Video Poker Business Owner Sentenced to Prison

Contact Person:  Jim May (803)  929-3000

Columbia, South Carolina---- United States Attorney Bill Nettles stated that Larry Flynn, a/k/a L.W., age 40, of Richland County, South Carolina, was sentenced in federal court in Columbia, South Carolina, for operation of an illegal gambling business, a violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1955; tax evasion, a violation of 26 U.S.C. § 7201; and failure to pay taxes, a violation of 26 U.S.C. § 7203.  Senior United States District Judge Joseph F. Anderson of Columbia sentenced Flynn to 15 months in the Bureau of Prisons, plus three years supervised release, and ordered Flynn to pay $251,000 in restitution to the Government.

Evidence presented during the plea and sentencing hearings showed that Mr. Flynn ran the illegal video poker business called Magic Minutes from 2011-13.  Magic Minutes placed video poker machines throughout the state, generally in gas stations, liquor stores and party shops.  The machines allowed gamblers for a fee to play poker, black jack, keno and other games of chance – with the ability to cash out their winnings with the owners of the stores where the machines were housed.  Magic Minutes was a profitable illegal gambling business, in two years making well over a million dollars.  However, during this same time, the defendant paid no taxes and had members of his family on Medicaid.

The case was investigated by agents of the FBI, SLED, IRS, as well as the offices of the South Carolina Attorney General and the United States Attorney’s Office.  Assistant United States Attorneys Jim May and Jay Richardson of the Columbia United States Attorney’s Office prosecuted the case.

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