Eagle Stop owner hit with gambling charges after raid; charges also filed against Ashland bar owner
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
The owner of Eagle Stop convenience stores has been charged with promoting illegal gambling after a raid on a Columbia store.
Anthony Gier, of Eldon, was charged Tuesday by the Missouri Attorney General's Office with four felony counts of promoting illegal gambling. An office spokeswoman said the case is related to the seizure of video gambling machines from the Eagle Stop station on North Providence Road in Columbia.
The charges were brought in Boone County. A second case was also filed in Miller County.
Attorney General Catherine Hanaway held a news conference later Tuesday about the illegal gaming machine issue. Hanaway secured an agreement from Torch Electronics, which provides the machines to stores, last month for Torch to suspend operations in Missouri.
Hanaway said at the press conference that none of the machines seized belong to Torch Electronics.
Court documents filed in Boone County state that a state trooper went into the convenience store on April 14 as part of an undercover investigation.
The trooper said he played several rounds on one of the electronic gambling devices and then cashed out his earnings at a nearby kiosk. He added that the device operated as a "conventional straight slot style device."
Details about when the machines were removed were not included. Gier's first court appearance is set for June 26.
Ashland bar
Charges were also filed against an Ashland business owner. Keith Winscott, of Ashland, was charged on Tuesday with five felony counts of first-degree promoting gambling. A criminal summons was issued for Winscott on Tuesday and an initial court appearance is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. Friday, June 26.
The probable cause statement in his case says a trooper went to Woody’s Pub and Grub on Douglas Drive on April 17 and found five electronic gambling machines, he used a machine several times and then cashed out his winnings. A Tuesday press release from the AG’s office says six gambling devices were at the business and $8,072 in “illegal funds” were seized.
The funds seized from the Eagle Stop locations and Woody's Pub and Grub add up to about 2/3 of the total profits seized across the five businesses focused on in the sting operation. Nearly $60,000 came from 35 illegal gaming devices total, around $40,000 was collected from the Mid-Missouri establishments.
Hanaway said the funds collected Monday were only profits from the week prior and that the overall dollar amount reaches far beyond the millions.
"We believe it's $1 billion industry. It's unregulated, untaxed and it's a cash industry," Hanaway said.
Columbia Police Chief Jill Schlude also issued her own warning to Mid-Missourians after the sting operation in the city's backyard.
"They operate outside Missouri's regulated gaming system without oversight, without consumer protections and without accountability," Schlude said.
Schlude and Hanaway both said wherever the illegal machines are, other trouble tends to follow.
"A man playing one of these machines at a convenience store was followed to his vehicle and robbed at gunpoint after cashing out his winnings," Schlude said.
Hanaway spoke to some financial crimes that could also be tied to the machines.
"There's been reports of counterfeiting, winning tickets. There's been embezzlement by employees," Hanaway said.
Hanaway added more charges could be filed on the defendants a part of this round-up and on future individuals arrested in connection. Her advice to those still operating the illegal devices is to 'shut it down.'
"If you get it shut down, you're going to have many fewer problems," Hanaway said. "If the state and the federal government have to spend huge resources chasing you and getting you to shut down, the penalties are going to be much more harsh."
