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MURRAY, Utah (AP) -- Prosecutors have charged five people with using a Murray cyber cafe as a front for a gambling operation.
The five, who range in age between 20 and 32, were charged in 3rd District Court with felony counts of money laundering and having a pattern of unlawful activity.
According to court documents, an undercover Murray police officer purchased computer time at the Fortune Cyber Cafe on several occasions between June and August.
He was able to play "games of chance" on any one of 50 computers and could redeem his winnings for cash from a teller.
The documents allege other patrons also purchased Internet time to play games and were able to redeem their winnings in cash.
Jackie Martin, Solomon Remo, William Dangel, Debby Kerr and Matthew Marquart also were charged with misdemeanor counts of gambling, gambling promotion and possessing a gambling device.
In August, Murray police arrested or cited six employees and more than 45 patrons for alleged gambling-related offenses after a raid at the cafe.
Police said patrons put money on cards, then swept them through machines connected to a computer to gamble on games like keno, slots or poker over the Internet.
A recording said the cafe's phone was either disconnected or no longer in service.
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
