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Minnesota Officials Criticize Pulltab Theft Sentence

MINNESOTA – As reported by the Minnesota Star-Tribune: "It wasn't just the theft of $44,000 in pulltab prizes in tiny Northrop, Minn., that rankled state gambling authorities.

"It was the sentence Karleen Warnick received for one count of felony gambling fraud: four days in jail, 20 days of community service, three years of probation and no fine.

"And, so far, no restitution.

"'This hurts. It doesn't send a message out to other opportunists' against stealing from pulltab games, said Frank Ball, director of alcohol and gambling enforcement in the Department of Public Safety.

"…The case also is part of a pattern of official apathy toward gambling crimes, Ball said, and 'it went right to the heart of the integrity of the game,' the fairness that players expect when they buy the little tickets that constitute Minnesota's $1.4 billion-a-year pulltab industry…"

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