TMCnet News
Galt PD to use seized computers [Lodi News-Sentinel, Calif. :: ](Lodi News-Sentinel (CA) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Jan. 24--The Galt Police Department will soon be using computer monitors seized in an alleged illegal gambling operation bust last year. The monitors and other equipment were taken from the Lucky Internet Cafe, and its operators charged with misdemeanors of unlawfully possessing a slot machine and permitting the operation of a gaming device. That case has been settled, clearing the way for the Police Department to use the computers. Peng Fei Lin, who operated the business, had also filed a civil lawsuit in an attempt to save the electronic devices he felt were illegally removed from his business by police and the Bureau of Gambling Control. At the time, police said Lin owned a slot machine and unlawfully permitted the operation of a gaming device. That case was stayed last fall due to the related criminal case. At the time, the deputy district attorney handling the criminal case indicated the criminal case would resolve the issue regarding whether the property may be destroyed. Moreover, because the property at issue was evidence in the criminal case, the police department would not be disposing of any of the property seized, according to online court records. The judge has now released the property to the city, City Attorney Steven Rudolph said. "The civil case is in the process of being dismissed, as the judge's order in the criminal case fully addressed the property issue -- the sole issue in the civil case," he wrote in an e-mail. Lin said in court records that one variety of program offered at the Lucky Internet Cafe was a sweepstakes program that originated from a separate black box which had been installed in the computer towers by Florida-based Cyber GT Systems, a company Lin contracted with. He said they told him it was legal in California. In all, the three-month undercover investigation -- a joint effort among the Sacramento County District Attorney's Office, California Department of Justice and Sacramento Police Department -- culminated with the seizure of 27 computer towers, surveillance equipment, printers, fax machines, routers, electrical cords and gaming machines, according to police. Officers also closed the C Street business during the January 2013 raid. Contact reporter Jennifer Bonnett at [email protected]. ___ (c)2014 the Lodi News-Sentinel (Lodi, Calif.) Visit the Lodi News-Sentinel (Lodi, Calif.) at www.lodinews.com Distributed by MCT Information Services |