VIDEO POKER NEWS
§
14-306.1. Types of machines and devices prohibited by law;
penalties.
(l) Exemption for Certain Machines. - This section shall not
apply to assemblers, manufacturers, and transporters of video
gaming machines who assemble, manufacture, and transport them
for sale in another state as long as the machines, while located
in this State, cannot be used to play the prohibited games, and
does not apply to those who assemble, manufacture, and sell such
machines for the use only by a federally recognized Indian Tribe
if such machines may be lawfully used on Indian Land under the
Indian Gaming Regulatory Act.
(m) Ban on Warehousing. - It is unlawful to warehouse any
video gaming machine except in conjunction with the permitted
assembly, manufacture, and transportation of such machines under
subsection (l) of this section.
“That's a different Pam James.”
— Pamela H. Jones of Wilmington, sister to Robert E. Huckabee III,
president of Southland Amusement who owns several video poker machines.
Jones was responding to questions from The News & Observer of Raleigh
about her recent $1,000 contribution to House Co-Speaker Jim Black. She
was then asked why Black's contribution disclosure form listed her home
phone number and her interior decorating business. She asked the reporter
to call back and later admitted to making the contribution but also declined
to discuss it any further. Her brother, Huckabee, has given more than
$30,000 to state politicians over the past few years, including $4,000
last year to Black, the maximum legal amount.
Pam James donated $1,000 to Sheriff Causey's election campaign.
NO ARRESTS MADE IN RAID
Last updated: September 09. 2005 12:11AM
Video poker raid targets 7 businesses
By Majsan Boström
Staff Writer
New Hanover County Sheriff’s deputies raided seven businesses Thursday
night, looking to seize evidence of illegal video poker activities.
Results of the raid were unavailable at press time but 20 deputies were
looking for video poker machines, cash, weapons and narcotics.
“It’s an undercover operation that has been going on for several
months, in locations in the city and in the county,” said Sgt. S.L.
Morgan of the New Hanover County Sheriff’s Office. “We’ve
sent out undercover people there that have been paid cash, several hundred
dollars.”
Search warrants in hand, detectives were geared up to seize video poker
machines, cash and other contraband like weapons and narcotics.
It’s not illegal to have video poker machines in an establishment,
deputies said. It’s cash payouts from video poker machines that
are against North Carolina law, which limits winnings to $10 of merchandise.
“No money whatsoever is to be paid out, period,” said Sgt.
Morgan. “Do you think someone goes in and plays video poker for
a chance to win a T-shirt? Some of these places are taking $250,000 a
year.”
In recent years, federal investigations into video gaming have led to
the arrest and conviction of former N.C. Transportation Secretary Garland
B. Garrett Jr. of Wilmington whose video poker business raked in almost
$2 million in illegal profits.
Video poker, which has a strong lobby in Raleigh, is a sore subject with
law enforcement officers across the state, Sgt. Morgan said. And many
law enforcement officers hope the North Carolina lottery will replace
the urge to play video poker, he added.
“It’s the sheriff’s responsibility to register all the
machines, but it’s hard for us to know where and when they move,”
he said.
“I’ve got some 300 machines out there right
now.”
Paying out cash for video poker is a misdemeanor and each establishment
is only allowed to house three machines, Sgt. Morgan said. Having more
than five machines is a felony.
“We may spend $10,000 to enforce a misdemeanor charge,” he
added.
The payout law is hard and costly to enforce and the establishments
are breeding grounds for other crime, Sgt. Morgan said.
A 26-year-old man was shot to death by a clerk in June when he tried to
rob Jerry’s Furniture Refinishing, which was also a video poker
outlet on Cinema Drive. Sgt. Morgan said video poker outlets exist around
the city and county in anything from furniture refinishing stores to candle
shops.
“It’s just a front,” he said. “These places
are cash cows and that’s why they are getting robbed.”
