Thank God, our very own state attorney weighs in on the Maquinitas!

Just in the nick of time no less!  With illegal gambling machines (aka maquinitas) popping up all over the place despite the fact that the governor signed legislation into law banning them and clearing making them illegal, what could be better than an opinion from our very own state attorney, Katherine Fernandez Rundle, regarding these machines and their legality?

First we'll start with an email from John Tupps to one of our readers from Governor Scott's press office regarding these machines...

Governor Scott was pleased to sign legislation that banned illegal internet cafes across Florida, including Allied Veterans – a multi-state criminal conspiracy. Law enforcement officers must make the determination whether any machine violates the law. Accordingly, you should speak with local law enforcement and the state attorney’s office.

Ok, great!  Logically, the next step would be to reach out to our state attorneys office since at least one municipality, Hialeah, is under the impression that these machines are legal.  With that said, take a look at the response from the state attorneys office...

Since the machines themselves are not illegal, unless and until there is some sort of “payout” for playing them, there would need to be some police undercover work in order to make an arrest for possession of the “maquinitas”.  Hillah Mendez, Legal Counsel for the Hialeah Police Department, contacted our office and we explained this investigative requirement to her.  It is up to the Hialeah Police Department, or any individual police department, to undertake such an investigative effort. Thank you. Tere ChavezMedia RelationsMiami-Dade State Attorney's Office305-547-0885

Oh, OK!  So the machines are not illegal despite all this grandstanding and other bullshit...

Alrighty then, I guess the problems been solved!  Despite our very own governor outlawing these machines statewide and shutting down the businesses that housed them, now our very own state attorneys office has given them her blessing and made them practically immune to prosecution.  Perhaps the machine owners just need to affix one of these stickers to the machines and their problems with law enforcement will be a distant memory...

Doesn't this man look amused?

Check out our friend Elaine de Valle's story on the ever present maquinitas, tomorrow we'll get back to our discussion of former state attorney Richard E. Gerstein.

Spanish language TV picks up the Maquinita story...

Or at least I think they did?!  I don't speak or understand Spanish, nor am I able to get the video where channel 41 allegedly discusses the maquinitas that are being found all around town to play on line.  Here's the video embeddedm the discussion starts at around the 17:00 mark...



Video streaming by Ustream

And here's the link to the story just in case the embedded video doesn't show up.  

Ironically the commercials before the video worked just fine for me but the actual video where they discuss the maquinitas refused to work for me for the first few tries, by the third time it worked.  The best part though comes at the 18:43 mark where a cop shows up where the TV crew is filming and looks dumbfounded when the reporter asks him about the illegal gaming machines inside the restaurant...

If I'm not mistaken, I think the cop actually tells the reporter that the machines are legal in Hialeah!

That's enough for now, it's Friday, we'll pick up where we left off next week.

They're ba-ack! Fucking maquinitas are popping up all over the place again!

Can you believe this shit?  After fighting these goddamn machines for years on end and finally thinking we had won, they're back with a fucking vengeance!  Back in March the Florida senate passed a bill outlawing these machines, that doddering old fool of a mayor Tomas Regalado even came out publicly and stated that the maquinitas are illegal...

Despite all of that, despite all of the press conferences, despite all the grandstanding by local pandering politicians, it was all bullshit as they're showing up in all the usual places.  Take a look at some of these photos that one of our readers sent us, mind you, these photos were all taken within the last 48 hours at various locations throughout the City of Hialeah...

In the backs of restaurants, hidden in the back corners of small mom and pop grocery stores, whether out in the open...

Or hidden behind shelves just out of view.  Would you be there?  Could you be there...

For those establishment owners with a modicum of common sense, they try to hide them behind boxes off in a far corner...

Or secret them in a back store room just out of view...

On the other hand, you have those business owner that are so brazen that they not only have them machines out in the open in plain view for anyone to see in storefronts...

With the photos of the machines plastered on their storefronts!

Can you believe this shit?  Despite all the hoopla about the machines officially being made illegal, despite all the media coverage, despite all of the photo ops with bulldozers crushing illegal gaming machines all over the local press, the machines are back, back with a vengeance no less!

What makes matters worse though is that one of loyal readers, who happens to be a public servant, sent the photos you see here over to the feds in an effort to stop what ostensibly looks like, smells like and certainly feels like illegal activity.  What the feds did with that information though is borderline scandalous, what's that old saying?

"the cover up is worse than the crime?"  

We'll discuss in depth tomorrow, in the mean time, if any of you guys spot more of these maquinitas, take photos and send them to me!

What happened to Dade county's fight against the maquinitas?

