They went searching for drugs, but discovered a major gambling operation instead.
A federal judge in Detroit today unsealed a criminal complaint detailing a large-scale, multi-state gambling operation — allegedly run by an elderly Detroit couple — that for decades has operated out of coney island restaurants, storefronts and homes in the Detroit area.
According to the complaint, federal agents stumbled upon the gambling operation in 2007 when they went to execute a search warrant at a Farmington Hills home, expecting to discover evidence of a drug operation. Instead, they found $25,901, which fell out of the hands of Herbert Lee Daniels when they entered the residence, the complaint stated.
"During questioning about the source of the cash, Daniels stated that the money was from his lottery business," the complaint stated.
According to court records, Daniels and his wife, Willie Mae Truvillion, who are in their 70s, ran an illegal lottery based on legitimate lottery numbers.
Items seized from their home included fax machines, fax documents containing lottery gambling information, including suspected code names, or bookie or book holder names, and charts listing Michigan lottery numbers. According to court documents, gamblers could place a nickel bet, and win as much as $250; a 50-cent bet paid out $2,500.
Charged in the alleged gambling operation were Daniels, Truvillion, and the couple's son, Myron Daniels.
The family's lawyer, Richard Helfrick, could not be reached for comment.
A preliminary hearing has been scheduled for Nov. 3.
Thanks to truecritic for the tip.
Wow, I wonder what the odds were on that nickel bet for $250.
Seems to me more people should be charged.
Who bets just a nickel? If 100 bet $.05 then the bookie (or illegal lottery) would only bring in $5 and it would probably take almost an hour (depending on the accounting system) just to log the bets into the books. $5 is simply not worth an hours worth of time with an operation like this. There is more to this story.
The Tennessee Lottery will be glad to hear about these crooks being nabbed.
They would be devastated to see anybody cheated out of money by an unscrupulous lottery scam.
It would make the whole industry look bad.
I'm sure they will demand heavy fines and maximum prison sentences.
Charged? Crooks?
Sounds like they payout much better than State Lotteries - I bet they don't make you go through the drudgery of filing tax forms either. Give me that lottery, I'll bet with both hands!
I'm glad i did not know these folks. 70 years old, proubly trying to supplement their social security and health care. You would think the elderly would be more wise than this.
I too believe more people will be going down!
Cuff em' and Stuff em' Roscoe P. Coltrane.
Cutla$$Bob
Well, that's why it's ill-eagle -- the gov't can't filch a piece of the action (in exchange for doing exactly NONE of the work), you get shut down.
No it is not more to this story we do the same thing everyday! and it only takes a couple of minutes to put your numbers in. Most people play the same numbers everyday so they just copy them and date the slip or you write your own and have them ready when you get there. We bet 10 cents but it only pay 7 to 1
I wonder which game or games they were using.
I am sure that SCEL will be nabbing their crooks when everbody open back up for business this week.
They would be upset to learn that someone is actually paying out money beacuse the numbers are falling in the states where they place their bet on the number.
It doea make the SCEL look bad.
SCEL need to be heavily fines and Imprisoned. Not the bookie.
I've never heard of a lottery game where you can just bet 10 cents.
You must be very young..the games in one form or another have been around for years. I played them also. almost every state had some kind of "numbers" game. It was a game that gave the poor man a chance to win. To me they paid off better than the state lotteries and it didn't cost much to bet.
That's basically what I was saying in a tongue in cheek kinda way.
It was always illegal, not to protect the consumer but because the government wasn't getting a piece of the action.
Now they got the whole ball o' wax and don't want any competition.
What they call crime for everybody else is a lucrative business for the government.
Or, put more simply by my dad, "Don't steal. The Government hates competition."
isnt that the numbers racket you hear about in all the 20's crime movies,5 and 10c bets all going to the 1 boss.
last 3 digits on the stock market i think the pick 3 numbers where based on but my memeories gtting vague.
Was that Rebecca Paul from the TN lottery they caught lol.
Yeah, that's it and it's still around.
