Lexington County gambling ring made over $60,000 per week before it was shut down

A Lexington County gambling ring featuring slot machines and video poker type devices earned from $60,000 to $100,000 per week before it was shut down, according a federal indictment in the case.

On Tuesday, Melanie Taylor, 50, the alleged ring’s bookkeeper, pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to engage in an illegal gambling business before U.S. Judge Sherri Lydon.

Lydon said she would sentence Taylor on May 22. She could be sentenced to up to five years in prison. Taylor’s attorney, John Warren, declined comment.

Taylor was one of five Lexington County residents in the alleged gambling scheme quietly indicted by a federal grand jury last summer. Until now the federal case has received little or no publicity.

The alleged conspiracy operated slot machines and other illegal gambling machines at 5042 Platt Springs Road and 1320 South Lake Drive in Lexington County, according to the indictment.

Two shifts of workers were needed to staff the gambling operation, which stayed open daily from 11 a.m. to 2 a.m., the indictment said.

A Lexington County businessman, Fred McCary, owned the land where the gambling operations took place, the indictment said.

McCary is charged with conspiracy to engage in an illegal gambling business and prohibition of an illegal gambling business.

Victor Li, the attorney for McCary, said the federal government is targeting McCary because he owns valuable tracts of land the government wants to seize and sell for the money.

“They are only targeting Fred because they think they can get money from him,” Li said.

Moreover, it’s just plain unfair to target a South Carolina businessman with illegal gambling charges when there are many opportunities to gamble in other easily accessible places, Li said. Those opportunities include taking a casino cruise from Little River, booking flights to casinos from Columbia or going to Native American casinos across the border in North Carolina, Li said.

Various businesses that McCary operates are 1 Auto House LLC, the Comedy House, and Next Level Grading, the indictment said.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office, which is prosecuting the case, declined comment.

Illegal gambling machines on McCary’s property included more than 25 “Pot O Gold” slot machines and video gaming machines that were capable of playing Shamrock Ts, Joker Poker, Keno, Deuces Wild, and Jacks or Better, the indictment said.

“McCary attracted customers informally by word of mouth to gamble at his illegal gambling business” and installed video cameras to identify people who came to the door of the building where the machines were, the indictment said.

“McCary allowed only those people who they knew and trusted to enter the business to play the slot machines and the illegal gambling machines,” the indictment said.

His illegal operation “made an average of $60,000 to $100,000 per week operating the illegal gambling business,” the indictment said.

Three others charged with conspiracy to engage in an illegal gambling business and prohibition of an illegal gambling business are James “Jimmy” Helms, Dana Riley and Debbie Hamm.

Riley’s lawyer, Neal Truslow, had no comment. Riley pled guilty last month to one count of conspiracy to engage in an illegal gambling business, according to federal court records.

Jake Moore, attorney for Helms, said, “What the heck is a gambling case located entirely in South Carolina doing in federal court? I don’t understand how video poker machines rise to the level of a federal crime.”

Mark McLawhorn, a lawyer for Hamm, had no immediate comment.

The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division made the original arrests in this case; federal authorities brought charges later.

The federal prosecutor on this case is Lothrop Morris.