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Law

North Carolina Steps Up Crackdown On Internet Sweepstakes Parlors

internet sweepstakes, gambling,
Pete Labrozzi
/
Flickr Creative Commons

Police and prosecutors are working to enforce a state Supreme Court ruling that outlaws web-based sweepstakes games.    The justices' ruling last December upheld a law passed two years earlier by the General Assembly.  Since then, sheriff's departments have had the backing of prosecutors and Attorney General Roy Cooper in conducting stings to shut down the industry.

"There's been 14 or 15 so far that have taken place," Cooper says.  "We've seen a number of them voluntarily close down and there are a number of undercover investigations going on across North Carolina right now."

Die-hard parlor owners continue to fight the law saying software changes protect them and their customers.  But Cumberland County Sheriff Earl "Moose" Butler says technology changes don't matter.

"Any type of game that pays out is illegal.  And all of these games pay out," Butler said.

Butler's deputies have seized more than 200 machines since the state Supreme Court's decision.

Gurnal Scott joined North Carolina Public Radio in March 2012 after several stops in radio and television. After graduating from the College of Charleston in his South Carolina hometown, he began his career in radio there. He started as a sports reporter at News/Talk Radio WTMA and won five Sportscaster of the Year awards. In 1997, Gurnal moved on to television as general assignment reporter and weekend anchor for WCSC-TV in Charleston. He anchored the market's top-rated weekend newscasts until leaving Charleston for Memphis, TN in 2002. Gurnal worked at WPTY-TV for two years before returning to his roots in radio. He joined the staff of Memphis' NewsRadio 600 WREC in 2004 eventually rising to News Director. In 2006, Raleigh news radio station WPTF came calling and he became the station's chief correspondent. Gurnal’s reporting has been honored by the South Carolina Broadcasters Association, the North Carolina Associated Press, and the Radio Television Digital News Association of the Carolinas.
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