Convenience Store Raid Ends In Three Gambling Related Arrests

The state of Georgia has different laws than most states in the country. While gambling machines are illegal in most places in the country, Georgia allows the machines with the stipulation that they can not pay out cash.

This leaves store owners to award merchandise for winners on the machines. It has worked out well for some, but others have tested the law and paid their customers in cash.

In Perry, three people will now learn the hard way that gambling machines that pay out cash is against the law. The three people were arrested when two convenience stores were raided on Wednesday.

Nine gambling machines were confiscated from the two locations and $12,532 in cash was also seized. Chandubhai Patel and his wife were charged with felony commercial gambling and Patel was also charged with a misdemeanor keeping a gambling place in the raid of BP Food Mart.

Rameshchandra Patel was charged with the misdemeanor keeping a gambling place and felony commercial gambling in the raid of the Marathon on Marshallville Road. Patel also was cited for not having a legal gaming license.

"The only real problem we see with them is people are playing the machines and spending their whole pay checks and getting in a financial bind in their bills and not being able to provide for their kids," said Perry police captain Heath Dykes.

August 22, 2008
Posted By Larry Rutherford
Staff Editor, CasinoGamblingWeb.com
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