As some government officials of Pennsylvania want to see the legalization of video poker in the state they now have the support of the state police commissioner. The commissioner recently told House lawmakers that the addition of video poker would mean fewer headaches for law enforcement as they would be able to clearly tell which terminals are legal and which are illegal.

Col. Frank E. Pawlowski, the police commissioner, commented that the new legislation would help state and local police regulate illegal gambling more effectively and it would also give tougher penalties for the possession of the illegal gambling machines.

Pawlowski also stated that current laws are not efficient enough as offenders only face light fines from $400 to $500. With the new legislation, offenders would face fines from $1,000 to $5,000 for their first offense and other offenses would see a fine of $15,000. The offender’s liquor license would also be suspended for one week for the first offense and two weeks for more offenses. Pawlowski believes these penalties would help more than the current gambling laws.








- 2009-05-25