In 2004 and so far in 2005, New Hanover County deputies have seized about
25 machines. And detectives believe that total will go up a great deal
after they have counted the machines they seized in Thursday night’s
operation. They also believe they will seize a lot of cash.
“These people don’t go to these video poker places to win
a $10 teddy bear,” Sgt. Morgan said. “If that was the case,
you might as well go on your computer and play a game.”
Majsan Boström 343-2075
majsan.bostrom@starnewsonline.com
Thursday, June 19, 2003 8:33AM EDT
Ex-official Garrett sentenced
By ANDREA WEIGL, Staff Writer
RALEIGH -- After a three-year investigation into illegal gambling, federal
prosecutors on Wednesday secured prison time for their biggest catch --
former state Transportation Secretary Garland B. Garrett Jr.
U.S. Attorney Frank Whitney described Garrett's sentencing as the first
phase of an expanding federal inquiry named "Operation Double Black
Diamond."
"It goes beyond illegal video poker," said Whitney, who refused
to discuss the details of the probe. "It also goes into the corrupting
influence video poker has with public officials. We are committed to following
the money wherever it goes."
Whitney also announced that Pedroland Inc., which owns the South of the
Border attraction straddling the North Carolina-South Carolina state line
on Interstate 95, has pleaded guilty to participating in an illegal gambling
business and agreed to pay a $400,000 fine.
Garrett, 63, a prominent Democratic fundraiser, was sentenced to five
months in a minimum-security federal prison at Seymour Johnson Air Force
Base starting Aug. 15, followed by five months in a halfway house. Garrett
also must pay a $5,000 fine and complete two years of federal probation.
Last September, Garrett pleaded guilty to one count of operating an illegal
gambling business. In exchange, prosecutors dismissed the other 267 charges
they had pending against him. Garrett, his father, Garland B. Garrett
Sr., and the family business, Cape Fear Music Co., were charged with illegal
gambling and money laundering.
On Wednesday, his son, Garland "Trey" Garrett III, was sentenced
to two years of probation and ordered to complete 120 hours of community
service. He pleaded guilty in December 2001 to operating an illegal gambling
business and agreed to testify against his father and grandfather.
Also Wednesday, the family business entered a guilty plea as a corporation
to one count of operating an illegal gambling business and was ordered
to pay a $750,000 fine.
All charges had been dismissed against the eldest Garrett, who lives in
a nursing home in Wilmington and suffers from Alzheimer's disease.
Although video poker is legal in North Carolina, state law limits payouts
to replays or prizes worth no more than $10. Federal prosecutors accused
the Garretts and their business of leasing machines to clubs and businesses
that paid cash awards and of sharing in the proceeds.
In court, lawyers for Garland Garrett Jr. described him as a "broken
man" who made some mistakes when he took over the family business
after his father became ill. One of the lawyers, Dan Boyce of Raleigh,
said Garrett was too emotionally distraught to read a statement he prepared.
So one of Garrett's other lawyers, Woody Webb Jr., read it for him:
"This is the darkest day of my life. I'd like to apologize to the
court for the mistakes that I made under very complicated and difficult
circumstances. I take full responsibility for my actions in this case
and realize that I should have handled things differently while trying
to find a buyer for my father's company."
Garrett has long been involved in state politics. He worked on former
Gov. Jim Hunt's campaigns for governor in 1976 and 1980 and was finance
co-chairman for Rufus Edmisten's 1984 run for governor.
Other big names in North Carolina politics offered their support Wednesday.
Edmisten, a former secretary of state who resigned in 1996 after state
auditors accused him of mismanagement, appeared in court. In his chambers,
U.S. District Judge Terrence Boyle reviewed 32 letters vouching for Garrett's
character, including ones from former U.S. Sen. Lauch Faircloth and U.S.
Rep. Howard Coble, both Republicans.
In 1995, Hunt appointed Garrett to head the state transportation department.
Three years later, Garrett was ousted by a scandal involving patronage
and politics in road projects.
