INDIANAPOLIS | An 11-month push to rid Indiana of illegal gambling devices has yielded a mere fraction of the many thousands of illicit poker and slot machines state lawmakers claimed were victimizing Hoosiers when they ordered the crackdown last year.
Republican leaders promised the effort to haul the insidious devices out of taverns, truck stops and other dark corners would more than offset the 4,000 new slot machines the General Assembly authorized for a pair of downstate horse tracks.
"Some seem to dismiss the importance of the measure that gives new people and new powers and a new prosecutorial process to remove the illegal and very exploitative machines, which number at least 12,000 in Indiana today," Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels said a day after lawmakers adjourned in April 2007. "Armed with these new tools, they will take out far more machines than are allowed in."
But nearly one year and $2.5 million later, Indiana's new illegal gambling czar says his team of 15 investigators has seized fewer than 800 machines, or less than half the number that went online last week when Hoosier Park in Anderson opened its state-sanctioned, track-side casino.
Legislators needed money last year to bankroll homeowner rebates intended to soften a looming property tax hike, and the two tracks agreed to pony up $500 million for their "racino" licenses. At the time, Senate President David Long described the accompanying assault on illegal gambling as an attempt to "draw a line in the sand" and eradicate "a scourge on our state."
The scope of the purported plague is up for debate as the crackdown approaches its first anniversary. Legislators guessed that as many as 20,000 to 30,000 illegal video poker consoles and "Cherry Master" electronic slots were picking Hoosiers pockets a year ago.
"I would be surprised if there had been 30,000 out there. I would say easily 10,000 plus," said Larry Rollins, who left the Indiana State Police last year to head the state's new gaming control division.
The task force, which is under the Indiana Gaming Commission, cost about $1.5 million to establish and has a $900,000 annual budget. It recorded its first bust in September, seizing 33 machines from a storage unit in Paoli, a small town northeast of Louisville.
The modest haul would prove typical of the dozens of raids to follow: eight machines at a Monticello gas station, 16 at a Muncie pool hall and five for sale at a Fort Wayne pawn shop. A January raid on a New Chicago home accounted for 15 of the 23 illegal machines the state has seized in all of Lake, Porter and LaPorte counties.
Investigators say the house, which yielded just $290 in seized cash, was set up as an illegal gambling parlor that also offered $1.50 beers and $2 shots. The bust brought three of the 17 felony charges the state task force has secured to date.
Richard L. Heck Sr., a 70-year-old Hobart man accused of owning the machines, faces up to six years in prison after drawing two counts of promoting professional gambling. One count of the same felony charge went to Carl E. Loman, 65, who lived at the New Chicago home and allegedly received payments from Heck. Neither is scheduled for trial yet.
In addition to 760 seized machines, Rollins said companies that distribute pool tables, jukeboxes and other amusement devices have told his team they voluntarily shipped another 2,000 illegal gambling machines out of Indiana. Long, a Fort Wayne Republican, suggests many more machines have been shifted out of sight to avoid prosecution.
"I have been told that a significant number of machines have quietly disappeared as a result of the passage of this new law," Long said in a statement. "That would include truck stops and other locations beyond taverns."
With Indiana Downs set to open its new track-side casino before the end of the month, it's doubtful lawmakers can deliver on -- or at least substantiate -- their pledge of a net reduction in gaming yet this election year. But Daniels insists the state has struck a blow against a sinister industry.
"These illegal machines are the most exploitative. Those who play them have no idea if they even have a chance to win," the governor said in a statement. "No one knows the exact number that were in the state, but it's clear thousands have come out. Our crackdown has been effective and important in reducing illegal gambling activities and will continue."
