Charges pending from Jones County gaming machine raids

Jones County deputies expect to arrest up to 10 people this week after officers served search warrants Monday in their investigation of alleged illegal gambling.

Maj. Earl Humphries said charges are pending against owners and clerks of at least four convenience stores alleged to be paying illegal cash winnings on video gaming machines.

The third raid in the last seven years followed calls from people upset about family members gambling their money away, Humphries said.

"We have gotten complaints from several folks calling up here in tears because they had a family member throwing their Social Security check away each month and were in bad shape," he said. "These folks were losing everything. Some of these stories are just heart-wrenching."

More than two dozens officers served search warrants early Monday at stores found to be illegally paying cash winnings during a four-month investigation.

The five-hour raids were conducted simultaneously at the following locations: K&A Grocery at 1359 Gray Highway in Haddock, Marathon at 180 W. Clinton St., Chevron Food Mart at 2810 Gray Highway, and Creekside Gas & Groceries at 3534 Gray Highway.

Although officers closed the stores during the investigation, they all opened back up for business, Humphries said.

Georgia law prohibits cash payouts. It allows stores to pay winners only in store credits that can be used for merchandise, gas or lottery tickets. Redemptions for alcohol and tobacco products are also prohibited.

The Georgia Lottery Corp., which tracks money going into the machines for tax purposes, is in the process of shutting down the machines and severing lottery privileges at the stores in question, Humphries said.

Investigators seized store records, tickets and receipts to determine how much of a percentage of their sales may have come from illegal gambling.

This week they are combing through those records as they pursue criminal charges.

Humphries was encouraged that the number of stores allegedly paying illegal cash winnings is down by more than 50 percent since their first investigation about seven years ago.

Officers also went undercover to other stores that appeared to be operating within the law, but a fifth store is still under investigation, he said.

Last year, players in Bibb, Crawford, Houston, Jones, Monroe, Peach and Twiggs counties pumped more than $129 million into the machines, according to tallies from the Georgia Lottery Corp.

To contact writer Liz Fabian, call 744-4303 and follower her on Twitter@liz_lines.

This story was originally published December 2, 2015 at 2:46 PM with the headline "Charges pending from Jones County gaming machine raids ."