PHOENIX (AP) – The Arizona Attorney General’s Office says two people have been convicted of gambling and conspiracy charges for operating an “illegal sweepstakes cafe.”
The AG’s Office announced the convictions Thursday of 44-year-old Eric Alan Stelljes of Phoenix and 43-year-old Laura Marie Leinaar of Parks.
They’ll both be sentenced on Jan. 22.
State prosecutors say search warrants were issued after illegal gambling cafes were found to be posing as coffee shops.
They say Stelljes and Leinaar operated the Escape Internet Lounge in Flagstaff.
Prosecutors say casino-style games that the defendants claimed were “creative reveals” of an underlying sweepstakes could be accessed through computers in the lounge.
Undercover agents found Leinaar and Stelljes didn’t offer entries to the supposed sweepstakes without a purchase and the odds of winning or available prizes weren’t posted.
Copyright 2015 The Associated Press
