3 arraigned in gambling case

STAFF REPORT

WARREN — Three people have been charged with operating a gambling house.

James Kay and Donald Fleck of Girard and Colin K. McCartney of Youngstown — who ran Treasure Island on North Road Southeast — were arraigned Thursday morning in Warren Municipal Court on misdemeanor charges of operating a gambling house.

The business operated in the North Road Center, just south of Youngstown Road, before police seized its 32 Tic Tac Fruit video gambling machines Feb. 6.

Kay, 38, of East Kline Street; Fleck, 48, of East Broadway Street; and McCartney, 66, of South Wendover Circle, pleaded innocent and were released on bond. The three are to return to court at 10:15 a.m. Jan. 16.

Kay faces three counts of operating a gambling house and four of possessing criminal tools. Fleck faces three counts of operating a gambling house and one count of possessing criminal tools. McCartney faces three counts of operating a gambling house and three counts of possessing criminal tools.

The tools were the Tic Tac Fruit gambling machines, said Jeff Hoolihan, a detective with the Warren Police Department. Police raided the business after several undercover visits there by police, Hoolihan said.

An additional 20 similar machines were seized from Wild Cherry Gaming on Youngstown Road near Willard Avenue in January.

Three people connected with that operation eventually pleaded no contest or guilty to reduced charges in Warren Municipal Court. They were ordered to pay a fine of $100 to $150 each and court costs of $80 each.

Hoolihan said he and prosecutors will seek forfeiture of the cash and gaming machines from Treasure Island. The machines from Wild Cherry were eventually forfeited to the Warren Police Department, which can eventually sell or destroy them, Hoolihan said.

Hoolihan said an investigation determined that customers could earn points on the electronic machines and be paid off in gas cards.

The winning customers would be directed to an adjoining building and exchange the cards for cash, minus 10 percent. The cards were in various denominations.

For example, if a customer won $50, he would actually receive $45, the detective said.

Under Ohio law, Hoolihan said, no person can receive anything of value other than a prize of amusement valued at $10 or less.

Authorities said Treasurer Island kept 75 percent of the money gambled and paid customers 25 percent.

A spokeswoman for the Ohio Lottery says that 59 percent of money taken in by all state-operated games is returned to the players.