As reported by Donita Naylor in the August 1, 2014 edition of the Providence Journal, a grand jury indicted nine (9) people for gambling related charges. Seven (7) of them are charged with gambling, bookmaking and conspiracy and two (2) are charged with gambling and conspiracy. Another man has already pled to the charges and has been sentenced.
Pursuant to Rhode Island General Laws 11-51-1, organized criminal gambling is defined as:
(a) Gambling" includes, but is not limited to, pool-selling, bookmaking, maintaining slot-machines, roulette wheels or dice tables, and conducting lotteries, Policy, Bolita, or numbers games or selling chances in them.
(b)(1) "Organized criminal gambling business" as used in this chapter means a gambling business which involves three (3) or more persons who conduct, finance, manage, supervise, direct, operate, or own all or part of the business and which has been or remains in substantially continuous operation for a period in excess of fifteen (15) days, or which has conducted operations on at least two (2) days in each of two (2) consecutive weeks, or which has a combined gross revenue of at least one thousand dollars ($1,000) in any single day, or which has entered into a total of at least one hundred (100) gambling transactions in any single day.
(2) "Organized criminal gambling business" does not refer to betting specifically authorized by chapter 4 of title 41 or any act in amendment of that chapter, nor to any form of gambling otherwise licensed or permitted by specific statutory enactment.
The penalties if convicted include imprisonment for not more than five (5) years and fined not more than ten thousand dollars ($10,000).
Pursuant to R.I.G.L. 11-19-14, bookmaking is defined as except as provided in chapter 4 of title 41, any person who shall engage in pool selling or bookmaking, or shall occupy or keep any room, shed, tenement, tent, or building, or any part of them, or shall occupy any place upon any public or private grounds within this state, with books, apparatus, or paraphernalia for the purpose of recording or registering bets or wagers or of buying or selling pools, or who shall record or register bets or wagers or sell pools upon the result of any trial or contest of skill, speed or power of endurance of man or beast, or upon the result of any political nomination, appointment, or election, or, being the owner or lessee or occupant of any room, tent, tenement, shed, booth, or building, or part of them, knowingly shall permit it to be used or occupied for any of these purposes, or shall keep, exhibit or employ any device or apparatus for the purpose of recording or registering bets or wagers, or the selling of pools, or shall become the custodian or depositary for gain, hire, or reward of any money, property, or thing of value staked, wagered, or pledged or to be wagered or pledged upon the result, or who shall receive, register, record, forward, or purport or pretend to forward to or for any race course, or person, within or outside this state, any money, thing, or consideration of value bet or wagered, or money, thing, or consideration of value offered for the purpose of being bet or wagered upon the speed or endurance of any man or beast; or who shall occupy any place or building or part of it with books, papers, apparatus, or paraphernalia for the purpose of receiving or pretending to receive, or for recording or registering, or for forwarding or pretending or attempting to forward in any manner whatsoever, any money, thing, or consideration of value bet or wagered or to be bet or wagered for any other person, or who shall receive or offer to receive any money, thing, or consideration of value bet or to be bet at any race track within or without this state, or who shall aid, assist or abet in any manner in any of the acts forbidden by this section.
The penalties if convicted include a fine not exceeding five hundred dollars ($500) or imprisonment not exceeding one year, and upon a second conviction of a violation of this section shall be imprisoned for a period not less than one nor more than five (5) years.
If you or a family member has been charged with gambling, fraud or other monetary crimes, please allow Attorney Robert H. Humphrey's reputation, experience and skill to successfully guide you through the legal process. Please contact Attorney Robert H. Humphrey, Esq., at 401-816-5862 or e-mail him at rhh@rhumphreylaw.com.