A lot of people have more faith in the crime syndicate than in government and you can't blame them.
You've got it right; there were numbers runners and players long before the so-called state lotteries got into the business. They made it ILLEGAL (Government) so that the little guys could no longer do it and they (Government) could make all the money and TAX it.
Hey, it was private business, Capitalizism in its purist form, except they weren’t paying taxes on the winnings. However, I might point out that the winnings were going right back into the economy by the players, either by them spending more on playing or on buying everyday needs for the players and their families.
The bookies offered $600 to $1 using the same Pick-3 number from the state lottery drawing and gave $6 worth of bets for $5. I know they took a quarter bet where you could win $150 and may have even booked dime or nickel bets too. I never heard of anyone complaining about not getting paid their winnings or told to come back later like some of the state lottery retailers often tell winners.
I wonder what this family's 3 members have been doing since that "search" date, way back in 2007?
I agree mjwinsmith, Its been around so many years, and winnings went back into every days needs.
when u think of 25,000 thats not alot of money for a small business, nothing compare to Bernie Madoff, look how
many years they took to unfold his operations.
This type of gaming was called "Running the Numbers". It has been around for a long time, though state-sanctioned gambling has probably put a big dent in their profits.
Actually, to people who have actually been around it, it was called "numbers running" or "running numbers."
Calling it "Running the Numbers" is like calling beer drinking "Drinking the Beer."
Which is kinda goofy.
Are you from Rio Linda?
This is how the game you now know as Pick 3 originated. The bet was a nickel. It didn't pay $250 back then but it was called playing "policy". It started in the ghettos and fortunes were made.
"The Outfit" (AHEM!) saw those fortunes being made and got in on the act and even bigger fortunes were made. Then they took it over.
Here's some info from WikiPredia:
Numbers game
The numbers game, or policy racket, is an illegal lottery played mostly in poor neighborhoods in U.S. cities, wherein the bettor attempts to pick three or four digits to match those that will be randomly drawn the following day. The gambler places his or her bet with a bookie at a tavern, or other semi-private place that acts as a betting parlor. A runner carries the money and betting slips between the betting parlors and the headquarters, called a numbers bank or policy bank. The name policy is from a similarity to cheap insurance, both seen as a gamble on the future.[1]
History
The game dates back at least to the beginning of the Italian lottery, in 1530. Policy shops, where bettors choose numbers, were in the U.S. prior to 1860. By the early 20th century, the game was associated with poor communities, and could be played for as little as $0.01. One of the game's attractions to low income and working class bettors was the ability to bet small amounts of money. Also, unlike state lotteries, bookies could extend credit to the bettor. In addition, policy winners could avoid paying income tax. Different policy banks would offer different rates, though a payoff of 600 to 1 was typical. Since the odds of winning were 1000:1, the expected profit for racketeers was enormous. In the northeastern United States this game was known as the "!!!!!! Pool", because of its presence in poor African-American communities.[2] The game was also popular in Italian neighborhoods, and it was known in Cuban communities as bolita ("little ball"). In 1875, a report of a select committee of the New York State Assembly stated that "the lowest, meanest, worst form ... [that] gambling takes in the city of New York, is what is known as policy playing."[3]
Winning number
One of the problems of the early game was to find a way to draw a random number. Initially, winning numbers were set by the daily outcome of a random drawing of numbered balls, or by spinning a "policy wheel", at the headquarters of the local numbers ring. The daily outcomes were publicized by being posted after the draw at the headquarters, and were often "fixed". The existence of rigged games, used to cheat players and drive competitors out of business, later led to the use of the last three numbers in the published daily balance of the United States Treasury. The use of a central independently chosen number allowed for gamblers from a larger area to engage in the same game and it made possible larger wins. When the Treasury began rounding off the balance many bookies began to use the "mutuel" number. This consisted of the last dollar digit of the daily total handle of the Win, Place and Show bets at a local race track, read from top to bottom.
For example, if the daily handle was:
then the daily number was 437.
