“Following an in-depth surveillance operation, search warrants were executed on five locations within Clark County and Springfield on Oct. 20 and 21, resulting in the confiscation of over 100 slot and gaming machines, plus online game computers, financial records and significant amounts of cash, detailing a substantial period and quantity of illegal activity,” the release stated.
The investigation identified a number of people as operators of single gambling houses, and investigators identified the distributer of the gaming machines and several of the owners of the gambling houses. The distributor and some of the owners lived outside of Ohio, according to the sheriff’s office.
Two of the gambling houses in Springfield raided Wednesday were Roc-In Skilled Games, 1214 N. Bechtle Ave., and Lucky Duck Skills Games, 1942 Mitchell Blvd., according to an affidavit filed in the case.
Detectives found owners Suresh Patel, 47, of Taylor, Michigan, and Yashvantkumar Patel, 47, of Lowndesboro, Alabama, and gaming distributors Kristopher Deitz, 33, of Stathan, Georgia, and Scott Gregory, 36, of Brunswick, Georgia, with management. All four had keys to gaming consoles and large sums of money, records stated.
The men were arrested and charged with money laundering and enforcement of chapter. Bond was set at $20,000 each during their Thursday arraignment in Clark County Municipal Court. Suresh Patel and Yashvantkumar Patel remain in the Clark County Jail, as of Thursday night.
Staff Writer Brooke Spurlock contributed to this report.
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