After Mike Easley became governor in January 2001, he asked his correction
secretary to hire Garrett as a lobbyist with a $98,500 annual salary.
Anticipating the federal gambling charges, Garrett resigned in November
2001.
Garrett initially faced as much as one year in federal prison. His lawyers
-- Boyce, Webb and Woody Webb Sr. -- asked Boyle to give Garrett a lighter
sentence because he has to care for his father and be the family breadwinner
since his son and wife cannot work because of medical and mental conditions.
But Assistant U.S. Attorney Pete Kellen told Boyle that Garrett's family
situation didn't warrant a break.
"We would ask the court to send a message to those who violate state
gambling statutes, in turn federal statutes, that this conduct will not
be tolerated," Kellen said. "We propose a meaningful active
sentence in this case to send that message."
------------------------------------------------------------------------
© Copyright 2003, The News & Observer Publishing Company
"We must emphasize that we have NO evidence or indication that Speaker
Black has any involvement or knowledge of the apparent illegal campaign
contributions," Bob Hall, the group's research director, wrote in
the complaint to the State Board of Elections."The priority focus
should be on the industry, not the recipients, because the industry appears
to be expanding from illegal schemes for making money to illegal schemes
for gaining an advantage inside the General Assembly," the complaint
says."We are concerned that an industry described as 'the crack cocaine
of gambling' aims to use its illegal profits to gain political protection
so it can expand and pose an even greater threat to our democracy."The
group said it found instances where donors exceeded contribution limits,
made donations in other people's names, used corporate money for campaign
contributions, reimbursed individuals who made donations and made cash
donations of more than $100 - all violations of state law.Many of the
allegations revolve around Robert E. Huckabee III, the
owner of Southland Amusements and Vending Inc. of Wilmington,
who chairs the legislative committee of the N.C. Amusement Machine Association.The
association is fighting a ban on video-poker machines in the state that
has been passed twice by the N.C. Senate but held up by Black.Democracy
North Carolina said it found numerous instances where people listed as
donors in Black's campaign reports said they had no knowledge of giving
money to Black:?Pamela James, an interior designer in Wilmington who is
Huckabee's sister, was listed as giving $1,000 to Black's campaign on
July 28, 2002. But she repeatedly told the group that she "never
made any such donation."?Jean Jarvis of Wilkes County is listed as
giving Black's campaign $500 on Nov. 12, 2002, but said she did not give
the money or know Jim Black. Her husband, Roland, is in the amusement-machine
business.?Lois Locklear, a South Carolina resident who works in a Scotland
County convenience store that has video-poker machines, was listed as
giving $1,500 to Black on April 30, 2002. She told Democracy North Carolina
that she was given $1,500 in cash by her boss and asked to write a check
for $1,500 to "Blackmon or Black."
Our freedom, from influence-buying
By STEVE FORD, Staff Writer
Now those are some patriots -- the North Carolina men and women who have
left families and jobs to spread democracy in Iraq with the National Guard.
And to be sporting about it, go ahead and add to the list those of us
who today guard the home front, savoring the grillmaster's Fourth of July
hotdogs before heading out to ogle the fireworks.
Another nomination: Folks who are helping to shore up our political system
against the large gobs of money flung by special interests in the hope,
and expectation, that laws and policies will be shaped to their financial
benefit. Or to put it another way, folks who are doing what they can to
keep our democracy -- the one we're saluting with all of our star-spangled
festivities -- from becoming the best democracy money can buy.
Bob Hall, that's your cue. Stand and take an Independence Day bow. You're
doing good, important work.
Hall is the long-standing research director of the Carrboro-based organization
Democracy North Carolina. What this outfit does -- based largely on the
fruit of Hall's digging -- is follow the money sluicing through the state's
campaign treasuries.
It looks for patterns that show how those with a stake in state government
decision-making may be trying to buy influence. Conversely, the patterns
may show how those with influence to wield are not above trolling for
campaign money with the implied promise of favorable treatment.
