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STEUBENVILLE -- A Jefferson County grand jury has indicted the co-owner of a business raided by the Ohio Casino Control Commission four months ago, charging him with operating an illegal, unlicensed casino.
Zane Donald Roe, 45, 823 Buena Vista Blvd., also was charged with felony possession of drugs and a misdemeanor gambling violation after authorities raided NUNACC, a gaming and cultural center at 4244 Sunset Blvd.
NUNAAC allegedly made illegal cash payouts to its patrons, and the Ohio Casino Control Commission raided the business Oct. 21. OCCC seized about 30 slot machines as well as cash, documents, several handguns and narcotics during the raid, according to the initial reports.
Roe's residence also was searched.
An OCCC spokesperson had said the raid was ordered after the commission had been made aware of an establishment operating gaming machines and making cash payouts. Undercover officers went in to investigate, and search warrants were issued after the officers reported receiving cash for their winnings.
The Ohio Revised Code characterizes video and digital gaming devices as slot machines, unless they're "skill-based amusement machines." But by law, skill-based amusement machines cannot reward players with cash prizes. And while slot machines can pay out, the only four locations permitted by ORC to pay out cash are the state's four casinos — Columbus, Cleveland, Cincinnatti and Toledo.
Roe's partner, Mike Renforth, was not among Wednesday's indictees.
In an interview shortly after the raid, Renforth had denied wrongdoing, insisting he and Roe are Cherokee "so different rules apply."
"There's different laws between Native American law and state law," Renforth had said. "Our heritage gave us the right to have gaming. We're Cherokee, we have the right to have gaming."
Renforth had said the 1998 Indian Gaming Regulatory Act "says we do not have to be on a reservation to have gaming, you just have to be an organization or a group of communities of people who are Native American."
But OCCC insisted the ethnicity of the owners has no bearing on the case, pointing out there are no federally recognized tribes in the Buckeye state. Federal laws only permit tribal gaming on tribal lands, the state had said.