CANTON ‒ A Stark County grand jury has indicted eight people on charges related to alleged illegal gambling in the city.
Multiple slot machines were found at a building at 632 Rowland Ave. NE, according to a Canton police complaint filed in Canton Municipal Court. Two other sites — 2502 Harrisburg Road NE and 1908 Mahoning Road — had unlicensed and unregistered “amusement devices.”
“They are intended to be played and offer the player anything of value; in this case, that thing of value was currency,” Canton police spokesman Lt. Dennis Garren wrote in an email. “The devices basically require no skill in order to win and depend totally on chance. Many of these machines can have their win probability set one way or the other, which the Ohio Casino Control (Commission) could monitor if they were legitimate businesses.”
The individuals charged live in Canton, Waynesburg, Perry Township, Sandy Township in Stark County and Sandy Township in Tuscarawas County. They range in age from 23 to 59.
Some defendants were linked to multiple locations.
All were charged with operating a gambling house. a first-degree misdemeanor. Five were additionally charged with violation of casino gaming laws, a fifth-degree felony. The cases against three defendants who were indicted on misdemeanor charges only were sent to Canton Municipal Court from Stark County Common Pleas Court, where the felonies will be handled.
The dates of the alleged offenses range from Dec. 5, 2023 to May 8.
The Mahoning Road location was running for several months before police filed charges, Garren wrote. The Harrisburg and Rowland locations appeared to be in operation for a shorter time, maybe since early 2025.
Reach Nancy at 330-580-8382 or nancy.molnar@cantonrep.com.
This article originally appeared on The Repository: Stark County grand jury indicts 8 people for allegedly running illegal gambling houses
Reporting by Nancy Molnar, Canton Repository / The Repository
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