The sheriff’s department knows of no illegal gaming activity in Leflore County, according to Leflore County Sheriff Ricky Banks.
“We’ve got informants who help us. They’ll go into these places and let us know what’s going on,” Banks said Monday afternoon. “But as of now, we don’t know of any being out there right now.”
The Commonwealth published a story about an illegal “casino” operating in the county roughly two weeks ago, detailing the operation and its location — near where Grenada Boulevard Extended meets Mississippi 7. A reporter witnessed the scene – 12 slot machines, five patrons, a security guard and an attendant – inside a metal building just off the highway.
“We looked into the place that was on the front page of the paper,” Banks said, “and when we did, there weren’t any (devices) there.
“After that article came out, they undoubtedly cleaned that place out. But they’ll pop back up in a month or two.”
According to records in the Leflore County Courthouse, Paul T. Staples owns the property where the building sits. Banks said Staples leases the building to another individual.
“I can tell you that it wasn’t Staples running it,” the sheriff said, though he would not name the person who leases the building because “we have an investigation under way.”
“But I don’t think they’ll be putting them back in there again,” he added.
Staples did not return a telephone call Monday afternoon seeking comment.
In the past, Banks has admitted that illegal gaming devices are a problem in the county. On Monday he said illegal drug activity usually goes hand-in-hand with the operations.
“What we try to do is get them at the same time,” he said of the gaming devices and the drug operations. “They might be there longer than people think they should be, but we want to get the drug side of it too.”
The Commonwealth article that appeared on March 29 also detailed slot machines a reporter found inside Melvin’s One Stop in Sidon.
The Commonwealth received numerous phone calls and emails that told of other spots within the county in the days following publication.
The sheriff’s department, Banks added, has received no complaints of illegal gaming devices in the past couple of weeks.
