2 weeks ago there was a raid in baltimore and, now theres one in ohio.
Deputies shut down gambling operation
Village council member defiant; says he broke no laws
By Lawrence Budd
Dayton Daily News
Even though it's illegal in Ohio, Warren County has casino-style gambling, according to sheriff's deputies who earlier this month raided a restaurant outside Morrow owned by a village council member.
Deputies seized four video slot machines, $320 from the machines and a wooden drawer under a cash register at Papa's Restaurant, 6373 E. Ohio 22, according to court records.
Papa's owner Yorky Bryant declined to sign a search warrant served before the Nov. 10 seizure and remained defiant last week while authorities reviewed the case. He denied breaking state gambling laws, saying that he doesn't own the machines and an employee is the person alleged to have paid gambling winnings to undercover agents. No criminal charges have been filed.
Bryant, who was acquitted of gambling charges after a South Lebanon poker game in 1992, predicted he would once again avoid criminal conviction.
"I'm allowed to have 'em in the restaurant, if I don't pay anyone off," Bryant, 59, said. "If they charge me with anything, we're going to the big court."
For-profit, casino-style gambling remains against the law in Ohio. Last year, Ohio lawmakers decided against asking voters to consider amending the state constitution to allow gambling machines like those seized at Bryant's restaurant at Ohio racetracks.
But the drive to allow gambling hasn't ended. On Nov. 8, voters in Monroe on the Warren-Butler county line and Lordstown in northeast Ohio endorsed measures designed to convince the Eastern Shawnee of Oklahoma tribe to build a casino in their cities. The tribe has yet to win acceptance from state officials, however.
Currently, Ohio law limits casino-style gambling to non-profit organizations raising money for charitable causes. Anyone else operating a gambling business is subject to criminal charges in Ohio.
So far, no charges have been filed against Bryant, his business or employees.
"We're talking to the prosecutor's office," sheriff's Maj. James Newsom said, declining to answer further questions.
However, a sheriff's deputy told the Warren County judge issuing the search warrant that he suspected deputies would find evidence of "illegal gambling" on slot machines.
Local residents have long known about gambling at Papa's, opened 26 years ago in Salem Twp. in southern Warren County, Bryant said.
"Sir, it is no secret," he said.
The Nov. 10 raid came after undercover agents with the Ohio Department of Public Safety, responding to an anonymous tip, played electronic slot machines at Papa's, according to court records. When no liquor violations were found by state agents who visited Papa's on Nov. 3, the case was turned over to the county sheriff's office, state agent Brent Devery said.
A state agent and sheriff's Deputy Eric Johnson returned to Papa's on Nov. 10 and played the games and cashed out before obtaining the warrant justifying the search and seizure later that night, according to court records.
Johnson said he saw an "unidentified female clerk" pay a state agent $10 "from a wooden drawer underneath the register."
Bryant dismissed the raid as a political dirty trick. Bryant was re-elected to the Morrow Village Council on Nov. 8 — the same day the council voted to name a park after him.
An avid poker player, Bryant pointed to the Ohio Lottery and betting on horse racing at Ohio tracks, voters' approval of the Shawnee gambling measures in two Ohio cities as well as the popularity of Internet gambling to suggest authorities were wrong to raid his business because of the slot machines.
"They're everywhere. You take me to any county in Ohio, I'll show them to you," Bryant said.
Since January 2003, the state's public safety investigative unit has seized more than 200 gambling machines, most like the electronic slot machines used in casinos and proposed at Ohio race tracks, said spokesman Rich Cologie. During the same period, the state filed more than 140 criminal charges related to illegal gambling against 94 people, Cologie said.
In most cases, gambling is conducted by a fraternal club or other charitable organization, Cologie said. The state attorney general's office also has authority to bring criminal or civil actions in gambling cases involving charities. However, prosecution of for-profit gambling cases is left largely to local authorities.
Local authorities have won criminal gambling convictions. One of the biggest came in 2000 when the American Legion post in Waynesville and two of its former leaders were fined $7,500 for operating a gambling house. Authorities seized more than $300,000 during a raid at the legion post, which raised $2 million over six years, according to a state audit.
