SPRINGFIELD, MA (WSHM) -
The owner and business partner of Cafeno's Cyber café in Chicopee, Steven Sheldon and Steven Megliola, pleaded not guilty in Hampden Superior Court on Wednesday morning to charges of operating an illegal slot parlor.
The two face charges of organizing and promoting gambling services and operating an illegal lottery. Sheldon also faces charges for the sale and advertising of lottery tickets and allowing lotteries in a building.
Their business Cafeno's faces those same allegations being brought by Attorney General Martha Coakley.
"Cafeno's was a legal Internet cafe, it's protected by Massachusetts law with regard to Internet cafes with regard to sweepstakes events," said Lawyer Tom Lesser who is representing Steve Sheldon and Cafeno's.
State police raided Cafeno's back in March and the Attorney Generals office closed the business.
"They never received a notice from the AG saying wait a second stop doing what you're doing, it's illegal," said Lesser. "The first notice they had was when state troopers came and seized all the computers, seized all the records seized everything in the establishment."
The two were indicted back in November. And at that time the AG released a statement saying "This cyber café was nothing more than an illegal, unregulated slot parlor with no protections for consumers."
The indictments at Cafeno's come on the heels of charges against owners of two Internet cafe's in Fall River and Fairhaven.
Under current Massachusetts state law it is illegal to run or promote a gambling operation which in this case points to the existence of an alleged illegal lottery.
The Attorney Generals office says evidence gathered during this case finds that patrons at the Internet café were paying nearly exclusively for the right to gamble and not for Internet time and playing free sweepstakes as the operator had suggested.
"We plan to litigate this strenuously and we expect to be found not guilty at the end of the day," said Lesser.
The case is due back in court for a pretrial hearing on May 18.
In the meantime the AG and House Speaker have filed legislation that would enhance criminal penalties for illegal gaming at cyber cafes in the Baystate.
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