Illegal Florida gambling network disrupted with raids and arrests

An illegal gambling network that ran from strip-mall casinos to a warehouse in Miami’s Wynwood neighborhood was taken down this week by state and local law enforcement agencies.

Authorities raided slot-machine parlors in suburban West Palm Beach, Fort Pierce, Vero Beach and Zephyrhills, confiscating machines and cash. They also charged officers of a company in Miami that sold slot machines to illegal casinos. At least five people face various gambling and money-laundering charges after an operation led by the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office and involving several other agencies.

During the investigation, which started in 2022, undercover officers posed as gamblers played the slot machines and others posed as casino owners to gather evidence on the Miami company that supplied machines to the illegal gambling operations.

Among the casinos that were raided was VIP Sweepstakes at 2885 N. Military Trail, just outside West Palm Beach, a casino chronicled in a recent Sun Sentinel series on the spread of illegal casinos in Florida.

Lit with chandeliers and carpeted in maroon and gold, the casino offered free buffet breakfasts, lunches and dinners and a more upscale gambling experience than the spartan, dimly lit slots parlors more commonly found along Military Trail.

The approach turned out to be profitable. During a one-year period, the casino deposited $763,196 into its bank accounts, according to an affidavit filed by the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office.

Florida law prohibits the possession or operation of slot machines except at 15 licensed gambling facilities, which include casinos run by the Seminole and Miccosukee tribes, as well as casinos and race tracks in Broward and Miami-Dade counties.

But casinos known as “arcades” operate throughout the state, some openly, some covertly. Although illegal, they often operate undisturbed because investigations are difficult and the penalties low.

At a panel discussion this week in the Florida House’s Industries and Professional Activities Subcommittee, law enforcement officers told lawmakers that the penalties for gambling offenses, typically misdemeanors, were too light to serve as a deterrent. Owners who are arrested typically get off without jail time, they said, unless investigators are able to bring more serious charges such as racketeering.

And while many people may regard the casinos as engaging in victimless crime, they operate without any oversight or taxation, allowing them to routinely cheat players and avoid paying the hefty taxes levied on the legal casinos.

The other casinos that were raided this week were Treasure Hunter’s Arcade in Fort Pierce, Pharoah’s Treasure Arcade in Vero Beach and Arcadia Arcade in Zephyrhills. The group that ran the casinos and warehouse used multiple shell and front companies, according to the affidavit.

It’s unclear how many people have been charged. The Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release that the investigation resulted in the issuance of five arrest warrants. An affidavit filed by the sheriff’s office requests arrest warrants for six people. They are: Joseph Michael Pestana, Eric David Silverstein, Justin Earl Silverstein, David Roffey, Nova Revez Roffey, and Jana Barvircakova.

The slot machine company caught up in the investigation was Grand View Products Inc., 391 NW 24th St., Miami. Investigators learned about the company’s involvement from a man arrested for his involvement in a group that ran several illegal casinos, who told them he had bought several machines from that company.

Undercover officers posed as business people planning to establish an illegal casino in Delray Beach and toured the warehouse, where they were offered used slot machines for $6,500 each.

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