HARRISBURG — Attorney General Dave Sunday announced that a central Pennsylvania-based amusement company has pleaded guilty to a felony charge regarding installment and operation of hundreds of illegal video gambling devices at bars, convenience stores, and other locations in numerous counties.
Schuylkill County-based Deibler Brothers Novelty Company pleaded guilty Friday to corrupt organizations, a first-degree felony. A Schuylkill County Common Pleas Judge sentenced the company to a term of probation and ordered forfeiture to the state of $3 million in cash and assets.
The company was charged in 2024, following a collaborative investigation between the Pennsylvania State Police and Office of Attorney General, which included a presentment from the 50th Statewide Investigating Grand Jury.
The company installed the devices in more than a dozen Pennsylvania counties, the machines typically cloaked in deceptive signage indicating they were legal.
“This company was warned time and time again, and continued to snub its nose at state regulations by flooding Pennsylvania counties with illegal gambling machines,” Attorney General Sunday said. “This plea resolution secures a substantial forfeiture of assets to the Commonwealth, and is the second conviction in recent days against offenders contributing to the disorganized environment of illegal video gaming in Pennsylvania.”
Owners of Deibler Brothers Novelty — Arthur Deibler, Donald Deibler, and Joel Ney — were affiliated with Ricky Goodling, a retired Pennsylvania State Police corporal and former Director of National Compliance for Pace-O-Matic, who pleaded guilty last week to money laundering.
The charges resulted from a multi-year criminal investigation led by the Pennsylvania State Police, the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General’s Organized Crime and Asset Forfeiture and Money Laundering sections, and the Bureau of Liquor Control Enforcement into illegal video gambling activities.
These cases were prosecuted by Senior Deputy Attorney General Erik Olsen and Chief Deputy Attorney General Adrian Shchuka.
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