YOUNGSTOWN Grand jury indicts man on charges over bingo

The state had not issued a license for the bingo game.
YOUNGSTOWN -- A 64-year-old Austintown man faces criminal charges of operating an illegal bingo game.
A Mahoning County grand jury handed up an indictment late this week against Donald Ficke of North Raccoon Road.
The fourth-degree felony carries a potential sentence of six to 18 months in prison and a fine of up to $5,000 if Ficke is convicted.
He also could be placed on probation.
Police reports said Youngstown police officers went to American Legion Post 472 on East Indianola Avenue around 9:45 p.m. March 29 to check out a complaint about gambling.
Agents from the Ohio Department of Public Safety and the Mahoning Valley Drug Task Force went along.
Once inside, officers found about 25 people seated at the bar, holding bingo markers in their hands and playing bingo.
Ficke was calling the bingo numbers, police reports say.
A bartender, 43-year-old Rita Evans of Salem-Warren Road, North Jackson, was allegedly collecting money.
Her case also was presented to the grand jury, but the panel declined to indict her.
When officers determined there was no license for the bingo game, it was shut down.
Assistant Prosecutor Patrick Pochiro said bingo games must be licensed through the Ohio Attorney General's Office and are strictly regulated.
"You can do it for amusement only," he said.