A lawsuit filed in federal court alleges that the proposed American Heartland Theme Park in Vinita has “fallen apart” and that the lead investor, Gene Bicknell, 91, was “coerced” into sinking more than $60 million into the project’s design and construction.
It's been
two years since developers announced a multibillion-dollar plan for a theme park the size of Magic Kingdom and a large adjacent RV park in northeast Oklahoma, but little to
no progress has been made.
The lawsuit filed Friday, July 25th, on behalf of Bicknell argues that defendants Richard M. Silanskas Jr. and Larry K. Wilhite practiced a campaign to defraud Bicknell. The filing by Amelia A. Fogleman and Joseph W. Lang with the Tulsa firm Gable Gotwals, and signed by Bicknell, seeks a jury trial.
“Silanskas and Wilhite executed a predatory conspiracy of psychological manipulation—convincing Gene, through fraud and impersonation, that God himself was commanding him both to finance the park’s construction and to grant Silanskas and Wilhite two-thirds ownership over the completed venture, which was to be worth $2 billion,” lawyers wrote.
“Inevitably, it all fell apart, leaving a trail of victims—foremost among them Gene Bicknell, as well as the citizenry of northeast Oklahoma, whose hopes for an economic renaissance caused by the American Heartland Theme Park were falsely raised and cruelly dashed.”
The lawsuit was filed under RICO laws - Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act - which are best known for being used against organized crime. In the days leading up to the filing, The Oklahoman was unable to talk with Wilhite and other Mansion Entertainment executives to ask about the development.
The organization
no longer has a working website, and its
last post on Facebook was on June 1. The Oklahoman reached a spokesperson for
The Mansion Theater in Branson, also owned by Bicknell, who said the group does not comment on the proposed projects in Vinita and that there was no one within Mansion Entertainment to respond to an interview request.
Wilhite, who was listed as CEO of Mansion Entertainment when the amusement park was announced in July 2023, could not be reached at his listed phone number for comment. Wilhite and Steve Hedrik, the company’s executive producer of project development, provided an update to the Vinita City Council on April 11, 2024, in which they promised the development was still moving forward and an opening was expected in 2026.
To date, however, no construction has taken place even after an Oct. 30, 2023 groundbreaking for the first phase of the development – an RV park - attended by Vinita Mayor Josh Lee, State Sen. Michael Bergstrom, State Rep. Rusty Cornwell and Shelley Zumwalt, who at the time was executive director of the Oklahoma Tourism and Recreation Department.
The lawsuit indicates that even then, despite pictures taken of a smiling Gene Bicknell at the event, the 91-year-old was suffering from emotional and mental distress as he struggled to meet ongoing funding requests from Silanskas and Wilhite to funnel millions into the project. Attorneys for Bicknell wrote in the filing that Silanskas and Wilhite erroneously believed Bicknell, who once owned the world's largest Pizza Hut franchise, was a billionaire.
The lawsuit includes an Oct. 3, 2023, text from Bicknell advising Silanskas and Wilhite that he was selling assets, getting into debt, and was running out of money:
“$5 million from sales will come this week. Bank loan next week $10 mil. That’s all I can do. If it needs any more I’m out of options. Loan must be repaid in 6 months. I’m really Down. No where to go. I’m basically broke. If this goes on without revenue. I’m bankrupt just letting you know. I’m still positive of this happening but I can’t do it any more.”
Emails from God and a fictional nun alleged
Attorneys for Bicknell wrote they believe Silanskas and Wilhite were committed to building the theme park, but with the goal of ultimately controlling majority ownership of the development.
“Silanskas and Wilhite’s plan was not to steal Gene’s money—although they did that,” Bicknell’s attorneys wrote. “The plan was to use Gene’s money to build the American Heartland Project and then steal it, paying themselves handsomely along the way.”
Bicknell met Wilhite when he was a preacher in Branson. Bicknell had invested in the Mansion Theatre for Performing Arts and hired Wilhite to manage the venue, which attorneys wrote proceeded for over two decades.
“In late 2019, while managing the Mansion Theatre, Wilhite came into contact with Rick Silanskas,” attorneys wrote. “Silanskas held himself out as a man with a breadth and depth of experience in the entertainment industry. Silanskas claimed to have worked for the Walt Disney Company, as a marketing director for a CBS Television Affiliate, a producer for ESPN Network Sports, and a creative developer of various theme parks in Asia."
