Local business owners face gambling charges
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Criminal charges involving illegal gambling and slot machines are moving forward against three Logansport residents in the Cass County Circuit Court after raids on two local businesses and an investigation by the Indiana Gaming Commission.
The Logansport Police Department and the Cass County Sheriff’s Office assisted Indiana Gaming Commission raids at J and F Services, located near the 300 block of Fifth Street, and Jean Tax Services, located near the 3300 block of East Market Street.
Police arrested Esther Saintil, Frantz Joseph and Jean Ricot Bozier on charges of corrupt business influence, a Level 5 felony; professional gambling and knowingly maintaining slot and/or pinball machines, a Level 6 felony; and maintaining a professional gambling site and knowingly accepting money for profit, a Level 6 felony.
Akime Forteus, 32, of Lawerence, was also arrested for unlawful gambling, a Class B misdemeanor.
The raids and arrests occurred after a lengthy investigation by the Indiana Gaming Commission. According to probable cause affidavits, an undercover Indiana Gaming Commission officer began an investigation after a Logansport Police Department detective saw an electronic gaming device and counterfeit items while inside Jean Tax Service near the end of March.
The officer visited Jean Tax Service, met Jean Ricot Bozier, the business’s owner, looked at a counterfeit Louis Vuitton purse, and played one of the two slot machines inside the building. Over the course of several months, he bought the counterfeit purse for $180 and continued visiting and surveilling the building.
Around May, the officer noticed that the two slot machines had been replaced with three different machines. The officer asked Bozier if he owned his own machines and said he had a friend who would like to install electronic gambling inside a bar.
Bozier allegedly told the officer that he got his machines from Florida and could help the officer get machines. He later told the officer that the machines cost between $5,000 and $7,000.
When the officer visited Jean Tax Services again in June, the slot machines were gone. Bozier allegedly told the officer that the machines were only making $1,000 to $1,500 every two weeks, and he only received 40% of that revenue. He added that the machines were moved and told the officer that they would “make more money at the new location.”
About a month later, the officer received information about another illegal gambling site at F and J Services from an employee at Rosie and Clive Beauty Salon. At the business, he played borlette, a game where people play sets of two-digit numbers. The winning numbers are determined by a specific lottery drawing in one of a handful of major U.S. cities.
The officer played eight numbers for $5 each that would be determined by the New York Lottery’s evening drawing. A woman inside the business, Esther Saintil, reportedly printed the officer a ticket with the information.
The officer continued to visit F and J Services, and eventually he met the owner, Frantz Joseph. He learned that Joseph and Saintil are siblings and also discovered five slot machines inside the business. The officer continued to visit the business and play borlette and the slot machines for the investigation.
The officer’s investigation culminated in raids on Jean Tax Services and F and J Services on Oct. 7. Bozier, Saintil and Joseph were arrested and are scheduled to face trial next year.