Democracy North Carolina unabashedly pursues an agenda -- public financing
of political campaigns, so as to reduce the corroding if not corrupting
role of special interest money in our choice of elected officeholders.
It could be said, then, that Hall is in search of evidence that supports
a preconceived idea. Of course, it also could be said that in light of
the evidence he's turned up over the years, public financing clearly is
the best way to go. Identify problem, advocate solution. Makes sense to
me.
That brings us to Hall's latest project. He's already investigated contributions
from the likes of rest home operators, hog growers and state Board of
Transportation members. Now it's the video poker industry.
The industry, of course, has a problem. Even though its reported revenues
top $100 million a year, plenty of people wearing badges think it's so
prone to lawlessness, and so difficult to regulate, that it's more bother
than it's worth. The N.C. Sheriffs Association wants to see video poker
machines banned in the state, just as they've been banned in South Carolina.
Just as the prospect of being hanged is said to concentrate the mind,
so understandably does the prospect of being put out of business. It should
surprise nobody that the video poker interests would fight tooth and nail
to keep the General Assembly from imposing a ban.
The poker partisans have staged lobbying blitzes at the Legislative Building,
arguing that thousands of jobs are at stake. They've come up with a plan
to beef up enforcement of regulations, financed by the industry. All of
that is completely within the bounds of legislative give and take -- as
are campaign contributions to allies or prospective allies. In that respect,
it's a free country.
What Bob Hall says he has found, though, goes too far -- not just campaign
money being thrown around like there was no tomorrow, but thrown around
in ways that, Hall contends, make it look like laws have been broken.
His findings are spelled out in a lengthy complaint filed last week with
the state Board of Elections, calling upon the board to look into a raft
of video poker-linked contributions apparently tainted by various kinds
of deceit.
Hall focuses on money from industry sources that he says wound up in the
2002 re-election campaign of Rep. Jim Black, the Mecklenburg County Democrat
who is co-speaker of the state House. Black's take from people in the
video poker biz totaled at least $108,000, by Hall's reckoning. He cites
evidence of contributions that exceeded the allowable limit, that were
made in another person's name, or that were reimbursed by somebody else
-- all no-nos. Corporate money was used, he alleges. That's a crime.
The complaint goes out of its way to avoid accusing Black of any wrongdoing,
stating that no evidence has come to light of any knowledge on his part
of any illegal fund-raising.
That said, the concentration of gifts raises one of those chicken-or-the-egg
questions. It is Black, after all, who by all accounts is the chief obstacle
to bringing the video poker ban to a vote in the House. He has cited the
job losses such a ban would cause. So has he gotten all that money because
he opposed a ban, or because he was in a position to block it -- as he
apparently has done?
"We are concerned," Hall writes, "that an industry described
as 'the crack cocaine of gambling' aims to use its illegal profits to
gain political protection so it can expand and pose an even greater threat
to our democracy." Patriot that he is, he aims to have something
done about it.
Editorial page editor Steve Ford can be reached at 829-4512 or at sford@newsobserver.com
© Copyright 2004, The News & Observer Publishing Company,
EXCERPTS FROM COMPLAINT CONTINUE:
“This complaint is based on research into more than $100,000 in
campaign contributions given during the 2002 election cycle by donors
with ties to the video-poker industry (not counting its lobbyists). The
donors include amusement machine distributors, as well as the owners of
truck stops, strip clubs, pool halls, convenience stores, bars, and ‘gift
stores’ that are basically video-poker game rooms. Our research
shows that many of these contributions came from donors who have been
cited, sometimes repeatedly, for engaging in various illegal gambling
practices or whose illegal operations caused law enforcement officials
to seize their poker machines. Other contributions came from donors who
say they were unaware that a relative or friend in the video-poker business
apparently made a political donation in their name. And others came from
donors who admit they were paid or reimbursed for making a political donation
to help an associate in the video-poker industry.