Village council member defiant; says he broke no laws
By Lawrence Budd
Dayton Daily News
Even though it's illegal in Ohio, Warren County has casino-style gambling, according to sheriff's deputies who earlier this month raided a restaurant outside Morrow owned by a village council member.
Deputies seized four video slot machines, $320 from the machines and a wooden drawer under a cash register at Papa's Restaurant, 6373 E. Ohio 22, according to court records.
Papa's owner Yorky Bryant declined to sign a search warrant served before the Nov. 10 seizure and remained defiant last week while authorities reviewed the case. He denied breaking state gambling laws, saying that he doesn't own the machines and an employee is the person alleged to have paid gambling winnings to undercover agents. No criminal charges have been filed.
Bryant, who was acquitted of gambling charges after a South Lebanon poker game in 1992, predicted he would once again avoid criminal conviction.
"I'm allowed to have 'em in the restaurant, if I don't pay anyone off," Bryant, 59, said. "If they charge me with anything, we're going to the big court."
For-profit, casino-style gambling remains against the law in Ohio. Last year, Ohio lawmakers decided against asking voters to consider amending the state constitution to allow gambling machines like those seized at Bryant's restaurant at Ohio racetracks.
But the drive to allow gambling hasn't ended. On Nov. 8, voters in Monroe on the Warren-Butler county line and Lordstown in northeast Ohio endorsed measures designed to convince the Eastern Shawnee of Oklahoma tribe to build a casino in their cities. The tribe has yet to win acceptance from state officials, however.
Currently, Ohio law limits casino-style gambling to non-profit organizations raising money for charitable causes. Anyone else operating a gambling business is subject to criminal charges in Ohio.
So far, no charges have been filed against Bryant, his business or employees.
"We're talking to the prosecutor's office," sheriff's Maj. James Newsom said, declining to answer further questions.
However, a sheriff's deputy told the Warren County judge issuing the search warrant that he suspected deputies would find evidence of "illegal gambling" on slot machines.
Local residents have long known about gambling at Papa's, opened 26 years ago in Salem Twp. in southern Warren County, Bryant said.
"Sir, it is no secret," he said.
The Nov. 10 raid came after undercover agents with the Ohio Department of Public Safety, responding to an anonymous tip, played electronic slot machines at Papa's, according to court records. When no liquor violations were found by state agents who visited Papa's on Nov. 3, the case was turned over to the county sheriff's office, state agent Brent Devery said.
A state agent and sheriff's Deputy Eric Johnson returned to Papa's on Nov. 10 and played the games and cashed out before obtaining the warrant justifying the search and seizure later that night, according to court records.
Johnson said he saw an "unidentified female clerk" pay a state agent $10 "from a wooden drawer underneath the register."
Bryant dismissed the raid as a political dirty trick. Bryant was re-elected to the Morrow Village Council on Nov. 8 — the same day the council voted to name a park after him.
An avid poker player, Bryant pointed to the Ohio Lottery and betting on horse racing at Ohio tracks, voters' approval of the Shawnee gambling measures in two Ohio cities as well as the popularity of Internet gambling to suggest authorities were wrong to raid his business because of the slot machines.
"They're everywhere. You take me to any county in Ohio, I'll show them to you," Bryant said.
Since January 2003, the state's public safety investigative unit has seized more than 200 gambling machines, most like the electronic slot machines used in casinos and proposed at Ohio race tracks, said spokesman Rich Cologie. During the same period, the state filed more than 140 criminal charges related to illegal gambling against 94 people, Cologie said.
In most cases, gambling is conducted by a fraternal club or other charitable organization, Cologie said. The state attorney general's office also has authority to bring criminal or civil actions in gambling cases involving charities. However, prosecution of for-profit gambling cases is left largely to local authorities.
Local authorities have won criminal gambling convictions. One of the biggest came in 2000 when the American Legion post in Waynesville and two of its former leaders were fined $7,500 for operating a gambling house. Authorities seized more than $300,000 during a raid at the legion post, which raised $2 million over six years, according to a state audit.
