Almost 40 illegal gambling machines were seized across four Missouri counties Monday, Attorney General Catherine Hanaway said at a press conference Tuesday afternoon.
The seizures were announced in a joint availability with Columbia Police Chief Jill Schlude, Missouri State Highway Patrol and other police officials.
This crackdown comes one month after gambling device provider Torch Electronics agreed to shut down its operations in Missouri, and two months after a federal judge ruled that Missouri’s machines were illegal.
According to Hanaway, more than 20 criminal counts, most of which are felonies, have been filed against five store operators. Nearly $60,000 in what Hanaway says is illegal revenue was seized as part of the sting.
Business owners who illegally host the machines could be charged with up to a four-year sentence and up to a $10,000 fine.
“When they’re not heeding the warnings that these machines are illegal, and pull them out of their stores, there’s got to be consequences for that conduct,” Hanaway said.
Hanaway added that the threat is only to those “promoting gambling”, not uninvolved employees at locations where the machines are held.
Machine gambling has faced resistance at the state legislature as well. A house bill that would have legalized video gambling machines was rejected unanimously by the senate last week.
Still, there are worries that unregulated machines enable other crimes.
“Where legal gambling flourishes, other criminal activity often follows,” Schlude said. “The Missouri legislature has now made its position clear.”
These crackdowns and Torch’s cooperation with the Attorney General’s office is ongoing.