“Our research indicates that many of the problematic donations have
ties to Southland Amusements of Wilmington or its owner Robert E. ‘Bobby’
Huckabee III. Huckabee chairs the Legislative Committee of the N.C. Amusement
Machine Association, which is waging a vigorous fight to stop legislation
that would ban video-poker machines in the state. . . .”
“The pattern of giving indicates that the industry believes it should
focus its contributions on members of the N.C. House of Representatives
and particularly on Rep. James B. Black of Matthews, the House Speaker
in 2001-2002 and House Co-Speaker in 2003-2004. . . . We must emphasize
that we have NO evidence or indication that Speaker Black has any involvement
or knowledge of the apparent illegal campaign contributions described
in this document. In fact, descriptions of numerous donors on his campaign
disclosure reports suggest he did not realize they were connected to the
video-poker industry.”
“The focus of this call for an investigation is not on any recipient
but on the political donors who appear to have violated numerous campaign
finance laws in an effort to funnel tens of thousands of dollars into
the 2002 election. The pertinent violations include:
• exceeding the contribution limit,
• making donations in the name of another,
• making anonymous donations,
• using corporate money for political donations,
• reimbursing individuals who made donations,
• making donations in cash in excess of $100,
• making donations in exchange for material benefits,
• illegal solicitation of donations,
• providing false information,
• coercion of others to commit one or more of these offenses, and
• conspiracy to make illegal donations.”
“The focus of this call for an investigation is not on any recipient
but on the political donors who appear to have violated numerous campaign
finance laws in an effort to funnel tens of thousands of dollars into
the 2002 election. . . . The pattern of corrupt behavior appears to extend
beyond the acts of one individual or company in the video-poker business.
The evidence points to a level of corruption that permeates the industry,
from officials in key positions of its trade association to ‘mom-and-pop’
distributors to owners of the corner store that profits from the industry’s
illegal gambling operations.”
“The priority focus should be on the industry, not the recipients,
because the industry appears to be expanding from illegal schemes for
making money to illegal schemes for gaining an advantage inside the General
Assembly. Politicians trapped in a fundraising arms race with their political
rivals, with no alternative except to rely on private sources of money,
become the target of these schemes. We are concerned that an industry
described as ‘the crack cocaine of gambling’ aims to use its
illegal profits to gain political protection so it can expand and pose
an even greater threat to our democracy.”
http://www.democracy-nc.org/moneyresearch/2004/vpoker%20cover.html
Southland Amusement owner Robert E. Huckabee III of Wilmington retained
former legislator Linwood Mercer as a lobbyist this year. Huckabee and
his family gave $24,875 – more than any other video poker distributor.
Huckabee also started Advance Cash Express in 2000, one of a growing number
of payday lending businesses that critics charge engage in predatory lending.
September 24, 2001
N.C. VIDEO-POKER & GAMBLING INDUSTRY GIVES $613,000
FOR 2000 ELECTION, 8-FOLD JUMP OVER 1996
On the eve of a renewed debate about a North Carolina lottery, a new report
shows that campaign contributions from donors tied to gambling and video
poker in the state has soared in the last two years.
“If you want to see how gambling interests can move in and rapidly
increase their impact in state politics, just look at the political money
thrown around by the video poker industry in North Carolina,” said
Pete MacDowell of Democracy South, a campaign-finance watchdog group.
“The money buys top-rated lobbyists, but also it includes illegal
campaign contributions, $100,000 gifts to national parties, and donations
linked to shady businesses like predatory lending.”
Video poker distributors, operators, and their nine lobbyists contributed
$418,000 to state campaigns in the 2000 election, according to Democracy
South’s analysis of records at the State Board of Elections.
In addition, the Cherokee tribe in western N.C. used profits from its
new video-game casino to make its first national donations, sending $195,000
to out-of-state parties and candidates since 1999. The total of $613,000
is eight times the $74,000 donated in the 1996 cycle when the industry
had one lobbyist.
