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GEORGIA NEWSPAPER
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Vol. ATHENS GA 306
No. 119 Issue 01 2 Sections, 12 Pages 500
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Task force cracks down
on gambling machines
By Brian Shreve
News Editor
Luck has run out for
Peach County businesses
operating illegal gambling
machines.
On December 21,
the county’s Drug
Enforcement Unit com¬
prised of the Sheriff’s
Office and the police
departments of both
Byron and Fort Valley
executed search warrants
at Danfair Express and
Knoxville Tobacco Mart
following undercover
investigations that began
in November. Both stores
are located in Fort Valley.
. Fort Valley Police Chief
John D. Anderson said the
joint sweep seized approx¬
imately $10,000 in illegal
gambling proceeds, which
were used as cash payouts
for the small casinos found
in many convenient stores
throughout the area.
“We’ve been receiving
a lot of complaints about
people basically spending
their entire paychecks
at these machines,” said
Anderson. “Whether you
agree with the law or not,
it’s a quality of life issue.
We’ve got people getting
addicted to these games,
and their families are suf¬
fering from it.”
Sheriff Terry Deese said
his office receives calls
weekly, if not more often,
from people concerned
about family members’
Peach convict denied
Atlanta, GA -The State
Board of Pardons and
Paroles recently denied
parole for Frederick Joseph,
42. Joseph was convicted
of murder in Peach County
Superior Court in February
of 1992, for the murder of
Paula Joseph. He received
a life sentence. This was
the second time the Parole
Board denied parole for
Joseph.
On November 22. 1991,
at approximately 7:14 a.m.,
officers from the Fort Valley
Police
Legal Organ For Peach County, City of Fort Valley and City Of Byron
<
The first hundred
By Brian Shreve
News Editor
Behind the cashed checks,
the savings accounts and
loans, one discovers that the
Citizens Bank is about so
much more.
Perhaps that’s one reason
why its employees some¬
times refer to each other
as “family” rather than co¬
workers.
And according to them,
that could be the secret to
the business’s surviving a
century.
With all the buzz sur¬
rounding the bank’s merger
with Warner Robins’ CB&T
Bank of Middle Georgia in
a couple of weeks, some
may have forgotten the
Citizens Bank’s birthday
on December 26, the day
the Peach County staple
celebrated its first hundred
years of “paying interest to
playing the machines for
hours at a time.
He said Byron had con¬
ducted a similar crack¬
down recently, but that
December’s warrants
marked the first such raid
on the other end of the
county.
“This was just the ideal
.opportunity for us to do
something, and we took
advantage of it,” Deese
said. “There’s a lot of this
going on. It’s a statewide
problem.”
Georgia Code 16-12-20
states an illegal “gambling
device” to be “any slot
machine or any simula¬
tion or variation thereof,”
and that anyone inten¬
tionally participating in
their operations is com¬
mitting commercial gam¬
bling, a felony punished
by imprisonment, a fine of
up to $20,000 or both.
State law further says
- that such machines are
only legal when players
are rewarded with free
replays or non-cash mer¬
chandise with a wholesale
value not exceeding $5.
The Fort Valley busi¬
nesses were offering cash
payouts to winners, thus
making it commercial
gambling.
“That’s when it becomes
illegal,” Deese said. “The
machines have labels that
say it’s illegal to pay out
in cash, but they wouldn’t
get the clientale in there,
people spending hundreds
of dollars.”
Department responded
to a person stabbed call at
Bobby’s Minit Mart Store
on Orange Street. Upon
arrival, they found the store
clerk, Paula Joseph, on the
ground next to a gas pump.
Ms. Joseph was unconscious
and had two stab wounds.
An ambulance arrived short
ly after the police and trans
ported Ms. Joseph to Peach
County hospital where she
was pronounced dead,
Witnesses on the scene
advised police that Ms.
Joseph was seen running
you.
The Citizens Bank was
first chartered and opened
for business in Marshallville
in 1906 and was one of the
few banks in Georgia to
remain open throughout
the Great Depression of the
1930s.
Moving to Fort Valley in
December of 1974, it oper¬
ated briefly in the old depot
building and then in Five
Points. That same year, the
bank opened its first branch
in Byron. The main office
was moved to its present
location on Vineville Street
in Fort Valley in December
of 1979.
Since the beginning, the
Citizens Bank has been
managed by only four presi¬
dents, including Fred Greer,
who first arrived to work at
the Fort Valley branch as a
24 year old back in August
of 1969.
Greer, a native of Tifton,
Both Deese and
Anderson said there has
been some confusion
among businesses, patrons
and even some courts con¬
cerning the law.
“The biggest problem
is there’s some loopholes
in the law depending on
which district attorney
you talk to,” said Deese.
Anderson said his
department will be send¬
ing notices to any Fort
Valley businesses oper¬
ating the machines this
week, briefing them on
the state law and the pos¬
sible consequences.
“There are different
case rulings out there
that stagnate the process
of people’s understand¬
ing of what’s legal and
what’s not,” he said.
