Fayetteville police

have arrested three employees of a local

establishment for illegal video poker gambling

activities.

According to

reports, detectives served a search warrant at

Jokers, 310 N. Glynn St., and arrested James

David Black III, 25, of Fayetteville; Deryl

Parker, 36, of Peachtree City; and John S. Fital

III, 22, of Peachtree City. The location is

adjacent to the offices of The Citizen.

After a citizen

complaint about illegal gambling at Fayette

Family Billiards, 692 N. Glynn St., plainclothes

detectives went into both establishments and

played video poker games. Those machines give

payout tickets that are redeemable at the counter

for gift certificates to local merchants.

On several

occasions, according to reports, police were paid

in cash instead of merchandise gift certificates,

which is a violation of state law.

Paul Carter of

Fayetteville, who owns both establishments, met

investigators at Jokers during execution of the

search warrant. Carter gave police access to the

video poker machines' cash boxes, and detectives

seized about $1,200 from the machines and the

business itself.

Other local

businesses operating video poker machines were

checked out and found to be operating within

state and local laws, police said.

Commercial gambling

is a violation of Georgia Code 16-12-22, which is

a felony and could result in one to five years in

prison and a fine of up to $20,000. The

investigation is ongoing.

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