The big recipients of video-poker donations in North Carolina are key
players in the lottery debate:
_ The top recipient, lottery champion Governor Mike Easley, got $124,000
from video-poker related donors for his 2000 campaign. In 1997, then Attorney
General Easley issued a legal opinion that helped the industry expand
in the state; a month later, the industry’s trade group sent an
appeal to its members, urging them to send money to Easley’s gubernatorial
campaign. After the election, Easley’s campaign manager, Jay Reiff,
became a registered lobbyist for the N.C. Lottery for Education Coalition,
a pro-lottery advocacy group, and for months served simultaneously on
the Governor’s staff.
_ House Speaker Jim Black, who has said he would soon hold a public hearing
on the lottery, received $55,000 from video-poker donors, making him the
second highest recipient of their political money. In the 1998 campaign,
Black took in only $750 from the industry and its lobbyists.
_ A bill to ban video poker machines passed the state Senate in 2000,
but the House watered it down by adding exemptions for existing machines,
for the Cherokee’s casino, and for the manufacture of machines shipped
out of state. In the 2000 election, state House candidates got $123,545
from video-poker related donors, more than four times the $27,085 taken
in by Senate candidates.
_ House Minority Leader Leo Daughtry is the attorney for the N.C. Amusement
Machine Association, the trade group for video-poker distributors. He
got $43,150 in the 2000 cycle, mostly for his failed gubernatorial campaign.
Daughtry says he personally opposes the lottery, but the House Republican
Caucus he leads has not made opposition to the lottery a priority.
_ Roy Cooper, the newly elected Attorney General, received $29,100 in
2000 from industry donors, compared to nothing in 1998 when he was re-elected
to the state Senate. As Easley showed when he held the office, the state
Attorney General has considerable influence over the interpretation and
enforcement of North Carolina’s conflicting laws regarding games
of chance and video poker.
MacDowell noted that video poker has been described as the “crack
cocaine” of gambling because of its addictive nature and appeal
to low-income gamblers. North Carolina law permits the machines to be
distributed and played, but limits the payout to $10 worth of merchandise
and no cash – a restriction that is frequently abused, leading to
scores of machines seizures and arrests each year.
Last year, the North Carolina Sheriffs’ Association, the N.C. Family
Policy Council, and others tried to ban video poker machines altogether,
but a compromise allowed existing machines to stay if their operators
registered them with local sheriffs and reported their income to the N.C.
Department of Revenue. The new data show that 9,000 machines are bringing
in over $100 million annually.
Law enforcement officials say the problem of illegally operated machines
has not subsided. As a result, Sen. Charlie Albertson and others want
an outright ban, but his bill is stalled in committee.
Regulating video poker is complicated by the special legal status –
and clout – of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, said MacDowell.
Under federal law and a compact agreement with North Carolina, the Cherokees
can sponsor gambling, with a cash payoff, on electronic video games that
are legal in the state. The tribe built a mega-casino in 1997 and leased
it to Harrah’s Entertainment to manage. It now has 2,700 video poker,
blackjack and other games and yields $125 million a year in profits for
the tribe. But if the state outlaws video poker, the Cherokees could lose
their machines, too.
“The threat to the industry on and off the reservation has spurred
an upswing in political spending on high-powered lobbyists and campaign
donations,” said MacDowell. According to Democracy South, the Cherokees
made their first political donations to state candidates in 2000, a few
months after the debate in the General Assembly to ban video gaming machines.
As early as March 1998, the State Board of Elections had notified Zeb
Alley, the veteran lobbyist who represents the Cherokees, that political
contributions from the tribal corporation would be illegal. But in October
2000, the Eastern Band made six donations of $4,000 each to six legislative
candidates, including one to Rep. Phil Haire of Sylva.
