From Bransontrilakesnews.com
GALENA — A Crane man has been charged with promoting gambling for having two slot machines in his convenience store on which he allegedly paid winnings.
Aman Pasricha, 28, was arrested Friday following a search of Circle K Convenience Store at 121 North Commerce Street in Crane.
According to a probable cause statement, members of the Combined Ozarks Multi-jurisdictional Enforcement Team received information that two slot machines in the store were paying out cash to winners. Officers located the machines in the corner of the store, placed money into the machines and determined they were in working condition.
The officers played the machines for a short time and then pushed the cashout button.
Officers took the tickets to the counter where a male, later identified as Pasricha, totaled the winnings to just over $17.
Pasricha reportedly paid the officers cash from the register and told them the more they play the better the chances of winning, according to the statement.
The gambling was captured by video and audio devices, according to police.
Officers contacted an official with the Missouri Gaming Commission and confirmed that the machines are illegal gambling devices.
A search warrant was served on the business Thursday, at which time officers saw a sign above the machines stating the maximum payout would be $2,500, according to police.
Officers seized the machines and the currency inside it.
Deputies also located an audit slip from April 24 showing that machine No. 1 had taken in a total of $2,198 and paid out a total of $1,896 with a grand total being $8,839 and a grand total paid out had been $4,736.55.
A second audit slip from machine No. 2 from the same date showed a total of $455 in and $415.70 paid out and a grand total of $5,270 paid in and a total of $1,311.10 paid out, according to the statement.
Pasricha posted bond of $2,500 and was released from the Stone County Jail on the same day he was arrested.
