Great Mills, MD — The St. Mary’s County Alcohol Beverage Board (liquor board) has suspended the license of the Brass Rail Sports Bar in Great Mills for 30 days after a finding that the bar had gambling on the premises. The board also fined licensee Charles “Dickie” Gatton $1,000.
Gatton and his wife Hilda and the owner of the five gaming machines found at the Brass Rail, Roger Benfield, Sr. were charged in January of last year with directing proceeds that should have gone to the Leonardtown Lions Club to their use. The charity only received $60,000 of the $300,000 collected from machines at the Brass Rail and the Patuxent Moose Lodge in Hollywood. State law required that all of the proceeds be turned over to charity.
During the police investigation, $125,000 was seized from the Brass Rail and that money was forfeited as part of an agreement in which Charles Gatton pleaded no contest to the charges in exchange for the charges against his wife being dropped. He was fined $200 by Judge W. Louis Hennessy.
Unlike the state law, the regulations of the liquor board prohibit any gambling in licensed establishments. Gatton’s attorney J; Ernest Bell. II admitted the violation for his client. According to board rules, all that was left for them to do was impose a penalty.
The decision took some time because two motions, one for a $1,.000 fine and one for a 10-day suspension and $1,000 fine failed to gain a majority vote. After each motion, Board Chairman Moses Saldana argued for a stricter penalty and at one time suggested the possibility of revocation of the license.
“My concern is that this is a lot of money that was supposed to go to a non-profit,” Saldana said in questioning whether the lesser penalties were enough. “This one (the violation) I think is kind of a bad one,” Saldana proclaimed.
Saldana said he wanted to put out the threat of a revocation if another violation occurred as a warning to the community. I think this is a hard pill to swallow to take their license,” but he added he felt it was his role as chairman to put the possibility of revocation on the table
Board member Aaron Mathis said, “I couldn’t bring myself to consider revocation,” but added that it was fair that the potential penalty is discussed.
Bell told the board that since the Gattons had begun operating the Brass Rail in 1988, they had not closed it for one day and that Mrs. Gatton was there most days. He said the bar was their livelihood. Charles Gatton had previously operated Captain Sam’s in Bushwood and Swann Store in Piney Point, according to Bell.
The board gave the Gattons 10 days to pay the penalty and the ruling can be appealed to the circuit court within 30 days.
“The following is The Bay Net story of the original gambling charges involving the Brass Rail:
http://www.thebaynet.com/articles/0215/three-charged-after-stealing-thousands-from-charity.html
Contact Dick Myers at dick.myers@thebaynet.com