TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) — An employee at an Internet cafe is facing more than 50 charges related to illegal gambling after investigators received a complaint about the Tallahassee Midtown Arcade Amusement Center back in April.
According to a probable cause affidavit, the Leon County Sheriff's Office Narcotic Unit and Financial Crimes Unit received a complaint in April that the Tallahassee Midtown Arcade Amusement Center in the 1800 block of Northwood Center Blvd, described as an Internet cafe, was being used for 'illegal gambling activities.'
Dec 19, 2018 How gambling works at an internet cafe “Gambling” at internet cafes works like this: you buy online minutes or pre-paid phone cards. For every certain number of minutes you buy, you get a “free” entry to a sweepstakes. If you buy enough minutes, you can get dozens or even hundreds of free entries. The California blitz on illegal internet cafe sweepstake-style gambling continued Tuesday when police armed with search warrants simultaneously raided two internet cafes in this small city, charging three employees and seizing evidence that included 60 computers.
Deputies did undercover operations at the business twice, both times discovering evidence of illegal gambling. On May 23, investigators searched the business as well as five others in Tallahassee that had been identified as Internet cafes with illegal gambling.
During the search of the business, investigators say they found 51 slot machines.
Documents say that 45-year-old Tanisha Lovett-Austin was the employee running the business when investigators served the search warrant.
When they interviewed her, she stated that she had worked at the business since November 2018 and was responsible for opening the arcade for business. Lovett-Austin noted that she didn't make deposits or go to the bank on the arcade's behave and said she only placed excess money into a drop safe she didn't have access to at the end of her shift.
'She did not know who owns the business or who owns the building,' investigators wrote in the probable cause document. 'Lovett-Austin said that she only knew her supervisor as 'Debbie,'... Lovett-Austin said that she did not know Debbie's last name.' She also told investigators that employees were paid in cash but not in person.
When questioned about the gambling aspect, documents say Lovett-Austin confirmed that the games were designed for gambling. Based on the evidence, investigators charged Lovett-Austin with maintaining a gambling house and 51 counts of possession of slot machines.
Internet Cafe Sweepstakes
A warrant was issued for her arrest on Nov. 14. Lovett-Austin was taken into custody on Saturday. She is being held in jail on a $13,750 bond.
SAN FRANCISCO (KPIX 5) – They look suspiciously like illegal casinos: Computer cafes where you can take your chances on winning cash. Now, one lawmaker is cracking down, proposing a ban that could wipe them out for good.
Internet Cafe Gambling Florida
Critics call it illegal gambling, but the people running these businesses, which are cropping up all over the Bay Area and the state, claim they are really just internet cafes where customers can choose to play games and win cash.
“I am absolutely satisfied as an attorney that the software program and the business does not in any way violate any California gaming or gambling law, period,” attorney John Weston told KPIX 5 last November.
Internet Cafe Gambling In Ohio
Weston represents cafes in Oakland, Hayward and San Francisco, as well as the software company that makes the programs they use.
His clients’ winning streak may have run out though, because of a new bill proposed in the legislature this week.
Internet Cafe Gambling
“AB1439 goes after the heart of these illegal internet cafes,” said the bill’s sponsor, newly elected Assemblyman Rudy Salas. “ It says ‘if you’re operating a game that mimics anything like a casino slot machine, that’s illegal.’”
Salas says the cafes are attracting prostitutes and criminals wherever they go, and it’s time to stop them. Already a handful of Bay Area cities are going after the cafes: Hayward will ban the gaming software starting next week; San Francisco is suing a café in the Excelsior to try to shut it down; Oakland city officials will meet next week to talk about putting a moratorium on the cafes.
But Salas says he hopes his bill will be the last word statewide.
“This bill that I introduced is going to make that gray area very crystal clear, black and white,” he said.
Internet Cafe Gambling Calif
It could be months before the legislation is approved. Until then, local ordinances could certainly pose a threat to these cafes, but it will be up to each city to enforce them. In Ohio, a similar state law was passed. It shut down all of the cafes within a few months.