Three Men Enter Guilty Pleas in Federal Court on Conducting an Illegal Gambling Business Charges

Columbia, South Carolina ---- United States Attorney Beth Drake stated today that Lawson Mangum, age 65, Anthony Todd, age 48, and Herbert Todd, age 49, all of Myrtle Beach, SC, pled guilty in federal court in Florence to Conducting an Illegal Gambling Business, a violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1955.  United States District Judge Bryan Harwell, of Florence, accepted the pleas and will impose sentences after he has reviewed the presentence reports, which will be prepared by the U.S. Probation Office.

The evidence presented at the guilty plea hearing established that these defendants along with at least two other individuals were operating illegal gambling businesses in the Myrtle Beach area beginning as early as 2014.  Mangum supplied the gambling machines to the Todd brothers who then installed the machines at their various gambling locations.  The Todd brothers collected the gambling proceeds from the machines and split the proceeds with Mangum.  During the execution of multiple search warrants, agents with the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) and ICE-Homeland Security Investigations seized over 50 illegal gambling machines from businesses operated by this group of defendants.  Ledgers seized during the search of one of these locations revealed that during January 2014 to August 2015, this gambling operation realized a profit of over $218,000.      

Ms. Drake stated the maximum penalty the defendants can receive is imprisonment for 5 years and a fine of $250,000.

The case was investigated by agents of the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division and ICE-Homeland Security Investigations.  Assistant United States Attorney A. Bradley Parham of the Florence office handled the case.

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