The Greer County police department in South Carolina recently benefited from money seized in an investigation from years ago. Walt Wilkins a U.S. Attorney recently gave the Greer Police department a check for $1.3 million after Billy Joe Hindman was found guilty of operating illegal gambling businesses.

Hindman was operating around twenty five businesses in the area of Greer over a seven year period. Hindman would lease the properties to people and those people would run Hindman’s video poker machines.

Hindman had been in the video poker business for years when the state outlawed the machines in 2000. Instead of adhering to the laws, Hindman decided to stay in business. Wilkins praised the police department for their successful “coordination, cooperation and communication” between the local and federal agencies during the case.

The money given to the police department was their cut from a share arrangement organized with federal prosecutors and the IRS. Hindman pleaded guilty in 2007 and accepted a plea bargain which saw him give up $9 million in assets to avoid prison time. So far $4 million has been seized and the police received their share from that amount.




- 2009-10-02