Arcades owner to fight charges she ran an illegal gambling operation
By Jon Burstein
Staff Writer
Posted December 31 2005
The woman who is the public face of Broward County's adult game rooms has been charged with running an illegal gambling operation in a case that could turn into a courtroom showdown over the growing industry.
Gale Fontaine, president of the Florida Arcade Association, quietly turned herself in to the Broward County Jail last week, two months after Broward sheriff's deputies raided one of her Pompano Beach adult arcades. The great-grandmother faces felony counts of keeping a gambling house and lottery law violation and a misdemeanor charge of possession of a slot machine.
Adult arcades have exploded in popularity in the past few years, largely catering to retirees who play the slot-like machines to win in-house prizes and gift certificates. As many as 100 such game rooms dot strip malls in Broward, Palm Beach and Miami-Dade counties.
The legality of the arcades has come under attack across the state with some municipalities banning them, calling them illegal games of chance. The arcades argue the machines are protected under the state's "Chuck E. Cheese" law. The law allows people to play games with an "application of skill" to get credits redeemable for non-cash prizes.
Fontaine, 56, vowed Friday to fight the criminal charges, saying she's been singled out by law enforcement because of her standing in South Florida's adult arcade community. Broward sheriff's deputies seized 60 machines from the Tropicana Rec Room on Oct. 19, but authorities haven't shut down at least four other similar arcades within a few miles, she said.
Fontaine said she has been running the Tropicana Rec Room identically to two other adult arcades she has owned in Pompano Beach for more than a year.
"To have to turn yourself into the jail, I can't tell you how disgusting it was. How humiliating it was," said Fontaine, who is free on a $1,350 bond.
Fontaine blames Broward County's pari-mutuels for her arrest, saying she believes they have been applying increased pressure on the Sheriff's Office to shut down the arcades. The state's pari-mutuels have argued that the game rooms are illegal gambling operations and the machines are nothing more than unregulated slots taxed the same as children's video arcade games.
Officials at Broward County's pari-mutuels said Friday they haven't been preoccupied with the arcades, their attention focused on Hurricane Wilma damage and crafting slots legislation. They said though they welcomed the news of Fontaine's arrest.
"I'm thrilled. I personally hope that this is just the tip of the iceberg," said Dan Adkins, vice president of Hollywood Greyhound Track.
Broward Sheriff's Office spokesman Jim Leljedal said the agency would not respond to Fontaine's allegations. The case's prosecutor, Gregg Rossman, said the charges against Fontaine are in no way the result of political pressure on the Broward State Attorney's Office.
"Anybody who has been around here any period of time knows that this office is not and cannot be influenced by outside interests," he said. "Our decisions are based on the law and the law alone."
Fontaine set up the Tropicana Rec Room in July inside the same strip mall storefront that formerly housed the Tropicana Arcade, which was raided in December 2004 by sheriff's deputies. Deputies seized 70 arcade machines from the Tropicana Arcade after a national gaming expert deemed them games of chance. Tropicana Arcade owner Michael Mills is awaiting trial on charges of keeping a gambling house and possessing an illegal slot machine.
No criminal cases involving adult arcades have ever gone to trial in Broward County. Seven people arrested in two other arcade raids in 2004 pleaded no contest to possessing an illegal slot machine, agreeing to six months' probation.
Robert Jarvis, a Nova Southeastern University law professor who co-authored a book on gambling law, said adult arcade owners almost always take plea deals because they don't want to risk jail time.
The arcades have developed fervent followings in South Florida retirement communities. Broward County's Aging and Disability Resource Center will honor Fontaine next month with the group's Community Commitment Award.
"When you take a pillar of the community like Gale Fontaine and decide to descend on her, there's got to be other factors involved," said the center's executive director, Edith Lederberg. "It seems strange that's the place they went into when she's had arcades operational for years."
Fontaine said she's ready to fight to stay in business. "
What type of lesson would I be teaching to my grandchildren if I don't?" she said.
Jon Burstein can be reached at jburstein@sun-sentinel.com or 954-356-4491.
