Environmental and Public Protection Cabinet
Two who participated in charitable gaming scheme sentenced on tax evasion charges

FRANKFORT, Ky. (Jan. 19, 2007) – The Kentucky Office of Charitable Gaming (OCG) today announced the sentences for a couple involved in a charitable gaming scheme in Madison County.

Cletis and Brenda Adams pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in September to one count of tax evasion.  They originally were charged with conspiracy and three counts of income-tax evasion.  Both were sentenced today to three months in federal prison followed by four months of home incarceration and three years of supervised release.  The Adamses were also ordered to pay restitution to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in the amount of $61,663, $10,000 of which is due within 30 days.

The Adamses, of Irvine, were among four people indicted by a federal grand jury in February 2006 in a scheme involving Jackpot Charity Bingo at Waco, in Madison County.

OCG undercover investigators found that various charities were used as fronts at Jackpot and that much of its revenue, including sales of “bootleg” pull tabs, was pocketed by the Adamses and the other defendants – Rita Faye Tipton and her sister, Gloria Ann Williams.

Tipton and Williams were convicted of mail fraud and tax evasion. Each was sentenced to five years and three months in federal prison and ordered to pay more than $30,000 in back taxes.

OCG worked in cooperation with the IRS on this case.  OCG is an agency of the Department of Public Protection in the Environmental and Public Protection Cabinet.  It was created to provide a regulatory framework allowing charitable gaming to thrive as a viable fundraising mechanism.