By 1936, "The Bug" had spread to cities such as Atlanta where the winning number was determined by the last digit of that day's New York bond sales.[4]
Manipulation
Dutch Schultz is said to have rigged this system, thanks to an idea from Otto Berman, by betting heavily on certain races to change the Win, Place and Show numbers that determine the winning lottery number. This allegedly added ten percent to the Mob take.
________________________________________-
For the whole article just look up "playing policy, the numbers game" on Yahoo or Wikipedia.
@Hermnus 104, et al-
History bears this out-
Remember the Revnuers chasing the ole monnshiners???
It;s still the same old cat & mouse game
EddessaKnight
Thanks EddessaKnight, appreciate it.
I'm a junior, same name as my father. I was home on leave in the Army when New Jersey the TV news said the atate approved the lottery. The phone rang within minutes, and they guy on the phone, thinking I was my fater, said, "If you wanna play wid da state go ahead, but don't forget us and we ain't gonna make you pay any taxes on any wins. Ciao."
True story.
Rdgrnr, it's called "Running the Numbers" idiot. Rio Linda is full with ex-Tennessee residents, so I can understand your reference (We had to put them downwind from Sacramento, if you know what I mean...) You are a remarkably idiotic person, rdgrnr. I think you should cease posting, because you just look more idiotic every time I read something you post. You are an absolute moron, rdgrnr.
I'm rooting for the mice.
They should be able to keep all the cheese they earn.
I know you don't mean these atrocious things you're saying about me lil' davey.
It's Tad, isn't it?
He's left you, hasn't he?
I told you little guy but you wouldn't listen. I told you he was no good for you from the beginning, but no, you knew it all, didn't you?
And now, here you are ------------------------->
While Tad is talking baby talk to Bruce ------------------------------------------------>
And you sit home alone with only his codpiece to remember him by.
Well, maybe next time you'll listen to me lil' davey, maybe next time.
"Atrocious"? It's called the TRUTH, you ignorant buffoon! Is there an award in Tennessee for being stupid? You're so moronic, it's amazing anyone would allow you access to their computer (Perhaps you sneak into the office at night, when the nurses at the 'hospital' are sleeping...) Take your anti-stupid pills like the doctor says, and maybe he'll give you a sucker.
Here's a good Tennessee joke:
A Californian, a Washingtonian and a Tennessee hick were walking in the forest. As the sun set, they searched for a place to stay. The group came upon a smal farmhouse, and knocked on the door.. The owner eyed the men, and advised them that one would have to sleep in the barn. The Californian volunteered. A short time afterward, a knock came at the door. It was the Californian. "I can't sleep. There's..like...animals in there making noise." The Washingtonian took his turn, but he too knocked on the door a short time later. "There's a cow and a pig that just keep waking me up" he complained. The Tennessee hick grudgingly went out to the barn. Just as quickly, a knock was heard. The farmer opened the door, and it was the cow and the pig.
Well then just call him back if he's so important to you but I'm telling you Twinkletoes, Tad is no good for you. He's a user.
And this new habit you've got of going around town wearing his codpiece like an oxygen mask is absolutely ridiculous!
Now you're delusional. I thought you were just plain dumb. My apologies. Delusional people don't know how stupid they sound. Dumbbells know how stupid they sound, but they're too dumb to engage in intelligent conversations. Just take those pills, and everything will be okay. Oh, and try to stay off the sauce, too, rdgrnr...
I hope you washed that codpiece in boiling hot water and bleach Twinkletoes, you don't know where's he's been, for goodness sakes!
Boy, you've really gone off the deep end, haven't you? We're starting to detect a mental problem with you, rdgrnr. The term "Delusional" might not be strong enough. You're a certifiable nut case. Ask your doctor to increase the potency of your prescription, and repost within a week.
I'm just concerned about your health Twinkster, both physically and mentally.
I wish you'd just take off the codpiece/oxygen mask for a few minutes and relax, maybe with one of those Smoothies you like so much.
You know, the Fruit Smoothies? The real Fruity ones?