Florida Officials Want Tougher Anti-Gambling Laws

Posted on: January 23, 2025, 11:25h. 

Last updated on: January 23, 2025, 11:33h.

Last week, authorities in Florida announced they had shut down a vast network of illegal gambling businesses stretching across the state from West Palm Beach to Fort Pierce, Vero Beach, and Zephyrhills.

Florida Illegal gambling, Bill Gladson, Dan Singleton, Ed Cayenne
Bill Gladson, State Attorney for Florida’s Fifth Judicial Circuit, believes there should be harsher penalties for illegal gambling in the state. (Image: Ocala Star Banner)

Police made five arrests, including the alleged masterminds behind the operation, which investigators have described as a sophisticated money-laundering scheme that provided customers with illegal slot machines.

The raids were part of “Operation Fool’s Treasure,” a multiagency investigation that began in 2022. This was just one of dozens of investigations into the widespread problem of illegal gambling in Florida.

Now authorities want more robust powers to prosecute those involved because they say too often, criminals involved in illegal gambling are walking free.

Weak Laws

Florida Politics reports that officials from the Florida Gaming Control Commission (FGCC) joined prosecutors and other members of law enforcement to testify before the House Industries and Professional Activities Subcommittee that existing anti-gambling laws are too weak.

There is zero disincentive [sic] for these establishments to close down due to the misdemeanors that they face,” said Chief Ed Cayenne from the Homeland Security Division of the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office. “They are willing to pay the fines and continue the operations because they are so profitable.”

Florida’s Family Amusement Games Act allows restaurants to offer games for a chance to win tickets or tokens that can be redeemed for prizes. Increasingly, arcade businesses, often housed in rundown retail strip malls, are offering machines with direct cash prizes, like slots.

Sometimes, the operators offer skill-based “gray machines,” which they claim are legal because skill elements mean they aren’t games of chance. The arcades often hide in plain sight, creating a veneer of legitimacy for their customers.

Back Door Flight

In his testimony, Dan Singleton, chief of investigative services with the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office, poured scorn on the notion these venues are legit.

When we do execute search warrants, we have employees running out the back doors with bags of cash,” said Singleton, as reported by Florida Politics. “I don’t know of any other legitimate business that during normal business hours, when a law enforcement officer comes to the front door, you have an employee flee out the back with a bag of cash.”

A bill passed by the Florida legislature last February allowed prosecutors to pursue felony charges against legal gambling operators under some circumstances. Bill Gladson, state attorney for the Fifth Judicial Circuit, argued this didn’t go far enough.

“Felonies open up greater forfeiture opportunities and search warrant opportunities,” he noted.