A few weeks later, the Elections Board wrote Haire’s law partner
Ben Bridgers, alerting him that tribal contributions were illegal. Bridgers
is now a registered lobbyist for the Cherokees. After another notice from
the Board, Haire finally returned the $4,000 contribution in September
2001.
The Cherokee’s also gave $2,500 to the N.C. Democratic Party’s
Building Fund, which can accept corporate checks, so that donation is
legal. The same month, it gave the Democratic National Committee a check
for $100,000. “The capacity of gambling interests to flood state
politics with soft money and legal or illegal donations is mind-boggling,”
said MacDowell. “It’s just beginning here.”
Other donors on Democracy South’s list illustrate how video poker
operators are hiring more well-known lobbyists, giving more money themselves,
and using their profits to expand into other fields:
_ Southland Amusement owner Robert E. Huckabee III of Wilmington retained
former legislator Linwood Mercer as a lobbyist this year. Huckabee and
his family gave $24,875 – more than any other video poker distributor.
Huckabee also started Advance Cash Express in 2000, one of a growing number
of payday lending businesses that critics charge engage in predatory lending.
_ Operators Distributors’ owner Steve Henderson of Archdale has
retained former Secretary of State and Attorney General Rufus Edmisten
as a lobbyist for his video poker machine business. Henderson and his
wife gave $9,250 in the 2000 election, up from only $2,000 for 1993 through
1996.
_ Don and Mark Beason represented the N.C. Amusement Machine Association,
the video-poker dealers trade group, during the 2000 session of the General
Assembly, and Mark is again listed as their lobbyist this session. NCAMA
began a PAC in 2000, but it only made one donation – $4,000 to Mike
Easley’s campaign. The association itself also gave $700 to a reception
for Speaker Jim Black.Published: Jul 19, 2004
Modified: Jul 19, 2004 1:15 AM
Judge keeps games sidelined
Video poker topic of lawsuit
The Associated Press
HIGH POINT -- A Randleman amusement
company owner and legislative candidate can't operate any of his 260 video
poker machines in North Carolina until a lawsuit contending the business
is a public nuisance is resolved.
Superior Court Judge John O. Craig ruled Friday that Clarence Ray "Bucky"
Jernigan's machines must remain sidelined because they are capable of
awarding jackpots worth more than the $10 in merchandise allowed by state
law.
Craig noted that the machines display a gambler's winnings in dollars.
Such cash prizes are illegal.
"To John Q. Public, the plain usage of the word 'dollar' means exactly
what it says," he said. "And it defies logic to argue that people
are pumping large amounts of money into these machines for the mere opportunity
of winning merchandise valued at $10 or less."
Craig added that Randolph County and state government had presented "a
preponderance of the evidence" suggesting they could prevail in the
forthcoming civil trial. The lawsuit contends Jernigan built a fortune
by renting machines that made cash payouts exceeding the $10-a-day limit.
A trial date has not been set.
The ruling could be a harbinger of trouble for the industry elsewhere
in North Carolina. Many convenience stores and other businesses honor
jackpots worth hundreds of dollars. To acknowledge state law, they limit
the gambler to redeeming $10 per day in merchandise such as gasoline,
food or drink.
In a hearing Monday, Greensboro lawyer Randall Reavis, an expert in state
nuisance law, argued on behalf of the state and Randolph County that it's
illegal for any poker machine to be "capable" of such use.
Police impounded 260 machines in 22 counties during a series of raids
May 20. Jonathan Megerian, an Asheboro lawyer representing Jernigan, had
asked Craig to release all Heath Amusement machines outside Randolph County,
saying machines in other counties were operating legally.
Police have not filed criminal charges in the case.
Jernigan is a Republican candidate seeking the 70th District seat in the
state House of Representatives. He and fellow Republican Jim Parker will
face off against GOP incumbent Arlie Culp in the Tuesday primary.
© Copyright 2004, The
News & Observer Publishing Company,
a subsidiary of The McClatchy Company
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