Atlantic City is considered to be one of the most popular gaming cities in the country, home to various casinos that offer gamblers different ways to play poker. One of the casinos in Atlantic City, the Hilton, has been fined for underage gambling. The fine incurred is a total of $115,000. The person that caused the fine was only 19 years old and he played blackjack, poker, roulette, slots and Spanish 21. He also had a player’s club card, an account opened to track his gambling, and was given a free room.
New Jersey state law requires that all gamblers be 21 years of age or older. This fine was the second highest fine ever given to an Atlantic City casino. “We have a big concern about it because kids can make themselves look older, and that’s problematic,” said Linda Kassekert, chairwoman of the New Jersey Casino Control Commission, which imposed the fine.
The fine was so high because the state’s Division of Gaming Enforcement had notified the Hilton that the player in question was underage and was gambling in their casino yet the casino still allowed the player to gamble. The player has only been identified as “M.R.” The player provided fake identification to gamble in the casino saying that he was 24 years old at the time.
The underage player began gambling at the casino on January 25, 2007 and continued to gamble at the Hilton until 2008. Any money lost by the gambler that went to the casino has to be returned to the state per state laws. The largest underage gambling fine in Atlantic City was imposed on Bally’s in 2008 for $157,500.
Former Pennsylvania state senator Vincent Fumo was sentenced to 55 months in prison for corruption charges stemming from misappropriating millions of dollars of taxpayer money from the coffers of the state senate and two nonprofit organizations. 20 years was the sentence recommended by the prosecutors of the case or at the least 10 years in prison. The sentence of 55 months actually calculates into just over 4.5 years in prison.
Fumo was convicted on all 137 counts brought against him by the jurors but the judge presiding over the case, Ronald Buckwalter, decided that a 55 month sentence would be sufficient enough for what Fumo did while serving as senator in the state of Pennsylvania. The federal prosecutors that worked so feverishly on the case will ask the Justice Department if they can appeal the ruling handed down by Buckwalter because they are so furious over the ruling.
Fumo’s co-defendant, Ruth Arnao, will be sentenced next Tuesday and the U.S. Attorney’s office will wait until then to file an appeal on Fumo’s sentencing. The U.S. Attorney’s office has only 30 days to file their appeal. The prosecutors working on the Fumo case called his sentencing “unduly lenient and unreasonable.” The prosecutors also cite this past week’s outpouring of support for Fumo, which might have led the judge presiding over the case to hand down a sentence lower than what should have been assigned to the former state senator.
Many people in the city of Philadelphia, where the trial was taking place, are sick of hearing about this case because the taxpayer’s money is being wasted on a criminal that is not violent or dangerous to society. Instead, they would rather have their tax money put to better use, for protecting the streets of the city.
I once worked in Binghamton for IBM. So when I heard the recent news that a mass murder had taken place it kind of took me off guard. Apparently, a gunman barricaded one door and ambushed another at an immigration services center. The gunman proceded to kill 13 people before ending his own life. The authorities have named the gunman as Jiverly Wong, who is believed to be in his early 40’s. Wong apparently had ties to the civic association, but no motive has been determined. I am currently wondering if this was an attack on immigrants trying to become U.S. citizens or something else.
Michael Vick is still serving his prison term for being an ignorant moron. However, he did come up with a brilliant bankruptcy plan but U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Frank Santoro felt otherwise “This Plan does not work.” Apparently, Vick is scheduled to work for a construction company for 40 hours a week after his release. His debtors, agents, and dog fighters are hoping that the NFL commissioner will reinstate Mr. Vick this Fall. Vick once landed a 10-year $140 million deal with Atlanta before he made multiple bad investments and moral choices. His plan got rejected because it proposed him keeping two multi-million dollar hopes and had no hard cash for all his debtors. Personally, I don’t think that we should allow him to play professional football again. He knew what he was getting into and squandered it. We need to transition professional sports to real role models and class act citizens, not thugs and immature idiots.