AKRON AREA Appeals court grants new trial in bingo operation

The trial judge should have given the defendant a continuance, the court said.
CINCINNATI (AP) -- A man convicted of running an illegal instant bingo operation will get a new trial in a case where there have been allegations that some money was funneled to Middle East terrorists, an appeals court has ruled.
Philip F. George Jr., 45, of Akron, was convicted in Hamilton County Common Pleas Court in March 2003.
Prosecutors said George was the kingpin of a scheme in which instant bingo tickets were sold at dozens of bars, stores and clubs in Northeast Ohio and in Hamilton and Clermont counties in southwest Ohio.
The illegal sales grossed more than $50 million between 1998 and 2000 while George, numerous subordinates and scores of tavern operators shared in profits that should have gone to charities, prosecutors said.
The 1st Ohio District Court of Appeals reversed George's conviction Friday, saying Judge Robert Ruehlman wrongly denied George a continuance during his trial.
George had said he needed more time to prepare for trial because the state took materials he needed for his defense during a search of his home.
"The trial court therefore abused its discretion when it refused to grant George's motions for a continuance," appeals Judge Mark Painter wrote in the decision.
"This error was not harmless because George's allegations, if true, severely inhibited his ability to prepare a defense and possibly gave the state access to privileged materials."
Ruehlman declined to comment on the court's decision.
Variety of charges
George was found guilty of eight of 11 charges -- two counts of gambling, three counts of money laundering and one count each of operating a gambling house, conspiracy and engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity.
The appellate court also ruled Friday that the charge of operating a gambling house will not be part of the new trial because evidence to support it was vague.
George, who was sentenced to 25 years in prison, is free on $125,000 bail.
The Hamilton County prosecutor's office has not decided whether to appeal the decision to the Ohio Supreme Court.
Prosecutors said most of the money from tickets sold in the name of the United Saghbeen Society and other charities was stolen before it got to the charity.
During sentencing, an Ohio Department of Public Safety investigator testified that some money that reached the society, a Northeast Ohio charity that supports a Roman Catholic school in Lebanon, was diverted to Middle East terrorists.
Painter said George should have been given the opportunity to respond to those charges.
"It would be odd indeed if George, a third-generation American Catholic, would be involved with such groups," Painter said.