18 people nabbed in statewide gambling scheme, Seminole County sheriff says
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Eighteen people allegedly involved in an illegal countywide casino operation were arrested Wednesday following a months-long investigation into a scheme involving gamblers who were mostly people “living on a fixed income,” Seminole County Sheriff Dennis Lemma told reporters.
The charges include racketeering and running an illegal lottery, both felonies, along with keeping a house of gaming and possessing and delivery of gaming machines.
All 18 suspects will be charged in connection to establishing and running eight game centers throughout the county. They are: Saba Alam, Neal Anand, Adelaida Asia, Brandon Caldwell, Mitchell Engstrom, Justin Melick, Aneka Metrell Mitchell, Miguel Angel Vega-Ruiz, Vernon Santiago-Viera, Melisa Elizabeth Spady, Jordan Tanner, Bansil Patel, Kamleshkumar Rasikbhai Patel, Maulik Patel, Priyank J. Patel and Ternika Lasaber Phillips.
Melick is slated to be arrested later in the day as part of the investigation by the City-County Investigative Bureau, Lemma said at the press conference. The other 17 suspects are in the John Polk Correctional Facility without bond.
Photos released by the Seminole County Sheriff’s Office show many of the establishments were located in strip plazas where they “had either no markings at all or a misrepresentation of what the business was,” Lemma said, including a pawn shop and a marketing business. Inside were video games, computers and other equipment that turned the rooms inside the businesses into small casinos.
Patrons, who Lemma added were “disproportionately” seniors, had to be known by operators beforehand through personal connections.
“Once they were recognizable by the operator, they would then be granted access in and the door would be locked behind them,” which would reopen when people wanted to leave, Lemma said.
Investigators were made aware of the illegal operations by tipsters who were customers there, some of whom complained that they were deprived of their winnings. None of the customers will be charged, said Lemma, referring to them as victims.
“We have absolutely no desire to prosecute people who were in there as customers just putting your money in the machine. We want to help you,” he said.
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Tens of thousands of dollars were found so far in hundreds of game machines seized by investigators from gambling centers in Altamonte Springs, Sanford, Longwood, Casselberry and the Apopka area. Many of the suspects are not from the area, Lemma said.
“Here in Seminole County, we’re not going to pass this buck onto somebody else by simply seizing the equipment and allowing them to open shop somewhere else,” said Lemma, adding that about half of the people nabbed in the sting have been arrested on similar charges in the past “but were never prosecuted.”