While we're all well aware of the maquinita saga within the City of Miami, what happened to the ongoing war against the illegal gaming machines at the county level?  About a year ago the Miami Dade County Police department conducted an extensive undercover investigation where they placed undercover cops in various shops where these gaming machines were and actually had them play till they won and were subsequently paid their winnings in cash which ultimately led to the arrest of the owners of the establishments.  This was a big step forward in the fight against the "maquinitas" as this investigation was free and clear of any political motivations that were alleged to have caused the war between the various political factions within the City of Miami.  From the Miami Herald article which I can't seem to find online any more...

“The timing of our investigations is based upon the complexity of the case and our interaction with partner agencies, period,” said Miami-Dade police Cmdr. Nancy Perez, a spokeswoman. “Our investigations are not influenced by political considerations.”

What MDPD commander Nancy Perez was referring to was the timing of this case in reference to the then county mayoral elections following the ousting of Mayor Carlos Alvarez.  Shortly after these arrests were made, I actually went out and met with the undercover cops who made this case, at the time they were worried that if Julio Robaina was elected county mayor that there work against these gaming machines was going to be cut off as it was well known that Robaina was backed by the maquinita industry.  On the other hand, they were convinced that if Carlos Gimenez was elected they were going to keep going balls to the walls in their fight against the maquinita rackets, once again from the Miami Herald article...

One day after the Bird Road raid, Gimenez lambasted Robaina’s support of the gaming industry, calling for a police task force to combat the industry. “The citizens of this community have spoken against this illegal activity,” Gimenez said in a press release. “Today, I stand with the people of this community and with law enforcement in denouncing this delinquent activity.”

Gimenez went further on Michael Putney's show on channel 10 and said...

“If I were mayor, I’d definitely propose an ordinance to outlaw them throughout Miami-Dade County...Because frankly, Michael, I believe that there’s organized crime behind this.” 

That sounds fantastic, doesn't it?  We were all convinced that upon his election, Gimenez was going to come out punching against the maquinitas and their owners, so what's happened nearly a year later?  As far as I can tell, NOTHING!  One of my sources tells me that since Gimenez was elected, the unit that was making these cases was scaled back, citing budget issues, and it's members have been subsequently reassigned to other cases.  Does that make any sense?  If our new county mayor was really out to get the people behind these machines, then what the hell happened?  Remember, Mayor Gimenez went so far as to publicly proclaim that he believed that "there's organized crime behind this", so what gives?  Gimenez gets elected and all of a sudden the crusade against the machines and their owners goes quiet?

Furthurmore, the judge presiding over this particular case seemed to see through all the defense's bullshit arguments...

“We can go around and around all day long. In my opin­ion, what’s going on is not an amuse­ment game. It’s not an amuse­ment ma­ch­ine; it’s gambling,”

So what happened?  The cops did their work, made their case and the subsequent arrests, the judge hearing the case seemed on board, at this point it's all left to the state attorneys office.  We'll dig around and see what we can find out.

And now the Miami New Times picks up our Maquinita story...

Newspapers...

Yesterday we talked about the Miami Herald breifly mentioning the "maquinita" story in one of their articles from last week and now the Miami New Times picks up our coverage of the maquinitas.  Our friend Francisco Alvarado went one step further than we did with regards to the expert witness report and analysis of the maquinitas in police custody, he actually reached out to the expert witness, D. Robert Sertell, and gave him a call regarding the report.  From the article...

You know those gambling maquinitas in convenience stores around Miami, Hialeah, Opa-locka, and Miami Gardens? Turns out Miguel Exposito was right and then some about the racket. Last year, Miami's then-police chief fell out of favor with Mayor Tomás Regalado when cops confiscated 105 "video amusement" machines from dozens of markets, cafeterias, and laundromats.
Exposito said the devices were being used for illegal gambling purposes. When Regalado allegedly tried to stop the raids, the top cop reported the mayor to the FBI for meddling in a criminal investigation. Eventually, Exposito was forced out. But three months before the chief's departure, a gambling machine expert hired by the Miami city attorney's office concluded the seizedmaquinitas were indeed for gambling purposes.
What's more, D. Robert Sertell -- a former slot machine mechanic for an Atlantic City casino -- found that many of them were rigged to make sure the user always lost. Sertell's findings were never made public until recently.
After reading about it on Mike Hatami's blog the Strawbuyer, Banana Republican contacted the gambling expert. Sertell said he spent three days in June 2011 analyzing the machines seized by Miami police officers. "They were designed and manufactured specifically for the purpose of gambling," he said. "It's a slam dunk."
Furthermore, Sertell continued, most of the maquinitas were designed to cheat the customer. He explained that the confiscated machines would not be allowed inside establishments where gambling is legal in Florida. He should know. He has inspected gambling machines for 15 years and has a contract with the state to keep an eye on slots.
If the maquinitas held by Miami police were in a casino, Sertell said, they "would get immediately shut down and whoever was responsible for them would be subject to punitive action."
Even though he was paid $5,221 by the city, no one asked him to provide a written report, Sertell said. He typed one up only after a former Miami police official recently requested a copy. He declined to name the official. (Hatami tells Banana Republican he obtained his copy from a concerned private citizen.)
However, the city might still call on Sertell to give testimony in an ongoing lawsuit filed by the owners of the maquinitas who want their machines back.
Regalado and City Attorney Julie Bru did not reply to four phone messages seeking comment. Ricardo Merida, the lawyer for the maquinitas owners, declined to comment because he had not read Sertell's report.
However, one of their clients, Miguel Gonzalez, scoffed at Sertell's assertions. "He doesn't know what he's talking about," said Gonzalez, who lost ten machines in the raid. "I'm just a hard worker trying to make a living for my family."

