Richland cops: man says no gambling is going on. Minutes later deputies find video poker
Richland County Sheriff’s Department deputies busted up what they said was an illegal gambling house.
Wednesday, deputies got a tip about a house that allegedly hosted gambling on the 100 block of Valley Down Road in Gadsden in the southern part of Richland County. Deputies spoke with a person at the home who said no gambling was going on in the house, the sheriff’s department said.
When deputies returned about 15 minutes later to investigate more, four men were loading nine tabletop electronic gambling machines, also known as video poker, into a pickup truck, according to a department spokesperson.
The sheriff’s department identified the men as 68-year-old Jerry Myres, 45-year-old Carlos Lagrie Garrick, 52-year-old Jimmy Palmore and 81-year-old Willie Taylor.
Deputies arrested the four men and charged them with “unlawful games and betting.”
They are being booked at Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center where they’ll have bond hearings.
The investigation into the gambling house is ongoing and additional charges could be coming, the department said.
Participants of the crime known in the South Carolina constitution as “unlawful games and betting” can go to prison for up to 30 days or be fined $100. For the person who owns the gambling house the punishment can be a year imprisonment and a $1000 fine.
In South Carolina gambling and betting is completely illegal aside from the state run lottery. “Mechanical or electronic devices or machines of any kind” in homes are outlawed by the state’s constitution. The law says any gambling machines confiscated by police must be destroyed.
Games of cards and other games of chance that are played at a personal home are illegal if money is wagered.
While a year in prison is the maximum penalty for owning a gambling house, if authorities prove a person opened their home for gaming “on the Sabbath” an extra penalty of $50 can be added as punishment.