Eagles Club is cooperating with gambling investigation

The Fremont Eagles Club is cooperating with state authorities after an anonymous tip led to gambling records being seized.

No criminal charges were filed, said Sgt. Bob Elliott of the Nebraska State Patrol.

“We received an anonymous complaint of football and baseball pools, a sign in book that pays names that are drawn and card games that paid,” he said. “The complaint was valid.”

Gambling records of “minor sports pools” were seized, but no cash was found or confiscated and the club was allowed to have normal operations.

Elliott said all of the seized records and a completed report will be submitted to the Liquor Control Commission. He said a hearing normally is set within 60 days.

“They could face a license suspension,” Elliott said.

The club also could be fined or allowed to buy out of any possible license suspension at a rate of $50 per day.

Elliott said that it is illegal for people to even participate in any kind of sports pool, but that individuals would not be prosecuted.

Neither will the club.

He said a new manager had just started that day and there also was a new board of trustees, so no criminal charges were filed.

“Immediately the board of trustees requested a meeting with the State Patrol,” Elliott said. “We’ll be at their next meeting to explain the state’s gambling laws.”

He said an example of the gambling going on at the club was a football pool with $2 squares randomly drawn and winners based on game scores. He said it didn’t appear there was a profit motive for the club.

“In Nebraska, sports pools are illegal gambling, whether they’re in your office or in a bar,” Elliott said.

It has been a few years since a Fremont bar was caught with illegal gambling, he said. Tips aren’t the only way the gambling can be found out.

“It’s something we look for on any routine inspection,” Elliott said.