3 sentenced for ties to Flint Township illegal gambling facility

LANSING, MI – Three people were sentenced earlier this month to jail time served, probation and community service for their roles in an illegal gambling facility shutdown following a state investigation.

Anthony Sutton, of Wilmington, North Carolina, Kara Schilling, of Flint, and Marjorie Brown, of Flint, were each sentenced to a day in jail with credit for time served and will be subject to random drug testing during their probationary periods.

“The Michigan Gaming Control Board appreciates the support from the Attorney General’s office and police agencies across Michigan in helping to eliminate illegal gambling locations, which target low-income neighborhoods, lack player protections and can lead to other more serious crimes,” said Henry Williams, MGCB executive director. “These types of illegal gambling locations also deprive K-12 schools of tax funding, which the state charges on legal, regulated gambling.”

All three defendants were sentenced in Ingham County Circuit Court Wednesday, June 1, by visiting Judge Geoffrey L. Neithercut.

All three were originally charged for their roles in operating Spin City, the former illegal gambling operation at G-3490 Miller Road in Flint Township.

The Michigan Department of Attorney General filed charges in mid-2019 after Michigan Gaming Control Board investigators pursued a report from Flint Township police about suspected illegal gambling at Spin City.

Sutton, 53, pleaded guilty to a gambling operations felony charge and was sentenced to a year of probation, 100 hours of community service and $1,058 in fees and costs.

Sutton also forfeited nearly $12,500 in cash to the Flint Township Police Department and 67 computers and games confiscated by the State of Michigan when a search warrant was served on Feb. 27, 2019, and the operation was closed.

Schilling, 38, pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor of maintaining a gambling house for gain and was sentenced to a year of probation, 50 hours of community service and $1,058 in fees and costs.

Brown, 53, pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor of attempting to maintain a gambling house for gain and was sentenced to six months of probation, 100 hours of community service and $985 in fees and costs.

Flint Township police contacted the MGCB in June 2018 about reports of illegal gambling at Spin City. Following an investigation that began in July 2018, a cease-and-desist letter was sent in January 2019 giving Spin City two weeks to cease operating.

A search warrant was served at Spin City in late February 2019, and investigators seized 67 computers and slot-style gaming machines, $12,679 in cash and other miscellaneous items related to the operation.

The trio are not the only ones who have been charged in connection with suspected illegal gambling activity at Spin City.

David Hoppe, of St. Clair County, was sentenced in Genesee County Circuit Court to one-year probation and more than $1,000 in fines, costs, and fees after pleading guilty to conducting illegal gambling activities and using a computer to commit a felony at Spin City.

He had been accused of supplying illegal gambling games to Spin City between May 2017 and February 2019.