GRAY AREAS
LEAD TO ARRESTS IN NY
An investigation of " gray area"
card games by the district attorney' s
offi ce of Westchester County, New
York , culminated in the arrest of
one distributor, four operators, and
numerous bar owners and barten-
ders in Westchester County. Search
warrants also were served on two
companies out of the county .
The New York Police Depart-
ment and the FBI began the investi-
gation in October 1983 after hearing
complaints from individuals about
spouses and children playing the
poker machines . "We started
receiving quite a few complaints
about the poker machines, and
parents were even complaining that
their kids were winning too much
money," said Arthur Semetis, assis-
tant di strict attorney with the
racket s bureau of Westchester
County .
The arrests included distributor-
ship Albert Simon Inc. and manager
Albert D'lnzillo, operators Yonkers
Amusement Co. and owner Frank
Galle and employees Vincent Galle
and Edward Murray, Westchester
Novelty & Music Co. , Archie's
Amusement Company Inc. with
father and son Edward and David
Goldbergh , and County Amuse-
ment Co. and owner Howard
Herman who is also part owner of
one of the bars where games were
confiscated . Herman is also the
president of the Music & Amuse-
ment Association , Inc. of New York .
Albert D'lnzillo of Albert Simon
could not be reached for comment.
Howard Herman was also unavail-
able for comment.
8
Frank Galle of Yonkers Amuse-
ment, not wanting to disclose much
due to the circumstances, did say
that he met with the state liquor
authority which assured him the
games are legal. "I had always stayed
away from the gray area games, but
opportunists were infiltrating my
locations with the machines. When I
had the assurance from the liquor
authority that they were legal about
a year ago, that's when I started
operating them. The games were
even licensed by the Department of
Consumer Affairs!"
Galle also stressed that the dis-
trict attorney's office only went after
the legitimate operators and the
situation will get worse as oppor-
tunists continue to operate the
games. "I can't understand how
these games can be licensed by
municipalities and then be illegal, "
he said.
In the course of the investigation,
undercover agents either received
or observed payouts on the ma-
chines. A payout must be involved
for an arrrest to be made, said
Semetis.
The district attorney's office also
executed search warrants at Enter-
tainment Enterprises and Peters
Distributors in neighboring Nassau
County. According to Semetis ,
investigators are able to use search
warrants in other counties if there is
suspicion that happenings there are
affecting their county. In this case,
Semetis said they have reason to
believe these companies were
sending the illegal machines into
Westchester County. Tile evidence
was given to officials in Nassau
County for a follow-up investiga -
tion.
Jed Forman of Entertainment
Enterprises confirmed that law
enforcement officials came to his
offices with a search warrant in con-
nection with the investigation but
denied any wrongdoing.
" I'm not doing anything illegal
and they didn ' t find anything illegal.
I'm sure if there had been anything
illegal here they would have taken it
but they didn't find any illegal gam-
bling machines," Forman said.
All gambling is not illegal in New
York. If the state sponsors gambling,
it is not illegal nor any gambling
where two or more players have
equal stakes, such as a game of
poker. However, if one persorn
profits from that card game, n9
matter what the outcome, then it
becomes illegal.
I
"In New York , there are certaj
prerequisites for illegal gambling
when someone profits by players
risking something of value on a
contest of chance with the expecta-
tions of receiving something of
value upon certain outcome , "
Semetis said. "However, if there is
skill involved (such as on pinball) it is
not illegal gambling."
I
The situation in New York is
dubious. The operators who were
arrested feel that the state cracked
down only on legitimate operators
who have been in business for many
years. Even Semetis of the district
attorney's office admitted that it will
be extremely difficult to police the
problem .
•
PU\ Y METER. November 1. 1984