represented council member Marion Barry (D-Ward 8). They also have Brett Greene, campaign finance chairman for Council Chairman Vincent C. Gray (D). And Marc Barnes, a family friend and owner of popular D.C. nightclubs, has served as an unpaid supporter.

Claudia Booker, former contracting director for Gandhi, is a consultant on LTE's pending contract. She said she was asked to recuse herself when she was working for the city because of an allegation over a conflict involving her stepmother's relatives. "You may as well ask me who my dog's cat's best friend's brother is," an incensed Booker said.

What is getting lost in the battle is which company can do the best job, said Alaka Williams, a 36-year-old former human resources director. W2Tech and its joint enterprise are the first businesses in which she has participated.

"This is my company, and I'm running it," said Williams, who added that she has spent the past year traveling to jurisdictions with Intralot contracts and wants local lottery retailers to get an idea of what the District might be missing.

Intralot, which has been in the United States since 2001, is trying to offer jurisdictions a lottery product cheaper and less likely to break down than GTech's, she said.

But Vincent said he is tired of hearing about LTE's outdated equipment, particularly since the company would update its machines as part of a new contract. "I think that's a phony argument," he said.

Of Intralot, he said, "We often don't run into them [when competing], because they are not qualified to run the larger systems." GTech has contracts in 25 states and the District, he said.

Intralot has contracts with South Dakota, Louisiana, Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont. It recently beat out GTech in Ohio. GTech has demanded to review the bid scores.

Years ago, when LTE won its first contract, Manning filed a lawsuit claiming that aides of Barry, then mayor, had tried to interfere with the deal. Back then, LTE was not as politically connected as other minority-owned firms trying to get into the industry. LTE has had years to successfully change that.

The D.C. Council has a little less than 45 days to vote again. Some have said the city should just start over.

Gandhi's office would not disclose the members of the panel that picked W2I because LTE's appeal is pending. Nickles said that "there are commercial secrets" in the process. (Young has said he was the chief panelist.)

"There is a consistent theme," Marchant said, "which is, one, a lack of transparency; two, the betrayal of the facts."

One résumé in W2I's list of potential employees is for its chief operating officer. Julie Chase, spokeswoman for the company, would not reveal the identity. The credentials and accomplishments point to one person: Anthony Cooper.

He is the chief operating officer of the Education Lottery in South Carolina, where Intralot recently won the state gaming contract.

He is former executive director of the D.C. Lottery.

And he is Jerry Cooper's son.

Staff writer David Nakamura contributed to this report.