On a recent weekday morning, La Feria Latina was full of men playing skill games. The machines were unlocked when customers gave money to the clerk at the counter.
The convenience store at 3842 Mount Vernon Avenue is one of three in the city’s Arlandria neighborhood that have brought back the machines since they were outlawed as illegal gaming by the Virginia legislature in 2020.
There are banned skill games machines that accept money and card payments at AJ Tobacco & Mini Mart at 1037 W. Glebe Road and at Tiger Mart at 3903 Mount Vernon Avenue.
La Feria Latina Grocery has the new QVS2 (Queen of Virginia) machines by Pace-O-Matic that are unlocked when customers give clerks cash. These machines are also illegal, Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares said last month.
Managers and staff at the locations said they were unaware that the machines were illegal.
“We are aware and law enforcement are investigating,” Mayor Justin Wilson told ALXnow.
The Alexandria Police Department is actively investigating the matter.
“We have received complaints and an open investigation is active at this time,” APD communications manager Tracy Walker told ALXnow.
Delegates Paul Krisek (D-16) and Cia Price (D-85) agreed with Miyares in a recent editorial to the Richmond Times-Dispatch.
“This is a blatant scheme to bypass the authority and clear legislative intent of the General Assembly’s ban on these gaming devices,” the delegates wrote. “The developer’s new machines require business owners to handle the cash transactions — effectively trying to sneak past the law.”
In July, Brad Carruthers, president of the Fraternal Order of Police of Virginia wrote Commonwealth Attorney Bryan Porter about the issue.
“I have repeatedly made clear to Virginia legislators and regulators that the operation of ‘skill’ slot machines consistently brings increased crime, gang activity and the potential for large scale money laundering,” Carruthers wrote.
Penalties are steep for businesses operating the devices. Operators face a Class 6 felony punishable by up to a year in prison and/or a $2,500 fine, and also face a $25,000 civil penalty per-device.
Playing the games is a Class 3 misdemeanor punishable by up to a $500 fine.
City Council Member Canek Aguirre says that the machines are predatory.
“There are some small minority-owned businesses that are relying on them for income, and I think we have to weigh the safety of our community and the well-being of our community,” Aguirre said. “People are basically spending their whole paycheck while they still have to pay their rent and their bills, and instead they’re addicted to the gambling.”
