Milford Man Pleads Guilty to Operating Video Poker Machines

[FTL_Ian]

http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080215/NEWS01/510228244

Milford man to admit he ran video poker games
By ANDREW WOLFE Telegraph Staff
awolfe@nashuatelegraph.com

NASHUA – One of the two Milford men charged with running video poker gambling at the Harley-Sanford Veterans of Foreign Wars Post plans to plead guilty, while the other is scheduled to stand trial next month, court records show.

Arthur Gagnon, 56, of 8 Ash St., Milford, had been scheduled to plead guilty to reduced, misdemeanor gambling charges Wednesday in Hillsborough County Superior Court.

His case was postponed, however, because the prosecutor was in the midst of a trial in an unrelated case.

Gagnon and Douglas Bianchi, 60, formerly of Milford and now Jonesboro, Maine, were arrested last year on felony gambling charges, alleging they made illegal payoffs to encourage players to spend money on video poker machines at the VFW post on Route 13 in Milford.

The charges are felonies, and carry a maximum of 3-1/2 to seven years in prison, but Gagnon has struck a plea deal calling for his charges to be reduced to misdemeanors, court records show.



He would be sentenced to two years on probation and 200 hours of community service, with a $2,000 fine and a 12-month jail sentence to remain suspended so long as he stays out of trouble.

Bianchi, who served one year as a Milford selectman before stepping down in 2006, is scheduled to stand trial on similar charges March 3, court records show. Prosecutors allege Bianchi leased the machines, and Gagnon ran the gambling operation.

Video poker machines are legal in New Hampshire, so long as they are used purely for amusement. State Liquor Commission agents seized five machines in a raid at the VFW on Feb. 24, 2007, after undercover agents received cash payouts for winnings on the machines.

Raids on video poker machines are a regular, if not frequent, part of New Hampshire law enforcement.

Three Nashua-area restaurants and a video store have seen video poker raids in the past five years. Manchester's ironic nickname "Manch-Vegas" allegedly first took hold after a series of such raids more than a decade ago led to jokes about the amount of gambling in town.
Andrew Wolfe can be reached at 594-6410 or awolfe@nashuatelegraph.com.

[FTL_Ian]

Interested in gambling civil disobedience?

http://nhunderground.com/forum/index.php?topic=12861.0

[Gard]

You dangerous man, you!

Glad you spotted this, man!

G!

[Beth221]

this buccaneer is in for a not so friendly game of pirate poker!!  count me in!!   

[Dave Ridley]

where will bianchi's trial be?

what time?