Long Wants Gaming Commission Prosecutor

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(STATEHOUSE) - Senate President Pro Tem David Long wants to give the State Gaming Commission its own prosecutor with authority to file illegal-gambling charges statewide.

Long (R-Fort Wayne) will take testimony Monday on a proposal to create a special prosecutor to go after anything from pea-shake houses to illegal poker clubs. But he says his main target is the thousands of video-poker and "cherry master" machines which have sprouted in truck stops and gas stations.

Most local prosecutors have taken the position they have more serious crimes to focus on. Long says the machines are an epidemic, and the state has to show it's serious about the law. Indiana bar owners have been lobbying for a bill to do the opposite--legalize and regulate the machines. Long says that would create a casino on every corner.

The special-prosecutor provision will be added to a proposal long unveiled Monday to add 25 new state excise officers, and create new penalties for illegal poker machines. Violators could lose alcohol, tobacco and retailer permits, and their right to sell Hoosier Lottery tickets.

Illegal gambling is already a felony punishable by up to three years in prison. Long's bill would boost the maximum sentence to eight years for repeat offenders.

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