Published: February 29, 2008 09:53 pm      

6 indicted for illegal gambling

Six people from four Kentucky cities were indicted Thursday by a Madison County grand jury on illegal gambling charges.

William H. Miller, 61, Charles J. Barnard, 56, and Solomon Worth McGuire III, 35, all of Richmond, Jerry W. Garland, 59, of Barbourville, Carolyn Sue Eland, 44, of Mt. Vernon, and Mark Hudack, 37, of Winchester, all were indicted.

The charges were the result of a nearly three-month Kentucky State Police investigation which led to the recovery of more than 40 illegal gambling machines in October.

All six allegedly were involved in illegal gambling in Madison County.

Except for Eland, everyone is charged with second-degree promoting gambling, a Class A misdemeanor, punishable by up to 12 months in jail and/or a $500 fine. According to the indictments, Miller, Barnard, McGuire, Garland and Hudack “knowingly advanced or profited from unlawful gambling activity.”

Eland is charged with the lesser offense of permitting gambling, a Class B misdemeanor. “... She was in control of premises being used to advance gambling activity and failed to halt or abate or attempt to halt of abate such use,” Eland's indictment states.

If convicted, she could serve up to six months in jail and/or pay a $250 fine.

The investigation began last August when KSP Officer Greg Crockett said the agency was receiving a multitude of complaints about the machines from community members. KSP Detective Dusty Hon confirmed Thursday the indictments stemmed from that investigation.

“One person who legitimately called me was a female who said her husband was spending his paycheck at one of these locations and failing to bring a paycheck home because he wanted to gamble,” Crockett said previously. “That’s one of the things that kind of spit-balled this into a big investigation.”

Seven locations were targeted from Clay’s Ferry to Berea, including the Little Sac Grocery, Hudacks Outpost, Clays Ferry Travel Plaza, Exit 76 Truck Stop, Midway Market, Canon’s Corner and Moberly Shell. In total, officers recovered 44 machines and $12,829, said KSP Detective Greg Crockett. The machines mostly were operated video poker games.

“We received complaints of these machines where businesses have been paying out money on them,” said KSP Trooper Michael Stotts in October.

None of the businesses had licenses to operate the machines or authority to pay players winnings, Stotts said. According to a state law passed in the mid-1970s, it is illegal for a person to set up and operate a gambling device. The statute also states that it is illegal to engage in bookmaking, including employing three or more people to keep books on gambling activities that exceed more than $500 per day, or to receive “money or written records from a person other than a player whose chances or plays are represented by such money or records.”

Because the offenses are misdemeanors, the cases now will be returned to Madison District Court for adjudication. An indictment is a formal accusation of a crime and does not establish guilt.

Kelly Foreman can be reached at kforeman@richmondregister.com or 624-6694.