Eight of the stores accused of conducting illegal gambling can open back up.
However District Attorney David Cooke said evidence shows some of them were just illegal gaming fronts, not actual stores. And those stores won't open. He would not say which ones.
A court-appointed receiver held control of the 10 stores since they were raided on November 7th. Six people are charged with allowing illegal gambling there.
All of the store's alleged owners, except for one, agreed with to stay under state control until the case is over. That means gambling machines will be removed and owner will have to make monthly financial and inventory reports to the receiver, Burt Wilkerson.
In court Monday Pannaben and her husband Raxit Patel, who owns the Shell Gas Station off Forest Hill Road, didn't want to remain under receivership.
However, the judge ruled that the court would keep control over it because there was evidence of illegal gambling.
Michael Lambros, special district attorney, told the judge that from January to October this year gamblers bet $1.3 million at that Shell station which allegedly gave $800,000 in cash payouts.
District Attorney David Cooke said it's beneficial to open the stores back up.
"All we're doing is maintaining the property to make sure it's in good order in case it's ultimately forteited to the state. So a store is not gonna remain in good order if it's padlocked. So the idea is that you continue to allow a store to operate legally under strict supervison until the case is finished," said Cooke.
Two of the 10 stores will remain closed. They are the Bateman and Wade off Clayton Street -- which is still under investigation-- and the shell gas station off Forest Hill Road because its owners declined to reopen.
An undercover GBI agent testified that she gambled in eight Macon stores and won illegal cash payouts in all eight. Two of her undercover co-workers went to the other stores in question.
While testifying, she said she went to the Forest Hill Gas station once in July, September and October.
On July 23, she played $80, and walked out with $150. The following two times at that location, she lost money, but still got a cash payout.
While there she received payments from below the counter and the register.
In early November Cooke filed a civil suit naming suspects in the alleged illegal gambling. It included Pannaben Patel and not her husband.
The order was to stop the transfer of assets the state alleges to be part of the suspected criminal activity. That includes the gas station itself, its inventory, equipment and money.
The court found Pannaben doesn't have any recent connection to the gas station and therefore lifted the restraining order, said Lambros.
However the district attorneys office says it's an empty victory because there's still a restraining order on the Shell gas station and anyone that has knowledge of it must abide.
CORRECTION: A previous version of this story incorrectly stated that nine of the 10 stores closed in an alleged illegal gambling operation will reopen. Eight stores will reopen and two will remain closed.
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UPDATE: 12:55 p.m. Eight Bibb County stores that have been closed since Nov. 7 gambling raids will be allowed to reopen, a judge said today.
That came after a two-hour hearing in Bibb County Superior Court.
Two of the 10 stores closed by authorities this month will remain closed, the Bateman and Wade store in Pleasant Hill and Shell on Forest Hill Road. Authorities say they're still investigating illegal gambling there.
Those stores that reopen must report to a court-appointed receiver every month and follow new guidelines, which haven't been announced yet. The gambling machines will be removed from the stores.
An undercover GBI agent today testified that she gambled in eight Macon stores and won illegal cash payouts in all eight.
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Prosecutors are issuing a motion at a hearing Monday asking a Bibb County judge to extend the receivership of 10 Macon stores closed during an alleged illegal gambling racket earlier this month.
Six people were arrested in the Nov. 7 raids when Bibb county deputies and GBI agents closed down 10 Macon convenience stores and raided one residence suspected of being part of an illegal gambling racket.
13WMAZ Elise Brown will be in court covering the 10 a.m. hearing. Check back with 13wmaz.com and watch Eyewitness News at Noon for more on this story.
