nj.com
The Roxbury police accused of running an illegal gambling parlor say they asked the Morris County prosecutor if their operation would break any laws.
The prosecutor answered with the Friday night raid that led to the arrests of Sgt. Richard Winstock and Officer Thomas Juskus.
In other words, the officers tipped off the prosecutor on themselves.
Anthony Arbore, the lawyer for Juskus, said yesterday his client asked the prosecutor months ago whether hosting poker games at a social club in Dover would be a violation of the law.
"They did everything by the book and it was clear at all stages there would be card playing," Arbore said. "They told their chief. And they asked for an opinion and invited the prosecutor over to see it for himself.
"The raid," Arbore said, "was unnecessary and unwarranted."
Roxbury Police Chief Mark Noll said his department also asked the prosecutor's office for an opinion in November when Winstock and Juskus were gearing up to open the 5th Street Club in a warehouse off Route 15.
Following a news conference yesterday announcing the arrests, Prosecutor Michael Rubbinaccio said, "I did have a conversation with Chief Noll and Mr. Arbore and told them that I would not provide them with a legal opinion and the officers would be risking their careers if they were engaged in illegal conduct."
On Saturday, Winstock and his wife Jennifer were arrested at their home in Independence Township and Juskus was arrested at his home in Knowlton Township. The alleged manager of the club, Scott Furer of Pennsylvania, was arrested during the raid.
Winstock and Juskus are charged with gambling, conspiracy, official misconduct and maintaining a gambling premise and are free on $50,000 bail each. They each face up to 10 years in prison.
Richard Winstock, a patrol supervisor, has been on the Roxbury police force for about eight years. Juskus, who works in traffic safety, has served for about 20 years. Both have been suspended with pay.
Jennifer Winstock and Furer are charged with aiding and abetting misconduct in office, maintaining a gambling resort, promoting gambling and conspiracy. Scott is free on $30,000 bail; Winstock was released on her own recognizance.
During the news conference, Rubbinaccio said the club operated five nights a week, 12 hours a day, with as many as 200 gamblers playing at one time. He said the club raked in $5,000 to $10,000 a week in profits.
What made the operation illegal were the fees charged to play poker, authorities said. Members at the poker tables paid a $10 hourly fee on top of tips per hand and the $75 membership fee, authorities said.
Authorities are now looking to find the other cops they say frequented the club free of charge for high stakes Texas Hold'Em poker games.
Rubbinaccio said Winstock and Juskus "allowed police officers to gamble free of charge in an attempt to protect themselves and infect other police officers in getting involved. ... It helped create the atmosphere of protection."
"My suggestion to the police officers is to contact my office before I contact them," the prosecutor said.
Seized in the raid was $27,000 from the club's safe and the club's membership list with 340 names, including those of police officers, said detective Thomas Primo of the prosecutor's office. Some 45 people were on hand when the club was raided.
"We're banking on them keeping accurate records," Primo said.
Authorities also confiscated a computer that includes the club's financial records.
Law enforcement authorities said anyone who hosts a poker game must be careful not to profit from it financially, aside from their own winnings.
"An office pool or a home poker game are legal as long as no one is taking any cut for organizing the game," said John Hagerty, spokesman for the state Division of Criminal Justice. "If the operator is getting a benefit by sponsoring the game, then I suspect it is illegal."
Attorney Amato Galasso, who represented the 5th Street Club when it requested a use variance from the Dover Board of Adjustment in August, compared the organization to a country club whose activities include card games. Members were charged dues for the time they spent at the club, regardless of whether they were playing poker, pool, pingpong or just hanging out, he said.
Galasso researched the law on poker games and wrote up a document on his clients' behalf, offering his opinion that the games were legal as long as the club did not take a percentage of the players' winnings and as long as no player had an advantage over any other.
The club did not take a percentage of the winnings or charge for tournaments, he said.
Along with poker tournaments, the club ran regular tournaments in pool, pingpong and darts, he said.
"If (Winstock and Juskus) thought it was illegal, my clients would have closed it down a long time ago," Galasso said.
The late-night raid was not the first arrest at the 5th Street Club. In March, authorities said, an 18-year-old masseuse, Kyra Amick of Chester Township, was arrested on drug charges. Amick gave massages at the gambling tables, said Capt. Jeff Paul of the prosecutor's office.
