WAVE 3 - Louisville, KYTwo Women Convicted Of Skimming From Bingo Profits

Two Women Convicted Of Skimming From Bingo Profits

(WACO, Ky.) -- Two central Kentucky sisters were convicted Thursday on federal charges they skimmed proceeds from a charity bingo hall and hid the proceeds from the government.

Rita Faye Tipton, 64, and Gloria Ann Williams, 65, were each convicted of one count of conspiracy, two counts of mail fraud and three counts of tax evasion, the Lexington Herald-Leader reported on its Web site.

State officials and the Internal Revenue Service had been investigating the sisters for nearly six years at Jackpot Charity Bingo in Madison County. They were indicted earlier this year.

State charitable gaming agents testified during an eight-day trial that they found illegal pull-tab games being played and sold at the bingo hall. Federal prosecutors said the sisters were pocketing the proceeds from illegal games and not reporting them to state regulators.

Tipton and her sister claimed little income from 1998 to 2001, but they were racking up hundreds of thousands of dollars in gambling debts and had to have had other sources of income, IRS investigators said.

Tipton and Williams denied anything improper was going on at the bingo hall.

(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)