After receiving complaints about illegal gambling, the Florida Gaming Control Commission is cracking down. On Thursday, officers from the commission and the Leon County Sheriff's Office visited six Leon County sites to issue letters of warning to close down or face the consequences.
The MVM Arcade is a series of rooms with the windows blacked out, full of glowing video gaming machines. Carl Herold is the director of law enforcement at the state Gaming Control Commission. He says they’ve been watching the place, and about five weeks ago saw a truckload of new machines delivered. He thinks the proprietor has run out the back.
“Yeah, I think so," he said. "Because something unusual was happening outside of his door. All of us…news cameras, two uniformed deputies. He skedaddled.”
Illegal gambling is a criminal offense in Florida, and such operations may expose consumers to other criminal activity. Herold says most businesses shut down when warned. If they don’t, the next step is enforcement.
Herold says the public doesn’t realize these places are illegal.
“Most of these places are set up to take your money, and they’re not really interested in, if you win, giving you your money," he said. "And we get complaints from people saying that they’ve gone in different areas of the state, and they’ve won money and the business owners refused to pay them.”