The Roxbury police accused of running an illegal gambling parlor say they asked the Morris County prosecutor if their operation would break any laws.
The prosecutor answered with the Friday night raid that led to the arrests of Sgt. Richard Winstock and Officer Thomas Juskus.
In other words, the officers tipped off the prosecutor on themselves.
Anthony Arbore, the lawyer for Juskus, said yesterday his client asked the prosecutor months ago whether hosting poker games at a social club in Dover would be a violation of the law.
"They did everything by the book and it was clear at all stages there would be card playing," Arbore said. "They told their chief. And they asked for an opinion and invited the prosecutor over to see it for himself.
"The raid," Arbore said, "was unnecessary and unwarranted."
Roxbury Police Chief Mark Noll said his department also asked the prosecutor's office for an opinion in November when Winstock and Juskus were gearing up to open the 5th Street Club in a warehouse off Route 15.
Following a news conference yesterday announcing the arrests, Prosecutor Michael Rubbinaccio said, "I did have a conversation with Chief Noll and Mr. Arbore and told them that I would not provide them with a legal opinion and the officers would be risking their careers if they were engaged in illegal conduct."
On Saturday, Winstock and his wife Jennifer were arrested at their home in Independence Township and Juskus was arrested at his home in Knowlton Township. The alleged manager of the club, Scott Furer of Pennsylvania, was arrested during the raid.
Winstock and Juskus are charged with gambling, conspiracy, official misconduct and maintaining a gambling premise and are free on $50,000 bail each. They each face up to 10 years in prison.
Richard Winstock, a patrol supervisor, has been on the Roxbury police force for about eight years. Juskus, who works in traffic safety, has served for about 20 years. Both have been suspended with pay.
Jennifer Winstock and Furer are charged with aiding and abetting misconduct in office, maintaining a gambling resort, promoting gambling and conspiracy. Scott is free on $30,000 bail; Winstock was released on her own recognizance.
During the news conference, Rubbinaccio said the club operated five nights a week, 12 hours a day, with as many as 200 gamblers playing at one time. He said the club raked in $5,000 to $10,000 a week in profits.
What made the operation illegal were the fees charged to play poker, authorities said. Members at the poker tables paid a $10 hourly fee on top of tips per hand and the $75 membership fee, authorities said.
Authorities are now looking to find the other cops they say frequented the club free of charge for high stakes Texas Hold'Em poker games.
Rubbinaccio said Winstock and Juskus "allowed police officers to gamble free of charge in an attempt to protect themselves and infect other police officers in getting involved. ... It helped create the atmosphere of protection."
"My suggestion to the police officers is to contact my office before I contact them," the prosecutor said.
Seized in the raid was $27,000 from the club's safe and the club's membership list with 340 names, including those of police officers, said detective Thomas Primo of the prosecutor's office. Some 45 people were on hand when the club was raided.
"We're banking on them keeping accurate records," Primo said.
Authorities also confiscated a computer that includes the club's financial records.
Law enforcement authorities said anyone who hosts a poker game must be careful not to profit from it financially, aside from their own winnings.
"An office pool or a home poker game are legal as long as no one is taking any cut for organizing the game," said John Hagerty, spokesman for the state Division of Criminal Justice. "If the operator is getting a benefit by sponsoring the game, then I suspect it is illegal."
Attorney Amato Galasso, who represented the 5th Street Club when it requested a use variance from the Dover Board of Adjustment in August, compared the organization to a country club whose activities include card games. Members were charged dues for the time they spent at the club, regardless of whether they were playing poker, pool, pingpong or just hanging out, he said.
Galasso researched the law on poker games and wrote up a document on his clients' behalf, offering his opinion that the games were legal as long as the club did not take a percentage of the players' winnings and as long as no player had an advantage over any other.
The club did not take a percentage of the winnings or charge for tournaments, he said.
Along with poker tournaments, the club ran regular tournaments in pool, pingpong and darts, he said.
"If (Winstock and Juskus) thought it was illegal, my clients would have closed it down a long time ago," Galasso said.
The late-night raid was not the first arrest at the 5th Street Club. In March, authorities said, an 18-year-old masseuse, Kyra Amick of Chester Township, was arrested on drug charges. Amick gave massages at the gambling tables, said Capt. Jeff Paul of the prosecutor's office.
