Video game sting nets two Kentucky men
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By MARK GUNDERMAN mark.gunderman@lee.net
Monday, February 11, 2008 11:44 AM CST
Two Kentucky men who allegedly cheated at a video poker machine at a local tavern have in effect been run out of town.
Christopher S. Horn, 37, and Charles A. Gibson, 50, have been officially charged with one felony and one misdemeanor count each, though they are unlikely to have to answer the charges as long as they get out of Wisconsin and stay out.
The case involves a city detective and even Chief of Police Wayne Nehring going undercover at the bar at the Avalon Hotel and Conference Center on Jan. 11.
The manager at Avalon was advised that the men had requested winnings from a video poker machine that were greater by far than the money that was actually put into the machine.
The manager had also heard from the manager of another establishment in the state that two Kentucky men were going around scamming video poker machines.
The Avalon management called the police.
Det. Sgt. David Johnson, the Chippewa Falls Police Department’s white collar crime specialist, and Nehring responded in plain clothes. Johnson played the part of the bar manager and Nehring played a customer.
Johnson approached Horn and asked if he was the one who had such a good night on the video poker machine. Horn said he was and Johnson handed him an envelope containing $290.
Horn started to leave, but was stopped by Nehring, who arrested him for placing an illegal bet.
But, wait a minute, isn’t it illegal for bars to be paying winnings on those video poker machines?
Indeed it is, and Horn pointed that out to Nehring, saying the bar should be cited as well.
Nehring informed him that Wisconsin statutes specified that state Department of Revenue has jurisdiction of video gaming operations.
Horn’s alleged partner, Gibson, was located in the hotel and the two were found to be in possession of a roll of double-sided tape, laminate paper, scissors, a roll of 4-pound fishing line, and a cut $20 bill — all allegedly items used to make a “pull bill” to cheat the machines.
That led Chippewa County District Attorney Jon Theisen to file charges against Horn and Gibson this past week of possession of burglarious tools and misdemeanor attempted theft. The pair were arrested, booked and released back on Jan. 11.
The charges were filed with warrants for the arrest of the men, but the warrants are non-extraditable. That means Chippewa County is not interested in having the men transported back here if they are caught in some other state.
In other words, if they stay out of Wisconsin, the cases will not be pursued. Theisen said that’s the idea.
“They have been officially notified that we don’t want them back,” Theisen said. “And their photographs have been posted throughout the Tavern League.”
So will Avalon be cited for allegedly paying off on its poker machines? Well, that will be up to the Department of Revenue, but the police made the payoff as part of a sting operation. If there were any other payments made, the witnesses are apparently long gone.
Contact Mark Gunderman at mark.gunderman@lee.net.
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