Before she rose in the ranks to become an influential member of Gary Grief’s inner circle at the Texas Lottery, Nelda Trevino was a well-connected administrative assistant with a documented connection to the state’s lottery vendor lobbyist.
In her elevated position, Trevino was instrumental to Grief in his efforts to mislead lawmakers about online lottery ticket resellers.
And, as it stands now after Senate Bill 3070 was amended, Trevino and others at the lottery, who knew or should have known about how the lottery was being corrupted, are poised to keep their jobs.
How did Trevino get her start?
According to her personnel file, from 1980 to 1990, Trevino was an administrative assistant to Deputy Commissioner Mike Moeller at the Texas Department of Agriculture. There, she would work with the woman who would become her boss, not only in the Comptroller’s office but eventually as executive director of the Texas Lottery, Nora Linares.
During her time at TDA, Trevino would also have served alongside an aide to Agriculture Commissioner Jim Hightower, who would later be counted among the three references on Trevino’s original application for employment at the lottery commission, alongside GTECH (now IGT) lobbyist Mignon McGarry.
After Texas voters turned Hightower out of office in 1990, McGarry, Linares, and Trevino were out of a job. In fact, on her application to the Texas Comptroller, Trevino lists “change in administration” as her reason for leaving. One of the three, McGarry, went into the lobby; the others moved into the Comptroller’s office.
In 1991, when it was initially created, the Texas Lottery was administered by the Comptroller. When the Texas Lottery Commission was formed, Linares was tapped to head the agency, and Trevino followed.
Online Texas Ethics Commission lobbying records go as far back as 1999. That year, McGarry had a lobbying contract with GTECH, the company that has operated as the state’s lottery vendor since the inception of the games in 1991.
McGarry did not respond to a request to confirm if she had a lobbying contract five years prior when her name appeared on Trevino’s application, but reporting from the time Trevino listed her as a reference suggests McGarry was lobbying for GTECH. It’s easy to see how having the ear of the assistant to the executive director would have been a selling point.
News articles also reveal McGarry was close to former Democrat Governor of Texas and the political force who led to the creation of the lottery, Ann Richards.
Trevino was very close to Linares, according to recollections of their relationship and a review of records. In a letter giving Trevino a raise, a little less than a year before Linares would be fired from her position, she told Trevino that her “support, loyalty, and friendship” meant the world to her. The letter was signed, “- Love Nora.”
Linares was fired from her position when it was discovered that Mike Moeller, who was Linares’ boyfriend at the time of her appointment, was being paid by GTECH to guide hunting expeditions in New Mexico.
Yes, in an incestuous twist, Trevino’s bosses were both caught up in a corruption scandal.
According to reporting from the time, Linares, after the media questioned her about her relationship with Moeller, visited him in prison, where he was serving time after being convicted of a federal bribery and conspiracy charge in October 1993. In that scheme, state and federal contracts were traded for campaign contributions to former Agriculture Commissioner Hightower.
That prison visit served as confirmation for the lottery commissioners that Linares was romantically linked to Moeller and GTECH.
During the investigation into Linares, it was disclosed that she “occasionally socialized with GTECH lobbyists Lynn Nabers and Mignon McGarry.”
Grief, for his part, like Linares, also appeared to be very close with vendors to the state lottery. According to recent revelations published by the Sunset Commission, produced during committee hearings, or included in legal filings, the former executive director was in close communication with online lottery ticket resellers ahead of and after a rigged 2023 $95 million jackpot.
There are likely others at the commission who knew or should have known what was happening in 2015 when Grief and appointees to the lottery commission tried to smuggle sports gambling into the state. These same insiders would be privy to Grief’s coordination with online lottery ticket resellers, Trevino chief among them.
When announcing his retirement from the lottery in 2023, Grief singled out Trevino as “like a sister” and a “close confidant.” For her part, Trevino, according to Grief, was instrumental in communicating with lawmakers.
In his typically doting fashion, here’s what Grief had to say about Trevino following the 2023 legislative session:
“Additionally, the agency was unexpectedly caught up in controversy regarding the lottery courier industry. You accompanied me and provided critical assistance in meeting with members who had concerns about this activity, and you provided key input to the formulation of information materials provided to these members.”
As it turns out, Grief’s representations to lawmakers on questioning, specifically State Sen. Robert Nichols, were a lie.
In addition to reviewing Trevino’s personnel files, a redacted calendar was provided. Notably, when the lottery’s session went completely sideways in February, the calendar, once filled with lawmaker meetings, cleared out.
Now, thanks to State Rep. Charlie Geren’s amendments to Senate Bill 3070, Trevino and other top brass at the commission who were aware or should have been aware of the malfeasance taking place are poised to keep their jobs.
The state vendor entwined in the institution set up to safeguard the lottery is poised to maintain its grip as well.
Given the recent history of the commission and the cozy connections between top staff, former and current, and vendors, it’s clear that there needs to be more, not fewer, external controls on the lottery.
That’s probably why Geren stripped inspectors from SB 3070.
