Now he sits in a 6-by-8 foot cell with three inmates.
"He can't sleep. He can't concentrate," his attorney, Doug Jones, said.
Gilley, 45, from Enterprise, is one of two casino
He is the only one in jail.
A federal magistrate ordered him held in the Montgomery City Jail on Feb. 7 after deciding that Gilley offered his former lobbyist a financial interest in Country Crossing and another proposed casino to try to keep him from pleading guilty in the case. Gilley maintains lobbyist Jarrod Massey misinterpreted his remarks. He says he was trying to explain to Massey how he was hoping to pay $90,000 in past-due lobbying bills after his company encountered financial problems.
Gilley's attorney is trying to get a federal district judge to overturn the magistrate's order and let Gilley go home to Enterprise pending trial.
Gilley first gained recognition for building coastal condominiums where he involved country music singers. That led to promoting country music festivals and starting record companies. His website touts a string of hits, including Blackberry Smoke's "Good One Coming On."
In late 2009, he opened his biggest project: the $87 million Country Crossing tourist destination he developed in Dothan with several country music stars. Visitors could stay in George Jones' inn, eat at Lorrie Morgan's restaurant, or gamble on 1,700 electronic bingo machines.
On trips to Montgomery to discuss his project with legislators, he was often accompanied by country music stars who were either involved with his real estate projects or record labels, including John Anderson, Darryl Worley and Alabama lead singer Randy Owen.
That changed on Jan. 29, 2010, when more than 100 state troopers showed up for a raid, contending Gilley's games were illegal slot machines. Gilley closed the entire complex rather than let troopers enter.
Its doors remain closed. Its restaurants sit empty. Its concert amphitheater is quiet.
Gilley and others were arrested Oct. 4 on charges accusing them of offering millions in bribes to legislators to pass legislation designed to get Gilley's casino and others reopened. Evidence in the case showed the FBI had been tapping Gilley's phone conversation with his lobbyist.
None of Gilley's country music friends show up for his court hearings. His companions these days have records in criminal court rather than on the music charts.
"A large portion of his day is spent in the 6-foot by 8-foot cell with three or more other prisoners. In such cramped quarters, hygienic conditions are deplorable and unsanitary," Doug Jones wrote in court papers filed Friday.
He said that after Gilley's first week in jail, he estimated he had slept only four hours because of constant noise, including other inmates banging on cell bars.
"The problems associated with Mr. Gilley being sleep deprived have been compounded by the fact that the jail's rules and restrictions will not allow him to take numerous prescription medications he had been taking for years immediately up until the time of his detention," Jones wrote.
Jones described his client as a man "heavily involved in the life of his wife and children" and said he needs to be home in Enterprise to help his ailing wife, 36-year-old Deidra Gilley. She recently had a mass discovered in her lungs and is undergoing tests to see if it is cystic fibrosis, her physician testified in a court hearing.
U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson has given no indication when he will rule on whether Gilley goes home or stays in jail for the 3 1/2 months until the trial.
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