An owner of a former north-side poker den has eluded fines and prison time by taking a plea agreement.
On Friday in Pima County Justice Court, Johnny Ray Rogers pleaded guilty to attempted benefiting from gambling, a Class 2 misdemeanor, and was sentenced to 30 days of unsupervised probation. The plea also had a sealed addendum.
Judge Paul Simon agreed to the plea, which was negotiated by Rogers' lawyer, Stephen M. Weiss, and deputy Pima County Attorney David Savel.
"It's a major victory," Weiss said, noting that Rogers could have faced a felony charge of promotion of gambling, which comes with a presumptive sentence of 1.5 years in prison.
Rogers and his wife, Donna, ran a poker house called Club Royale from July to December 2008 at 2665 N. Campbell Ave. The couple is in the process of divorce and Rogers is expected to accept a similar plea agreement in court Nov. 30, Savel said.
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"Opening a gambling establishment is clearly against Arizona law. That's part of what went into the calculus, among many things," Savel said. "The fact that these folks did shut down their gambling parlor and have been shut down for some time now and haven't re-opened it was part of our decision process."
He said his office didn't pursue felony charges for "a number of reasons," but declined to elaborate. He said anyone who opens a gambling establishment is subject to "prosecution to the fullest extent of the law."
On Dec. 18, the Arizona Department of Gaming and the Tucson Police Department raided the club and the homes of Johnny Ray and Donna.
The Pascua Yaqui Tribe filed a civil suit against the couple, which was dropped in December when the couple closed the poker room.
Weiss said Friday in court that the Rogers charged players a "button fee" of between $1 and $3 that the player seated on the button - a marker that rotates around the table - pays before cards hands are played.
According to a news release issued by the Arizona Department of Gaming, charging players a fee is illegal because the house receives profit.
Weiss said Johnny Ray Rogers thought the poker operation was legal.
"My client had reason to believe that what he was doing was not a violation of a state statute," Weiss said. "Obviously, he learned that it was."
