Roanoke, Virginia Internet Gambling Raids Net No Arrests

Internet gambling cafes are popping up all across the country. They are the new fad in illegal video slot gaming, replacing the entertainment centers that offered slot machine gambling with non-monetary prizes for winners.

These Internet cafes, however, are proving to be no more legal than the entertainment facilities were. Authorities all across the country have been raiding the Internet cafes. The latest raids came in Roanoke, Virginia.

The Internet Sweepstakes Connection and the Williamson Road Internet Cafe were raided by Roanoke police on Thursday. Equipment was seized at both locations, but nobody was arrested and held accountable for operating the cafes.

"More taxpayer money going to operations in which gambling establishments are raided, and no arrests are made," said observer Harvey Grately, "isn't there something better they can do with our tax money?"

The people who run the Internet cafes believe they are doing nothing illegal. Ronnie Bennett, the owner of Williamson Road Internet Cafe explained that all he was doing was selling Internet time. As an add on promotion to buying the Internet time, a customer was awarded ean entry into a bonus sweepstakes.

The two raids on Thursday are now added to three earlier raids in Danville. There has been no outcome yet to those cases, and Bennett had a feeling that eventually the law would come calling.

"We knew we'd have to deal with this sooner or later," said Bennett.

June 13, 2009
Posted By Terry Goodwin
Staff Editor, CasinoGamblingWeb.com
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