“But the fact of the mat¬
ter is, the code section
says they’re illegal, and
we’re going to ask {those
businesses] to cooperate
and get those machines
out of Fort Valley. In addi¬
tion to going after their
business licenses, we will
also press criminal charg¬
es against any business
owner and clerk on duty
if the machines are not
removed.”
Anderson added that the
use of gambling machines
could also make way for
an increase in robberies.
“It’s like you’re creating
an attractive nuisance,”
he said. “The entire
Middle Georgia area is
having that problem with
out of the store yelling for
help. Joseph was following.
When Joseph caught up
* with her, he stabbed her and
then ran across the street,
He was arrested later that
day.
“Joseph will continue to
pay for this vicious, cold
blooded murder,” stated
Parole Board Member
Milton E. “Buddy” Nix, Jr.
‘Violence of this magnitude
has severe consequences.
Parole is denied,”
Joseph is not scheduled to
be reconsidered for parole
Ga., said the longevity of
his career with the bank lay
in the people - customers
and fellow workers - he has
come to cherish over the
past several decades.
“A natural comradery
grew up around the group of
us who have worked here,”
he said. Everybody has
always pulled together and
felt like a family. And it’s
very important that every¬
body gets along well and
has interest in what goes on
here. Working here is not
drudgery, but enjoyable and
interactive, where people
look forward to coming to
work and being with their
friends.”
Judy Holland, the Citizens
Bank’s longest serving
employee, began her career
42 years ago when former
president Cleon Moore
hired her at the age of 19.
see BANK on page 5B
these machines. The bad
guys know the payouts
are going on and where
that cash box is located
behind the counter, and
they don’t mind coming
in and robbing the place,
and that’s happened here.
We’re saying enough
is enough. One way or
another, we’re going to
get it gone.”
As for store owners’
“receiving the message”
as a result of the recent
action, Deese said it may
take time.
“I got acomplaint today, ”
he said. “I think the risk
is not high enough yet.
Some of them are back in
operation already.”
Anderson and Deese
both said they considered
their recent success in
enforcing the law against
gambling to be a testa¬
ment to the “new environ¬
ment” in which all three
agencies communicate
and work together.
“That had been a goal of
mine since before I became
sheriff, to see all three
agencies sitting at the
same table,” said Deese.
“None of us are on an ego
trip. As long as somebody
catches those who are vio¬
lating the law, it doesn’t
matter whether it’s me,
Chief Anderson or Chief
[Wesley] Cannon. Just as
long as we get them out of
our community.’’
until November of 2014.
Georgia statute requires
that all inmates serving life
sentences be considered for
parote at specified inter¬
vals Consideration, as in
Joseph’s case, does not imply
that parole will be granted.
There are approximately
6000 inmates serving life
sentences in Georgia’s pris¬
on system. Approximately
50 percent of those cases
have been reviewed and
denied parole at least one
time.
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The original version of the Citizens Bank located in
Marshallville.
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In December of 1963,The Citizen’s Bank was moved to
Fort Valley in temporary quarters next to the old railroad
depot Though vacant, the building still stands.
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The second site at Five Points served as the Citizens
Bank's main office until 1979.
The Citizens Bank today located on Vineville Street in
Fort Valley where it has stood since 1979
Byron
By Faye Jones
L.T. Writer
During a special session of
Byron City Council on Dec.
27, approval of resolutions
to adopt the fiscal year 2007
budgets for General Fund,
Special Revenue Funds and
Enterprise Funds was given
unanimously on a motion
by Michael Chumbley and
seconded by Councilwoman
Sandra Walker.
A general overview of the
budget listed Administration
costs for 2007 at $445,399.99
- up from $376,696.72 in
2006. Elections for 2007
at $8,002.19; Executive
$182,202.86, up from
$155,811.44 in 2006; Library
remains the same at $5,000.
Byron Police Department
2007 budget $1,637,286.88
up from $1,258,882.48 in
2006. Court $188,435.10 up
from $145,564.70 in 2006.
Shop $113,492.78 up from
$105,743.52 in 2006. Fire
Department $153,672.98 up
from $120,566.87 in 2006;
Streets, $123,704.38, up
from $121,004.08 in 2006;
budgeting
Marshall $184,147.01, down
from $184,190.49 in 2006;
P&Z $171,395.79, up from
$153,832.80 in 2006; Public
Works Administration,
$207,060.41, down from
$202,291.05 last year;
Intergovernmental pay¬
ments $60,076.00 for
2007, GF-Expenditure
Contingency $33,448.70
up from $30,977.23. Total
for $2007 $3,453,249.07 up
from $2,920,637.38.
Copies of the proposed
budgets for the three enti¬
ties are available for read¬
ing at Byron City Hall.
Second on the agenda
was the renewal agreement
between the City of Byron
and Stephanie Thornton to
represent indigent defen¬
dants in the Municipal
Court of the City of Byron
at a salary of $650 per
month. Terms of agreement
begin on Jan 1, 20067 and
ends Dec. 31, 2007. The
renewal was unanimously
approved upon a motion
by Chumbley with a sec¬
ond from Councilwoman Lil
Powell.
