10A The Michigan Daily - Monday, October 16. 2000 NATnION/WORLD Rise in felony cases ma b ine to gam ling BELLAIRE (AP) - Felony criminal cases are on the rise in northern areas of lower Michigan, and some judges, prosecu- tors and others are blaming much of the increase on compulsive gambling. Circuit Judge Philip Rodgers presides over the 13th Circuit, which includes Grand Traverse, Antrim and Leelanau counties, and says he has seen felony cases spike. In 1998, there were under 600 defendants before the court. In 1999, that number jumped to 800, according to the court's recently released annual statistics. Several years of stiffer drunken driving enforcement has created much of the increase. But the report listed a sharp increase in theft and embezzlement cases, many arising out of problem gambling, the Traverse City Record-Eagle reported yes- terday. A specific number of gambling-related cases was not provided. Antrim Prosecutor Charles Koop said the gambling-related felonies are troubling because many of the people aren't criminal- ly-minded. "For all outward appearances, they would appear to be law-abiding members of soci- ety," Koop said. The prosecutor said he sees increasing numbers of cases that involve gambling - either embezzlement cases involving people who apparently are only committing crimes because of addiction or cases indirectly tied to gambling. "We have also seen other crimes related to gambling which result from domestic (disputes) where the argument arises out of gambling debts," he said. Recently in Bellaire, a 45-year-old woman from South Boardman was convict- ed of embezzling at least $57,500 from her employer. She was charged with two felonies and pleaded guilty to attempted embezzlement. Rodgers sentenced her to six months in jail and ordered her to pay restitution. She also was required to get mental health coun- seling and attend Gamblers Anonymous meetings. Grand Traverse Prosecutor Dennis LaBelle has never been ambiguous about his opposition to gambling. "Basically what we've done is we've turned law-abiding citizens into criminals and society has to pay that cost, the cost of incarceration, the cost to the criminal jus- tice system," LaBelle said. The Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians has developed a program for addicted gamblers, and soon may include information about a toll-free garn- bling addiction help line on all promotional material from the casinos. "We don't want the people with (gam- bling) problems here; we don't need the money," said Barbara Anderson, problem gambling program director at Traverse Bay Casino Resorts. "If you have a customer who is upset and unhappy and losing every- thing, and they go out to complain to the world, that's bad publicity." Anderson said that around 4 percent of gamblers can become addicted, and the casino is content with business from the remaining 96 percent. A December 1999 Michigan Department of Community Health study found that 4.9 percent of Michigan adults were "lifetime" compulsive gamblers. Anderson said problem gambling never became an issue for the tribe until 1996, when a woman called to complain that she was going broke and could not stop gam- bling. She asked to be banned from the casino for life. The woman was voluntarily banned from the casino and the tribe paid for counseling for the woman. Since then, the tribe has developed a poli- cy for people who ask to be banned from> the casino. The person can sign a form, and from that point on will be removed by secu- rity guards from the casino grounds. Some believe the tribe should do more to combat problem gambling. Jim McBryde, special assistant for drug policy for the Department of Community Health, would like to see the casino put large billboards around the gaming floor announcing the state's help line. "We have the treatment programs, McBryde said. "We've challenged the tribal casinos to help out more than they do." I- } KNOW OF NEWS HAPPENIN( ON CAMPU! 76-DAIti Man charged for not licensing dead dog a p Yo 1 r g de A $18!! CAP AND GOWN at GRADWEAR.COM NO TAX! U. of Michigan $35 pu"a Same Quality, Better Price Money Back Guaranteed MUSKEGON (AP) - Getting pulled over for speeding was just the beginning of Savino Rodriguez's problems. The Muskegon man is due in court tomorrow on charges of failing to have a license for a pet dog that died late last year. Rodriguez was stopped last week in Whitehall for allegedly doing 48 mph in a 25-mph zone. The officer asked him to step into the patrol car "and told me I had to be handcuffed." Rodriguez said. "He said there was a warrant for me." Rodriguez said he looked at the com- puter screen in the cruiser, and saw that he was wanted for having no license for Brandy, his cocker spaniel that died at age 14. "I told (the officer) the whole story, but he still took me in," Rodriguez said. "They took me to the Muskegon County Jail. They fingerprinted me. They impounded my truck." Rodriguez had to post a S1,000 bond to get out of jail and another $115 to retrieve his vehicle. Last week's arrest was part of a sequence of events that began in late 1999, the time of year when Muskegon County residents renew licenses for their dogs. Rodriguez said he and his wife decid- ed to delay buying licenses for their four dogs until after the new year, when the youngest dog was to be neutered and its license would cost less money. In the meantime, Brandy died. The family grieved, then went on with their lives - including getting licenses for their three remaining pets. When Muskegon County Animal Control offi- cials asked about the fourth dog, Rodriguez told them it had died. Later, Rodriguez received a letter ordering him to appear in court for having an unlicensed dog. He ignored the letter, but the authorities did not. "I thought no one would care that I didn't have a license for a dead dog," Rodriguez said. "He made an assumption - that we wouldn't care the dog was dead - and that was incorrect," said Al Pear- son, director of the animal control agency. "As far as we and the court were concerned, the casewas still alive- and sd was the dog." Rodriguez could have kept his. name out of the computerized records* on which his arrest was based by- immediately notifying Animal Con- trol of his dog's death, Pearson said.. "He didn't clear it up with Animal' Control and the court, so it was still; on record," Pearson told The- Muskegon Chronicle. Totally Authentic. Totally Cool. Boot up. Lo on. 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