Detroit-based Jack Entertainment LLC has been fined $200,000 by the Ohio Casino Control Commission for reportedly granting access to underage patrons to the Jack Cleveland Casino and allowing unauthorized employees to access both the Cleveland and Cincinnati casino’s computer management program, according to Cleveland.com.
The settlement agreement with the casino owner and operator was reportedly approved by the commission on Wednesday.
In a statement, CEO for Jack Entertainment, Matt Cullen, reportedly said, “We acknowledge the significance of the matters identified by the Ohio Casino Control Commission and take our compliance with their important operational policies and procedures seriously.” Cullen said the company has expeditiously taken steps to answer to the issues and to ensure ongoing compliance will continue to work with the Ohio Casino Control Commission, according to the news portal.
Spokeswoman for the Commission, Jessica Franks, reportedly said that last year both issues arose after Jack Entertainment acquired the casinos from Caesar’s Entertainment Corp. Franks said the commission found a number of instances where individuals who were underage were allowed on the property.
The spokeswoman said that while the commission is aware that the Cleveland casino’s location and various entrances present opportunities for underage individuals to enter the facility, it occurred multiple times due to a lack of security training. “We get that you will never have 100 percent compliance in 7BALL keeping out minors and the Cleveland casino has unique features,” Franks said. “But we found that basically the security personnel were not following procedures that are supposed to be followed to screen out individuals,” according to Cleveland.com.
According to Franks, in addition to other procedures, security is supposed to check the ID of anyone who appears to be under the age of 30 and compare it to the person. She said the commission was made aware of the issue due to the requirement that the casino must report the discovery of any underage patrons.
Cleveland.com reports that according to the settlement agreement, there was a minimum of 13 cases spanning June to November where underage individuals entered the establishment.
The money from the fine reportedly goes to the state’s general fund.
Franks said that since the opening of the four state casinos in 2012 and 2013, there have been relatively few instances when sanctions were issued by the commission to encourage compliance in the future. She said that is because typically a company works alongside officials to solve the issues. Franks said that normally, sanctions are a last resort by the commission.
According to Cleveland.com, the latest sanction by the commission is the third for the Cleveland casino.
