The General
Another Day, Another Dollar
Eleven taverns and fraternal clubs in four Southern Indiana counties were cited this month for promoting illegal gambling after raids by the Indiana Excise Police.
The Sept. 9-10 operation by the excise police -- who are agents for the Indiana Alcohol and Tobacco Commission -- is part of a more aggressive effort started last winter to curb illegal electronic gambling.
The charges were brought against four bars in Perry and Harrison counties, and four fraternal organizations and three taverns in Clark and Floyd counties.
Such cases typically result in fines of $500 to $2,000 -- but now they may also trigger license suspensions and cash seizures. In addition, the machines themselves are often left disabled.
One raid occurred at the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post on Grant Line Road in New Albany. Club commander Jim Dexter lamented the way the excise officers clipped wiring in the club's 12 gambling machines on their visit Sept. 10.
"It would take a scientist to hook all the wires up back where they're supposed to go," he said.
The raids come at a time when Indiana and Kentucky authorities are struggling to get a grip on widespread illegal gambling in bars, truck stops, restaurants and fraternal clubs.
A Courier-Journal series last December documented open gambling on thousands of slot-like Cherry Masters and Pot O' Gold video poker machines in both states -- with players wagering millions of untaxed dollars.
The Kentucky State Police responded in February by charging 11 store clerks and owners and confiscating 123 gambling machines at 17 establishments along Interstate 75 and on Interstate 64 near Frankfort.
While none of those charged were convicted -- and illegal machines are still available in many Kentucky counties -- county prosecutors did forge agreements this summer to keep machines out of some of the businesses along I-75. :+clueless
In Indiana, meanwhile, lawmakers are feeling increased pressure to legalize video gambling in bars -- in part because the excise police have turned up the heat on offenders.
In March they began confiscating money from the gambling machines and yanking their "motherboards" -- the computer circuitry -- while citing owners for illegal gambling.
Previously, the offenses resulted in minor fines and were seen as nothing more than a cost of doing business.
Liquor-control agents felt the frustration of repeatedly citing bar and club owners to little avail.
"We were spinning our wheels with complaint after complaint, " Alex Huskey, superintendent of the excise police, said yesterday.
At the urging of a new commission chairman, David Heath, police last March began removing the motherboards, which made the machines useless.
Although commission authorities still insist that the new effort is not an all-out crackdown, raids such as those this month are generating increased publicity and additional complaints -- which under the commission's policy must be acted on with more surprise inspections.
"It's really snowballed," Huskey said. "I can't even go into the grocery store without someone coming up to me and telling me about some illegal gambling."
He added, "There's just a lot more interest and publicity generated by this" stepped-up enforcement.
Through the end of August, the commission had seized $151,000 in cash and 900 motherboards. The raids this month yielded 48 motherboards and $3,058 in cash.
Alcohol commission prosecutor Jennifer Drewry also has added the threat of 15- and 30-day license suspensions if bars and club owners have a repeat offense within a year.
For the VFW post in New Albany, the recent raid will be costly but not crippling, Dexter said.
It's only a matter of time before lawmakers legalize the machines because people realize gambling proceeds are a way to keep the clubs open and also give back to the community, he said.
"If it wasn't for things of this nature (gambling), a lot of the clubs wouldn't be in business. It's a moneymaker," he said. "State government wants a piece of the action. We can understand that."
courier-journal.com
The Sept. 9-10 operation by the excise police -- who are agents for the Indiana Alcohol and Tobacco Commission -- is part of a more aggressive effort started last winter to curb illegal electronic gambling.
The charges were brought against four bars in Perry and Harrison counties, and four fraternal organizations and three taverns in Clark and Floyd counties.
Such cases typically result in fines of $500 to $2,000 -- but now they may also trigger license suspensions and cash seizures. In addition, the machines themselves are often left disabled.
One raid occurred at the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post on Grant Line Road in New Albany. Club commander Jim Dexter lamented the way the excise officers clipped wiring in the club's 12 gambling machines on their visit Sept. 10.
"It would take a scientist to hook all the wires up back where they're supposed to go," he said.
The raids come at a time when Indiana and Kentucky authorities are struggling to get a grip on widespread illegal gambling in bars, truck stops, restaurants and fraternal clubs.
A Courier-Journal series last December documented open gambling on thousands of slot-like Cherry Masters and Pot O' Gold video poker machines in both states -- with players wagering millions of untaxed dollars.
The Kentucky State Police responded in February by charging 11 store clerks and owners and confiscating 123 gambling machines at 17 establishments along Interstate 75 and on Interstate 64 near Frankfort.
While none of those charged were convicted -- and illegal machines are still available in many Kentucky counties -- county prosecutors did forge agreements this summer to keep machines out of some of the businesses along I-75. :+clueless
In Indiana, meanwhile, lawmakers are feeling increased pressure to legalize video gambling in bars -- in part because the excise police have turned up the heat on offenders.
In March they began confiscating money from the gambling machines and yanking their "motherboards" -- the computer circuitry -- while citing owners for illegal gambling.
Previously, the offenses resulted in minor fines and were seen as nothing more than a cost of doing business.
Liquor-control agents felt the frustration of repeatedly citing bar and club owners to little avail.
"We were spinning our wheels with complaint after complaint, " Alex Huskey, superintendent of the excise police, said yesterday.
At the urging of a new commission chairman, David Heath, police last March began removing the motherboards, which made the machines useless.
Although commission authorities still insist that the new effort is not an all-out crackdown, raids such as those this month are generating increased publicity and additional complaints -- which under the commission's policy must be acted on with more surprise inspections.
"It's really snowballed," Huskey said. "I can't even go into the grocery store without someone coming up to me and telling me about some illegal gambling."
He added, "There's just a lot more interest and publicity generated by this" stepped-up enforcement.
Through the end of August, the commission had seized $151,000 in cash and 900 motherboards. The raids this month yielded 48 motherboards and $3,058 in cash.
Alcohol commission prosecutor Jennifer Drewry also has added the threat of 15- and 30-day license suspensions if bars and club owners have a repeat offense within a year.
For the VFW post in New Albany, the recent raid will be costly but not crippling, Dexter said.
It's only a matter of time before lawmakers legalize the machines because people realize gambling proceeds are a way to keep the clubs open and also give back to the community, he said.
"If it wasn't for things of this nature (gambling), a lot of the clubs wouldn't be in business. It's a moneymaker," he said. "State government wants a piece of the action. We can understand that."
courier-journal.com