ROCKINGHAM — A Richmond County man is accused of running an illegal gambling operation.
Sheriff’s deputies arrested 74-year-old Peter Thomas MacMillan of Sanford Street on Jan. 12, following an undercover investigation.
Investigators say they found four video poker machines.
“We got complaints from the community and our officers investigated and made an arrest,” Sheriff James E. Clemmons Jr. said Tuesday.
MacMillan was charged with one misdemeanor count each of operating or possessing slot machines and allowing gaming tables on his premises and released on a $5,000 unsecured bond.
Clemmons said MacMillan was “very cooperative.”
He is scheduled to appear in court on those charges today.
Records show MacMillan has no other pending charges or past criminal convictions in North Carolina.
All defendants facing criminal charges are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty in court.
Last spring, a murder trial was temporarily delayed after a potential juror was involved in a similar gambling investigation.
According to a North Carolina general statute, “any person or organization that operates any game of chance or any person who plays at or bets on any game of chance at which any money, property or other thing of value is bet, whether the same be in stake or not, shall be guilty of a Class 2 misdemeanor.”
Law enforcement agencies are authorized to seize any game terminal or any electronic machine or device using an entertaining display in violation of statute and retain the machines pending a disposition order from a district or superior court judge.
“If the court determines that the item is unlawful to possess, it shall enter an order releasing the item to the law enforcement agency for destruction or for training purposes,” the statute reads.”If the court determines that the item is not unlawful to possess and will not be used in violation of the law, the item shall be ordered released to its owner upon satisfactory proof of ownership.”
Gambling is only allowed in North Carolina through the state’s N.C. Education Lottery or gaming “conducted on Indian lands that are held in trust by the United States government for and on behalf of federally recognized Indian tribes,” according to statute. The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians is the only federally recognized tribe in the state.
Other games of chance — raffles and bingo — are heavily regulated by statute.
Reach reporter William R. Toler at 910-817-2675 and follow him on Twitter @William_r_toler.