Floridian Operator of Slot-Like Games is in the Joint
Gale Fontaine, president of the Florida Arcade Association, has been charged with running illegal gaming operations, after Broward County sheriff's deputies raided one of her adult arcades located in Pompano Beach. The list of felonies faced by the 56-year-old woman includes the possession of slot machines. Fontaine willingly turned herself into the Broward County Jail a week ago.
Fontaine is reportedly blaming operators of Broward County's pari-mutuels for the entire ordeal. She believes that these facilities put pressure on the Sheriff's Office, urging it to close the arcades. Florida's pari-mutuels responded saying that the gaming rooms operate outside of the law, and that the machines operated in Fontaine's arcades are just unregulated slots enjoying the same tax rates as video games developed for children.
In the past few years, adult arcades have become extremely popular, mainly offering entertainment to retirees who like playing the slot-like machines. There are up to 100 such gaming rooms in Broward, Palm Beach and Miami-Dade counties. The elderly members of Broward County's Aging and Disability Resource Center apparently view Fontaine as their savior from boredom and plan to honor her with the group's Community Commitment Award. Fontaine said that she would fight all the accusations.
