Guilty Lexington County video poker kingpin must pay $1 million to federal government

Lexington County video poker kingpin Federick “Fred” McCary agreed to forfeit $1 million Monday in federal court for the felony crime of conspiracy to engage in an illegal gambling business.

McCary, 68, a well-known Lexington County businessman,will also serve a six-month sentence in a federal prison, U.S. Judge Sherri Lydon ordered in a hearing at the Columbia federal courthouse.

The $1 million McCary agreed to forfeit will go to the Secret Service, which is expected to turn it over to the State Law Enforcement Division, which conducted an undercover investigation that led to the federal charges.

“McCary was the leader of a relatively large-scale gambling organization in Lexington,” according to a federal prosecutor’s filing in the case objecting to a request for a non-prison sentence for McCary.

The video poker operation could make up to $100,000 per week, according to an indictment in the case. It was so busy it stayed open from 11 a.m. to 2 a.m.daily and necessitated McCary to hire two shifts of workers to oversee the business, the indictment said.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Lothrop Morris said in the filing that McCary’s illegal gambling business “involved large amounts of money and at least five employees. He operated his illegal scheme directly from his home and other buildings on his property.”

McCary also had been arrested on state illegal gambling charges before, Morris said in his filing. In 1993, he was arrested for bookmaking. In 2008, McCary was arrested for gambling at a gaming house, the filing said.

“Gambling is not a victimless crime. The danger of gambling to the community is well known. Legal gambling is regulated, has age restrictions, addiction support and other services. Illegal gambling has none of these protections,” the filing said.

“When large amounts of money are involved, it increases the dangerousness of this activity. This type of crime has a corrosive effect on the community in general and may cause significant harm to low-income gamblers,” the filing said.

A busy businessman

Over the years, McCary operated other businesses, including a pawn shop and a car dealership.

But “a careful review of his bank records indicates that much of his income came from his illegal gambling business. Defendant McCary simply chose not to apply his skills exclusively to legitimate businesses but instead embarked on the path to easy money earned from his illegal gambling business,” the prosecutor’s filing said.

In arguing for a non-prison sentence, McCary’s two defense lawyers, Jim Griffin and Victor Li, said their client’s gambling business was not so nefarious as some would make it.

The gambling that McCary sponsored was a consensual agreement among adults and there was no evidence linking it to “organized crime, drug trafficking, money laundering or other ... offenses that often accompany illegal gambling,” the defense motion said.

“This was essentially a local business operation, not a sophisticated criminal enterprise. Mr. McCary ... owned properties where gambling occurred and employed individuals to operate the locations,” the defense motion said.

A tip led to investigation

The investigation into McCary’s operation began in 2023 when the Lexington County sheriff’s office got a tip about people losing money at the building where the gambling was taking place. The tipster said there were gambling machines, fighting and guns at the building. When a deputy tried to investigate, no one would let him in the building, according to evidence in the case.

The investigation was turned over to SLED, which inititated surveillance and inserted a confidential informant who entered the gaming house and played the illegal gambling machines “once in April 2023 and once in June 2023,” a prosecutor’s filing said.

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, an indictment in his case 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.

Prosecutors wanted McCary to get a minimum of 12 months. The maximum sentence for his offense was five years in prison.

This story was originally published October 7, 2025 at 8:33 AM.