The alternative weekly Creative Loafing Tampa Bay reported two previous theme parks pitched in 2015 by Silankas – one in Fort Worth, Texas, and the other in Muscle Shoals, Alabama – had gone nowhere despite Silanskas’ claim the parks would be “10 times the size of Disney World’s Magic Kingdom” and that construction would start by 2020.
The paper reported that the man tasked with fundraising for the parks was eventually sentenced to
10 years in prison after he pleaded guilty in 2018 to defrauding $7 million from investors.
Attorneys allege Silankas first persuaded Bicknell to expand his vision for Mansion Theater and then worked with Wilhite to convince Bicknell to back an amusement park.
When the park plans were first announced, the developers promised a regional destination with an “Americana-themed environment” located along Route 66 featuring a variety of entertaining rides, live shows, family attractions, waterways as well as restaurant-quality food and beverage offerings.
The plans for the 125-acre theme park featured a collection of six distinctly American lands to welcome guests on a journey through “the best of the American story.” Promoters described how visitors would enjoy thrilling rides and heartwarming shows as they discovered the Great Plains, Bayou Bay, Big Timber Falls, Stony Point Harbor, Liberty Village and Electropolis.
To keep Bicknell on board with the project, attorneys wrote, Wilhite and Silankas “tricked” Bicknell by impersonating God and religious figures purportedly communicating God’s directives in hundreds of electronic messages.
“For years, those electronic messages preyed upon Gene’s devout Christian faith and admonished Gene to obey God’s will without doubts or second-guessing,” attorneys wrote. “Silanskas and Wilhite used the word of God to convince Gene he must equally share ownership of the completed Project with them.”
In one of the “Today’s Word” emails, Bicknell was cautioned against using his business expertise, attorneys wrote: “God” all but shouted: “Do not fall back upon your old business practices trying to push forward what is not ready! Do not exhibit impatience or set deadlines with your own worldly wisdom from your past business ways.”
A divide between Bicknell and his family
Attorneys also allege Silanskas and Wilhite drove a wedge between Bicknell and his family, isolating him and preventing his family from adequately protecting him.
“The intensity of Silanskas and Wilhite’s manipulation of Gene made it impossible for Gene’s family and friends to dissuade him from putting more money into the project or convince Gene that the texts and emails he was receiving were not really from God,” attorneys wrote. “The resulting strife caused Gene’s estrangement from his family—an estrangement that, in turn, aided Silanskas and Wilhite in their scheme.”
Attorneys allege that as Bicknell ran short on money, he started to receive emails from a fictional nun, “Sister Catherine” who purported to be a nun at “Mission Agape” who encouraged Bicknell to continue with the endeavor.
One email from Sister Catherine, quoted by the attorneys, urged Bicknell to stand firm against demonic attacks from his “own loved ones.”
Bicknell responded that he left the bulk of his wealth in irrevocable trusts to take care of his five children and 45 grandchildren, attorneys wrote. They quoted Bicknell as saying he believed God would step in because his family was not willing to return the money, adding, “It has caused me depression and guilt.”
The attorneys allege Silanskas and Wilhite used the “Sister Catherine” emails to manipulate Bicknell into bringing legal claims against his family to access more money and to change his estate planning. Silanskas and Wilhite, the attorneys wrote, convinced Bicknell to seek to change his will to benefit the pair.
With no construction underway as of 2024, residents in northeast Oklahoma were assured the project was proceeding with the Tulsa World quoting supporters that include the Vinita mayor and Oklahoma’s U.S. Senator Markwayne Mullin.
“Critics can point to holes in everything, but most of the time,” Mullin told the Tulsa World. “I’d ask them, ‘And what have you done?’ Because most of the critics are pointing out all the holes and they are the people that are too afraid to do anything different.”
By late 2024, Bicknell came to realize the project was not moving forward, attorneys wrote.
Liens were placed on the property he purchased by contractors alleging they had not been paid for their work. Those liens were filed as Oklahoma lawmakers considered providing $35 million toward infrastructure for the park.
A year after the groundbreaking, the only site improvements involved fencing, a gravel road and sign for the RV park. Bicknell's attorneys describe a broken man who sold off personal possessions to make the dream a reality.
“Silanskas and Wilhite’s actions of crafting false religious messages for years and sending those messages to Gene in order to control Gene’s actions is extreme and outrageous conduct that is unacceptable in civilized society,” Bicknell's attorneys concluded in their filing.
“In essence, they intentionally targeted Gene—a 90+-year-old who they knew was a devout Christian—and executed a sophisticated scheme of manipulation to induce Gene to spend a substantial portion of his personal fortune on the American Heartland Project.”
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