By the Associated Press
10/11/2007
A pool hall co-owner faces four felony charges of promoting professional gambling after a raid by the state's newly created Gaming Control Division.
Regulators seized 14 "Cherry Master" machines from Paradise Billiards Wednesday after a three-week investigation, division director Larry Rollins said. They also seized 20 gambling machines from Kendallville Pawn Shop and a building connected to it.
Lashonda Wilcox, 31, of Kendallville was arrested and charged with the four felonies in connection with the first raid. She was released on bond Thursday from Noble County Jail.
Wilcox could not be reached for comment by The Associated Press. A telephone directory had no listing for her, and calls to Paradise Billiards rang unanswered Thursday afternoon.
The Gaming Control Division was created during this year's legislative session. Wednesday's raid marked the first seizure of gambling machines from a business, Rollins said.
Regulators also confiscated some from a storage area earlier this month in southern Indiana.
House Bill 1510, which went into effect July 1, created the agency as part of the Indiana Gaming Commission. State lawmakers included the increased enforcement this year in the legislation that will allow slot machines at Indiana's two pari-mutuel horse tracks.
State Senate President Pro Tem David Long, R-Fort Wayne, supported the beefed up enforcement and was pleased with news of Wednesday's bust.
"It's a new day," he said. "Enforcement starts with ground troops, otherwise no one will pay attention to the law."
Officers in the Gaming Control Division have full police powers and can enforce all Indiana laws, but the division's primary purpose is to investigate illegal gambling.
Most regulated machines in casinos have a 92 percent payout over the life of the machine, Rollins said. That means they return 92 percent of the money they take in and keep 8 percent. Indiana law mandates 80 percent, but unregulated machines commonly offer only 35 percent to 55 percent.
"I can go into these Cherry Masters, and I can change the payoff in about 10 seconds, and I'm not much of an expert on it," Rollins said.
Regulators started investigating Paradise Billiards after they received at least 20 complaints about the machines, Rollins said.
He said they turned information over to Noble County prosecutors, and more arrests could follow. He also expects to see more raids around the state.
"We've only got 16 people, so we can't do them every day, but we will respond to the complaints," he said. "We'll prioritize those complaints and attack them as we can."
|