Gambling News by Gambling Headquarters

A local businessman who opened a skilled games parlor on Maple Avenue last
year had a charge of operating a gambling parlor dropped by the city law
director Thursday. Edward Alexander, owner of Aces High, was charged last
November when he reopened his parlor after city law director and county
officials deemed the machines to be gambling devices and ordered all the
gaming parlors in the city and county shut down last year. Alexander also
lost 10 of his machines when he reopened. Those machines were seized by the
Zanesville Police Department but ordered to be returned in January after
Municipal Court Judge William Joseph ruled they had been seized illegally.
"I think the city and county officials owe Mr. Alexander an apology," Robert
De Santo, defense attorney for Alexander, harshly replied when told of the
charge being dropped. "He's been labeled a criminal and accused of having
gambling machines by city officials, the county prosecutor, the county
sheriff's office and maybe even 50 percent of the residents of Zanesville."
Scott Hillis, city law director, said he was dropping the charge Thursday
due to the machines being ruled inadmissible during a trial, but wasn't
going to drop the additional 12 charges of licensing and zoning violations.
Hillis said there was no way he could present a case against Alexander and
the machines in the time allotted him. De Santo refused to waive the speedy
trial issue and demanded that trial begin as soon as possible, which Hillis
said was not conducive to him. "We had talked to an expert and if we had
brought him in, it would cost several thousands of dollars, so we chose not
to proceed," Hillis said. As far as apologizing to Alexander, Hillis said
there's no reason to. "He's right that we cannot prove the machines are
gambling machines, he's right that he wanted to use the machines during the
trial," Hillis said of De Santo's comments. "But, he was only willing to do
it if we went to trial immediately." Hillis said he still believes Alexander
broke the law when he did not get a license for the machines and chose to
operate anyway. De Santo said his client has lost eight weeks of business
since the closing of the parlor and for Alexander "that's lost profits."
"What this looks like is the city bullied my client and the others
throughout the county and city," De Santo said. "They acted like bullies.
But, when the bully gets challenged, like all bullies, they buckle down."

Ordering the businesses throughout the county and city to shut down put the
owners' "lives on the line," De Santo said.

"Look at all the business they've lost," De Santo said. "I think the city
council should be prepared to figure how much my client and others have lost
in income and be prepared to take it out of either the prosecutor's or the
sheriff's budget. Maybe someone should be paying for my fees. It's not right
that my client is."

De Santo said every citizen in Zanesville should be looking at how unfair
the legal system has been working.

"My client should have been given the opportunity to have a jury, the
citizens of Zanesville, decide if these machines are skilled games or not,"
De Santo said. "We have maintained all along they are games of skill and no
one is willing to prove us wrong."

De Santo also said Hillis cannot have it both ways.