Nice!  Isn't it amazing that no matter who the machines are taken from, their line is always something along the lines of "I'm just a hard worker trying to make a living" or "We are not breaking the law, we are just providing entertainment for people who choose to eat a meal here", yet these are the same characters that'll brag about how much money they take in every week from these same machines that they know are rigged to screw the players.  Whatever.  At the very least we know that there's more people paying attention to this somewhat forgotten maquinita story now.

I'm going to attend an important court hearing this afternoon regarding former City of Miami Police Chief Miguel Exposito and his termination from his post as police chief by the City of Miami commission last year. I'll update early this evening with the results.

The Herald kind of covers part of the maquinita story...

I was reading through the Herald the other day when I came across this article regarding former City of Miami Police Chief Miguel Exposito...

Former Miami Police Chief Miguel Exposito’s case to be heard in court
By David Ovalle
dovalle@MiamiHerald.comOusted Miami Police Chief Miguel Exposito, seeking to get his job back, will get his day in court Thursday.
A panel of three Miami-Dade circuit judges will hear Exposito’s argument that the Miami City Commission wrongly fired him in September.
During his tenure, Exposito picked very public battles with elected officials and Mayor Tomás Regalado, whom he accused of being in bed with owners of video gaming machines that his department had targeted for seizure.
In March, three judges denied a move by city attorneys to throw out the appeal because Exposito had been scheduled to retire anyway when he was terminated.
Despite his ouster, Exposito, former Maj. Al Alvarez and Exposito’s personal attorney Ruben Chavez sat in on a civil hearing last week between the city and the video machine owners.
The owners have sued the city seeking return of more than 100 machines seized by Exposito’s police officers. Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Diane Ward refused to throw out the suit, and now an evidentiary hearing will be scheduled.

In the article Mr. Ovalle briefly mentions a hearing that I attended for a case filed by the maquinita owners in order to get a hundred or so machines back that are in police custody.

Despite his ouster, Exposito, former Maj. Al Alvarez and Exposito’s personal attorney Ruben Chavez sat in on a civil hearing last week between the city and the video machine owners.
The owners have sued the city seeking return of more than 100 machines seized by Exposito’s police officers. Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Diane Ward refused to throw out the suit, and now an evidentiary hearing will be scheduled.

It was at this hearing that I finally got a chance to speak to the city attorney who's assigned to this case, George Wysong, about the city not paying the expert witness they had hired in order to examine the machines that they had in custody.  Mr. Wysong's explanation was that he wasn't going to rely on the expert testimony to win the case but instead was relying on a series of laws that basically stated that since the machines were contraband, the city had no obligation to return them to their owners.  He quoted case law from the Ethiopian Zion Coptic Church case where the police had seized the followers marijuana and then didn't return it after the church members sued for replevin, once again the theory is that since the marijuana was illegal, the police couldn't return it to its owners.  


Mr. Wysong's theory kind of makes sense in this instance but Judge Diane Ward wanted more, essentially she wanted an expert to determine whether or not the machines in custody were illegal and therefore asked both sides, the maquinita owners and the City of Miami to hire experts to determine whether or not the machines in custody are indeed illegal.  That brings us back to the expert witness report that the city wouldn't pay for, perhaps if the city was armed with the report for this hearing, Judge Ward would have gone ahead and thrown out the maquinita owners replevin lawsuit.  No big deal I guess, the expert that the City of Miami had hired has already examined the one hundred and four machines in question, now it's up to the maquinita owners to hire an expert to examine the machines in custody.  Considering that each of these machines is worth anywhere from three to five thousand dollars, I doubt the owners will walk away from several hundred thousand dollars worth of gaming equipment, legal or not, now it becomes a case of expert witness vs. expert witness and to see who makes a more compelling argument as to the legality of these machines.


The funniest part of this whole encounter?  I asked City of Miami attorney George Wysong whether or not the city was going to pay the expert now for his report to which he responded...

"why when I can download it from your website for free?"

I have to hand it to Mr. Wysong, that was some funny shit!