Former IL lottery chief, ex-Vanderburgh sheriff new members
Since September 2025, the Indiana Gaming Commission has seen five of its six sitting members replaced by Governor Mike Braun (R), leaving only one member who has been in place long enough to have participated in a hearing on licensing of a new casino . . . and a longstanding vacancy.
Five of the six IGC members, including Chair Brent Embrey, an attorney, have now been appointed by Governor Braun. There is one longstanding vacancy.
Chuck Cohen of Bloomington, a retired investigator with more than 25 years of service with the Indiana State Police, has served on the commission since September 2020. He is the only member of the panel with more than nine months of tenure, and fills the seat statutorily set aside for an individual experienced in law enforcement and criminal investigation.
Cohen’s term expires in September, before the licensing hearings for the next casino will begin.
Departing from the panel since its March meeting: longtime vice chair Marc Fine, an Evansville attorney and bank board member who had held his seat under four different governors. Fine was first appointed to the commission by then-Gov. Mitch Daniels (R) in October 2007.
Also leaving the panel in advance of the June 25 meeting is Chris Creighton of McCordsville, vice president of innovation and growth at Marian University, a post he assumed after serving in the administration of Gov. Eric Holcomb (R) from 2017 to 2023 including as deputy legislative director, and legislative director for the governor, and as chief of staff at the Indiana Department of Transportation. Prior to his time in the Holcomb Administration, he served in various roles with the Senate Majority Campaign Committee, Ice Miller LLP, and Hathaway Strategies.
Creighton, an attorney, was appointed to the commission in November 2024 by Gov. Holcomb as he was leaving office, and he filled a seat for a term that was to expire last September.
New to the commission are B.R. Lane of Lake County and Eric Williams of Vanderburgh County. Both are serving terms that run from May 2026 to April 2029. The three incumbent members other than Cohen are serving terms that span from September 2025 to September 2029.
Bridgette R. “B.R.” Lane is a Gary native who has operated Helios Consulting LLC, an independent strategic consulting practice since 2016. She earned a J.D. from Harvard Law School and an M.B.A. from the Fogelman School of Business and Economics at the University of Memphis after receiving her undergraduate degree in English from Morgan State University and spending her high school years at the Emerson School of Visual and Performing Arts magnet program in Gary.
She briefly served as director of the Illinois Lottery, appointed by then-Gov. Bruce Rauner (R-IL), where she negotiated the termination of a failed private management agreement with Northstar Lottery Group. She presided over a period in which lottery winners were not paid for several months, and left the post 10 years ago this month because of what the governor’s office in Illinois characterized as a “serious medical condition.”
Lane managed gaming regulatory compliance for International Game Technology, the world’s largest supplier of casino gaming machines and systems. She also served as deputy mayor and chief of staff for the City of Gary in the administration of then-mayor Karen Freeman-Wilson (D), overseeing all city functions, policies, and projects, including negotiating a lengthy legal dispute with what was then Majestic Star Casino, which resulted in $13 million in back payments finally being released to the Steel City.
Longtime readers of your favorite gaming newsletter will recall that the city contested the terms of a 2005 amendment to the original local development agreement with the casino, and MSC escrowed its millions of dollars in required payments until the dispute was resolved, impacting the already cash-strapped city’s operations.
Lane then became executive director of the Gary/Chicago International Airport, where she negotiated the public-private partnership with AFCO/AvPorts, as well as the inaugural bond offering that provided the financing necessary to complete the large-scale relocation of three Class I railroads to enable completion of the $200 million, 8,900-foot airport runway expansion.
Lane and her Helios are registered as legislative lobbyists in Indiana, with gaming listed as one of “the topics you anticipate will be associated with your lobbying efforts.” Her 2026 clients included the Calumet Township Trustee (on a $30,000 contract) and Gary Common Council ($15,000) according to May 27 filings. Past clients have also included the City of Gary, Lake County Board of Commissioners, Gary/Chicago International Airport, Gary Sanitary District, and Spectacle Gary Holdings and Spectacle Entertainment, effectively the predecessor to Hard Rock Casino Northern Indiana, from which she earned some $85,000.
As of mid-week, Lane and her Helios Consulting were still registered as lobbyists.
The other new panel member is Eric R. Williams, a senior vice president and senior manager of security services delivery for Old National Bank, headquartered in Evansville, Indiana. Prior to joining Old National in 2014, he served for 27 years with the Vanderburgh County Sheriff’s Office, where – after holding every rank – he was elected as a Democrat to serve two terms as the Vanderburgh County sheriff, beginning in 2007 and 2011 before stepping down early in May 2014 to join Old National as director of security.
Williams is a graduate of Castle High School in Warrick County, and earned a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the University of Southern Indiana. He has served on numerous local non-profit and government boards. His current community involvement includes serving as a board and commission member for the Evansville Vanderburgh County Public Library Board, the Evansville Vanderburgh Building Authority Board of Directors, the American Red Cross of Southwestern Indiana, and the Vanderburgh County Fire Department Merit Commission.
Here is your new IGC lineup:
