East Washington owner of video gambling operation charged
An East Washington man who ran a video poker gambling operation in 33 bars and clubs throughout Washington, Allegheny, Fayette and Westmoreland counties was charged Thursday by the state attorney general’s office.
Anthony Zenner, 58, of 11 Wilmont Ave., was arraigned before District Judge Robert Redlinger on charges of corrupt organizations, dealing in proceeds of unlawful activities and gambling devices. Zenner is the owner and operator of Zenner Vending, 56 E. Railroad St., Washington, which provided at least 142 illegal gambling machines to bars, clubs and restaurants in Southwestern Pennsylvania between 2006 and 2017.
During its decade in operation, the illegal video gambling allegedly generated more than $7 million in illegal profits for its owner.
“Today we’ve ended Tony Zenner’s video gambling operation,” Attorney General Josh Shapiro said in a news release. “This defendant raked in millions of dollars in illegal proceeds, draining money from Pennsylvanians – and from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania – over the last decade. These video poker machines – with the lure of the cash payout – are illegal gambling devices. We’ve taken action with the state police to shut his enterprise down.”
The investigation began in January 2016 following a review of gambling device questionnaires, which are completed by the owners of bars and clubs where illegal machines are discovered and used to determine which vendor provided the unlawful machines, the news release said.
Investigators began undercover surveillance on bars and clubs with illegal gambling machines from Zenner Vending. While conducting undercover surveillance, many of the investigators played the video gambling machines and received a “pay out” from the owners or employees of the bars or clubs, according to the statewide grand jury presentment.
As part of Zenner’s video poker machine operation, participating bars and clubs made cash payouts to players who “won” credits on his machines. The cash payouts, coupled with the poker machines being games of chance, made the operation illegal under Pennsylvania law. All of Zenner’s machines also had “knock off” devices and an internal accounting feature that kept track of each player’s credits earned and winnings. Those added devices made the machines illegal gambling devices.
A trooper testified before the grand jury that Zenner was seen on several occasions arriving at different bars and clubs to collect his share of the illegal proceeds. On one occasion, Zenner was reportedly present when an illegal pay out was made to a customer who was playing one of the video gambling machines. Zenner was reportedly observed opening the devices and removing money from those machines. He also was seen removing money from legitimate machines, such as dartboards and pool tables. He often comingled the legitimate money with proceeds from the illegal devices, according to the presentment.
Investigators determined Zenner was splitting the profits of his poker machines with bar and club owners, usually 50/50. Based on reports evaluated by investigators, they estimate Zenner’s split of the proceeds was approximately $14,470 per week.
On April 25, 2017, agents with the attorney general’s office and the state police conducted a raid and seized 142 video poker machines from clubs and businesses in the four-county area. Also seized was about $83,000 in cash from Zenner’s video poker machine warehouse and a company van.
Investigators also froze over $63,000 in five separate First Niagara/Key Bank accounts controlled by Zenner.
The statewide grand jury came back with a recommendation to charge Zenner in March.
“I’ve been representing him since a subpoena was served on his business April 25, 2017,” said Zenner’s defense attorney, Christopher Blackwell. “He intends to defend against all of these charges. He actually had licenses from various municipalities to place the machines.”
Zenner was released on $30,000 unsecured bond. He is scheduled for an Aug. 29 preliminary hearing before Redlinger. The case will be prosecuted by Senior Deputy Attorney General Katherine A. Wymard.