Philadelphia Gets $150,000 Grant To Deal With Gambling In City
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Philadelphia's district attorney is getting a $150,000 state grant to help keep an eye on gambling in the city.
Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board chairman Bill Ryan says that taxpayers don't have to part with a penny for the grant -- unless you lost it in a slot machine.
"That money all comes from revenues gleaned from the casino take -- part of the 55 percent that the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania gets when we have slot play," Ryan explained today.
Ryan says that since state budget cutbacks in 2010, $150,000 is now the maximum amount they can give the city. The first grant ($250,000) three years ago set up Philadelphia's gaming control task force.
DA Seth Williams says the money supports their fight against illegal gambling and lets investigators keep tabs on more than just the big-name casino in town.
"There might be people who are still running numbers, people who have their own roulette wheels in basements, speakeasies if you will. People are very well aware of one-armed bandits, blackjack games that are in many bars. So it allows us to investigate those and to prosecute them," Williams said.
Reported by Ian Bush, KYW Newsradio 1060
