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Gambling machines destroyed in Morgan County

By Bobby Shuttleworth - bio | email
Posted by Dana Franks - email

DECATUR, AL (WAFF) - Morgan County's Sheriff Greg Bartlett wants those who want to make a living gambling to know if they are caught, they will be arrested and their machines confiscated.

On Friday, huge earth moving machines crushed the gambling toys - 17 machines from three different businesses in Morgan County, according to Bartlett. 

"We've seized some gambling machines out here in the county, which it's illegal to operate these machines inside the county," Bartlett said. "These machines are set up to take advantage of people."

Bartlett said they are not a game of chance, but a game of profit. He said that law enforcement officers see addictions in gambling just like any other vice.

"For somebody losing their paycheck every week, instead of putting groceries on the table, you got daddies coming in here and spending $300 on Friday afternoon to possibly win $30," he said.

Morgan County District Attorney Bob Burrell said gambling can be just as addictive as drugs or alcohol.

"There are people that can't handle it," Burrell said. "We get complaints very commonly, and a lot of the tips that lead to the seizure of these machines come from family members of folks who have a gambling problem and are wasting money that they need to be spending on their kids and on their wife."

By seeing the graphic images of the destroyed gambling machine, officials at the Morgan County Sheriff's Office is hopeful that people will think twice before becoming involved with illegal gambling.

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