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Maryland Prosecutors May Turn Vicious After Gambling Legalized
BALTIMORE, MARYLAND --
Pennsylvania residents have already learned that government with a vested interest in gambling pursues criminal offenses far differently than before the tax revenues started flowing. Now Maryland may be about to learn a similar lesson.
Law enforcement agents raided a series of properties and bank accounts belonging to John Zorxit, a resident of Cockeysville, Maryland. At issue was a stream of income Zorzit allegedly had developed from illegal slot machines placed at almost forty bars, motels, and liquor stores.
Government officials requested a court grant forfeiture of fourteen bank accounts and seventeen properties, including Zorzit's home, worth over one million dollars. The forfeiture laws are a well-known travesty of US justice, not requiring a conviction or proof of guilt beyond a reasonable doubt to seize a man's home and property.
Similar strong-arm methods were adopted in Pennsylvania shortly after the installation of slot machines at state horse tracks. Suddenly, quiet neighborhood card games were raided by SWAT teams, and penny slots paying discreetly on the side at veterans' lodges and moose halls were grabbed by state officials.
Maryland recently legalized slots to be placed at horse tracks. The Zorzit forfeitures may be a coincidence of timing, but gray market gaming proprietors better prepare for stormy weather ahead.
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