Betting device owner pleads guilty to charges - 13 WTHR Indianapolis

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Betting device owner pleads guilty to charges

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FORT WAYNE -

The owner of computers placed in Fort Wayne-area businesses for online gambling has been sentenced to a year on probation after pleading guilty to a charge of illegal gambling.

As part of the guilty plea made Monday, 48-year-old Stephen Carnes admitted in Allen County court documents that the sweepstakes entries sold by his business were part of an electronic gambling operation. The Journal Gazette reports his business will also pay a $10,000 fine and forfeit 51 computers seized in the investigation.

Authorities say the so-called "sweepstakes machines" allow players to buy Internet time for video poker and slots and bet digital credit or time, with winners able to cash out at the businesses.

Carnes' company has sued the state, arguing that the machines aren't illegal gambling devices.

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