TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — An internet café worker has been arrested after multiple undercover operations found she was running a gambling house out of Tallahassee North Arcade Amusement Center.
Lenora Fluellen, 64, was arrested on a warrant Monday.
Fluellen told Leon County deputies that she was the main cashier of the Tallahassee North Arcade Amusement Center in a shopping complex on 3839 North Monroe Street and she had worked at the business since Dec. 2018.
On May 23, a search warrant was executed at the internet café where Fluellen worked. At about the same time, there was an ongoing crackdown on illegal gambling in town that resulted in multiple arrests.
The business was locked when deputies first arrived on scene. According to court documents, Fluellen tried to drive away when she noticed deputies outside the business.
She was stopped by deputies trying to do the search warrant and asked to return to the business. Fluellen had keys to the business and unlocked the door to allow deputies to conduct the search.
Court documents state that in the main open-bay room, which is accessible when you first enter the business, were multiple computer stations set up for online gameplay. The computer stations included 109 computer towers along with associated monitors and cables.
There were also 13 stand-alone casino style gaming machines, each equipped with a cash receptacle.
Fluellen told deputies that customers would pay cash to the cashier on duty and that the cashier would enter the customers' names into the computer system, which would assign each customer an individualized number and amount of credit for the amount of cash paid.
The customer would then receive a ticket with their number and amount of credit that they would use to login for online gameplay. She also told deputies that the cashier starts out each business day with $1,000 in the till to cover customers wishing to cash out their winnings.
Customers also had the option to keep their winnings as credit to use on a later date.
Fluellen declined to tell deputies how she was paid or how much customers had won at the café, but stated that bills for the business were paid off site.
Based on the evidence, she is being charged with keeping a gambling house and 122 counts of possession of a slot machine.
She is currently being held at the Leon County Detention Facility.
