Gambling and Fraud Enforcement Fund

NEWS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

April 20, 2010

Lewis County Prosecutor Michael Golden says that the formation of a Gambling and Fraud Enforcement Fund is just what he needed to make sure the money he recently received from the Washington Gambling Commission can be spent to fight criminal fraud and gambling activity in Lewis County.

The Lewis County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, along with the Chehalis Police Department, worked with the Gambling Commission in their investigation into the online gambling activities of Lewis County resident Ron Ehli. Begun in 2008, the investigation ended late last year with the Commission seizing over $4.88 million dollars from Ehli’s local accounts. The Prosecuting Attorney’s Office received $643,027.82 of the seized funds for use in enforcing fraud and gambling laws, with an equal amount going to Chehalis Police for the same purpose. Strict guidelines require the money be spent for very specific purposes within the allotted time allowed.

Short-staffed after having laid-off two deputy prosecutors and two staff members, as well as eliminating the Chief Criminal Deputy position in a move to meet expected budget reductions for 2010, Prosecuting Attorney Michael Golden intends to use a portion of the funds to retain one of the remaining deputy prosecutor positions that would have been lost when grant funding ran out in June 2010. Working to ensure the realization of full benefit from this income, Prosecutor Golden introduced Resolution Number 10-100, calling for the creation of a Gambling and Fraud Enforcement Fund

On April 19, 2010, the BOCC signed the resolution that lets the Prosecutor’s Office share some of the seized funds with the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office and the Lewis County Superior Court’s Drug Court, for the prosecution and abatement of fraud and gambling crime in Lewis County.

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