The Utah Attorney general has targeted about 160 spots with illegal coin pusher and slot machines saying they violate the state’s gambling laws.
Officials served about 160 warrants at across the state at gas stations, convenience stores, restaurants and anywhere else that has these games of chance, Leo Lucey, chief investigative officer for the Utah Attorney General’s Office told the Deseret News.
The main target of the probe are coin pusher machines where quarters are deposited in an attempt to knock other quarters off moving trays. Also targeted are slot machines, where a person pays for a card, puts that card in the slot machine to play, and then gets a receipt at the end that sometimes results in a payout, Lucey told the paper.
Intermountain Vending, which distributes the machines in Utah, said the actions by the attorney general’s office are “unwarranted and disappointing.”
“If the A.G.’s office had issues with our devices or our company we would have been more than happy to meet, provide whatever information was requested, and attempt to address any concerns or issues as we have many times before in various locations,” the company stated in a press release.
According to the Deseret News, the investigation was prompted by Utah lawmakers who were getting complaints about the machines.
“We had a lot of complaints about kids as young as 8 or 10 going and putting in quarters and trying to get a $50 bill sitting on top of the quarters. You can put a lot of quarters in and that $50 bill is never going to drop,” State Representative Norm Thurston told the paper.
