Business owner Tracy Yoshimura is confident he will beat the hundreds of gambling charges against him in connection with Products Direct Sweepstakes gaming machines.
"I’ve asked to be given a day in court — the day has come," Yoshimura said Thursday after pleading not guilty in Circuit Court. "We’re confident. … We’ve insisted over and over that we’ve done things the right way."
Also pleading not guilty to gambling charges on Thursday were Eugene Simeona Jr., his brother Clayton Simeona, Gary Danley and Alexander Alejandro.
On May 1 an Oahu grand jury returned a 414-count indictment against nine people for various crimes, including racketeering, promoting gambling, possession of a gambling device and money laundering in connection with the sweepstakes machines.
The indictment came a day after U.S. District Judge Leslie Kobayashi ruled that Products Direct Sweepstakes machines are gambling devices.
Honolulu Prosecutor Keith Kaneshiro said at a news conference Monday that the indictment followed a three-year investigation and the seizure of 200 Products Direct Sweepstakes machines at seven companies and 14 locations.
Thomas Otake, who represents Eugene Simeona, said his client looks forward to fighting the case, especially because the Honolulu Liquor Commission deemed the machines legal.
"How the city and county prosecutors can prosecute someone for conduct that the Liquor Commission said was legal is beyond me," Otake said after the arraignment. "This indictment, we believe, is ripe for legal challenges."
Otake questioned why prosecutors waited 21/2 years to prosecute if the conduct was so clearly illegal.
"You’re talking about businesses that were operating in broad daylight," he said. He added that the same machines were in a variety of businesses.
"This to me is a witch hunt," he said. "You have good people running legitimate legal businesses, and now they’re charged with felonies."
Otake said he might argue that the state’s gambling laws are too vague.
Simeona was charged with 41 counts.
Yoshimura, owner of PJY Enterprises, a distributor of the gaming machines, has been charged with 257 counts. Judge Richard Perkins confirmed his bail at $250,000.
Perkins also confirmed bail for Simeona at $200,000 and $50,000 for the remaining three. All posted bail except Alejandro, who appeared by camera from Oahu Community Correctional Center. He remained in custody Thursday on a separate Hawaii island warrant.
The remaining four people indicted will be arraigned Monday, said Yoshimura’s attorney, Keith Kiuchi. Those four are Quentin Canencia, Desiree Haina, Michael Miller and Michael Madali.
Kiuchi said eight of those indicted were plaintiffs in a lawsuit to get back gaming machines that police seized between September 2012 and February 2013.
Kiuchi said he plans to appeal the judge’s ruling in that case that the gaming machines are illegal.
