A casino industry veteran who has considered managing the Twin River slot parlor on Monday unveiled plans for a casino in nearby Milford, Mass.

William H. Warner, of Warner Gaming in Las Vegas, Nev., is a partner in the Crossroads Resort Project — a proposal to build a gambling complex that could house 5,000 slot machines, 250 gambling tables, hotel rooms, restaurants and all the accoutrements of a full-fledged casino resort.

The Journal learned in September that Warner has spoken to Rhode Island officials about taking over management of the financially troubled Twin River operation. The company that operates Twin River, UTGR Inc., filed for federal bankruptcy protection in June.

A casino –– in fact, just about any expansion of gambling in Massachusetts –– is likely to draw gamblers away from Twin River and ultimately affect Rhode Island’s state budget. Gambling is the third-largest source of state revenue.

Out of every dollar lost at one of the 4,750 video-lottery terminals at Twin River, the state gets slightly more than 60 cents. The slots alone produced $396.7 million in net income in the year that ended June 30. From those player losses, the state got more than 60 percent, $242.3 million; Twin River’s owners, $110.3 million; Providence-based GTECH and other equipment providers split $27.8 million; GTECH, another $9.9 million as the central-system operator and the Town of Lincoln, $5.7 million

For the Milford project, Warner apparently joined with David H. Nunes, another casino industry member with ties to Rhode Island’s gambling issue. Nunes, a Colorado resident, was aligned with Donald Trump in the celebrity financier’s failed attempt to build a casino in Johnston.

Carcieri administration officials are aware of the Milford casino proposal, which Warner and Nunes presented Monday at a public meeting in the Blackstone Valley town.

“Certainly we took note of recent reports that Warner Gaming is interested in looking to develop a casino in Massachusetts,” said Amy Kempe, spokeswoman for Governor Carcieri.

Neither Kempe, nor Department of Business Regulation Director Michael Marques, would comment on the particulars of Warner’s application for approval to run the slot parlor.

“He is going through the vetting process, and I can assure you it is comprehensive,” Kempe said.

DBR’s legal counsel, Richard Berstein, said: “DBR is involved in a confidential due diligence process ... [Mr. Marques] cannot comment.”

Warner resigned as chief operating officer of Station Casinos in late 2007, shortly after the publicly traded casino operator was taken private. Warner earned about $44 million by cashing out stock options when the deal closed, according to filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

He started Warner Gaming in 2008 to advise casino owners. Currently, Warner Gaming manages Inn of the Mountain Gods Casino and Resort in Ruidoso, N.M., for the Mescalero Apache Tribe.

Warner is on the board of directors with Shuffle Master Inc. (SHFL: Nasdaq), a publicly traded company that makes automatic playing-card shufflers and other gaming equipment.

Neither Warner, nor Nunes immediately responded to requests for comment by The Journal.

pgrimald@projo.com