CHICAGO – A powerful Chicago politician who earns just a five-figure salary gambled away nearly $500,000 playing slot machines over three years at a single casino, according to records entered into evidence by prosecutors Friday at the Democrat’s tax-evasion trial.

William Beavers, whose annual salary is $85,000 as a Cook County commissioner, lost $200,000 in 2006, $196,000 in 2007 and more than $80,000 in 2008 – net loss figures that factor in his winnings from the Horseshoe Casino in Hammond, Ind., said former casino employee Janet Guerrero, citing records during testimony.

Beavers, 78, is accused of diverting more than $225,000 from his campaign coffers to feed his gambling habit and for other personal use without reporting much of it on his 2006 through 2008 federal tax returns. He’s pleaded not guilty to four federal tax counts, each of which carries a maximum three-year prison term.