By Jon Burstein
Staff Writer
Posted December 31 2005
The woman who is the public face of Broward County's adult game rooms has been charged with running an illegal gambling operation in a case that could turn into a courtroom showdown over the growing industry.
Gale Fontaine, president of the Florida Arcade Association, quietly turned herself in to the Broward County Jail last week, two months after Broward sheriff's deputies raided one of her Pompano Beach adult arcades. The great-grandmother faces felony counts of keeping a gambling house and lottery law violation and a misdemeanor charge of possession of a slot machine.
Adult arcades have exploded in popularity in the past few years, largely catering to retirees who play the slot-like machines to win in-house prizes and gift certificates. As many as 100 such game rooms dot strip malls in Broward, Palm Beach and Miami-Dade counties.
The legality of the arcades has come under attack across the state with some municipalities banning them, calling them illegal games of chance. The arcades argue the machines are protected under the state's "Chuck E. Cheese" law. The law allows people to play games with an "application of skill" to get credits redeemable for non-cash prizes.
Fontaine, 56, vowed Friday to fight the criminal charges, saying she's been singled out by law enforcement because of her standing in South Florida's adult arcade community. Broward sheriff's deputies seized 60 machines from the Tropicana Rec Room on Oct. 19, but authorities haven't shut down at least four other similar arcades within a few miles, she said.
Fontaine said she has been running the Tropicana Rec Room identically to two other adult arcades she has owned in Pompano Beach for more than a year.
"To have to turn yourself into the jail, I can't tell you how disgusting it was. How humiliating it was," said Fontaine, who is free on a $1,350 bond.
Fontaine blames Broward County's pari-mutuels for her arrest, saying she believes they have been applying increased pressure on the Sheriff's Office to shut down the arcades. The state's pari-mutuels have argued that the game rooms are illegal gambling operations and the machines are nothing more than unregulated slots taxed the same as children's video arcade games.
Officials at Broward County's pari-mutuels said Friday they haven't been preoccupied with the arcades, their attention focused on Hurricane Wilma damage and crafting slots legislation. They said though they welcomed the news of Fontaine's arrest.
"I'm thrilled. I personally hope that this is just the tip of the iceberg," said Dan Adkins, vice president of Hollywood Greyhound Track.
Broward Sheriff's Office spokesman Jim Leljedal said the agency would not respond to Fontaine's allegations. The case's prosecutor, Gregg Rossman, said the charges against Fontaine are in no way the result of political pressure on the Broward State Attorney's Office.
"Anybody who has been around here any period of time knows that this office is not and cannot be influenced by outside interests," he said. "Our decisions are based on the law and the law alone."
Fontaine set up the Tropicana Rec Room in July inside the same strip mall storefront that formerly housed the Tropicana Arcade, which was raided in December 2004 by sheriff's deputies. Deputies seized 70 arcade machines from the Tropicana Arcade after a national gaming expert deemed them games of chance. Tropicana Arcade owner Michael Mills is awaiting trial on charges of keeping a gambling house and possessing an illegal slot machine.
No criminal cases involving adult arcades have ever gone to trial in Broward County. Seven people arrested in two other arcade raids in 2004 pleaded no contest to possessing an illegal slot machine, agreeing to six months' probation.
Robert Jarvis, a Nova Southeastern University law professor who co-authored a book on gambling law, said adult arcade owners almost always take plea deals because they don't want to risk jail time.
The arcades have developed fervent followings in South Florida retirement communities. Broward County's Aging and Disability Resource Center will honor Fontaine next month with the group's Community Commitment Award.
"When you take a pillar of the community like Gale Fontaine and decide to descend on her, there's got to be other factors involved," said the center's executive director, Edith Lederberg. "It seems strange that's the place they went into when she's had arcades operational for years."
Fontaine said she's ready to fight to stay in business. "
What type of lesson would I be teaching to my grandchildren if I don't?" she said.
Jon Burstein can be reached at jburstein@sun-sentinel.com or 954-356-4491.
