Opinion ID: 3012838
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Requisite Number of Participants

Text: During the period covered by the indictment, in addition to the three owners, Amati, Cornetta and Hansen, the following persons participated, at least to some extent, in the illegal operation: the owner/lessor of the poker machines; an employee of the owner of the poker machines, who serviced and maintained them, Debra Vlanich, and three waitresses. The Government concedes, as it must, that neither Cornetta nor Hansen may be counted toward the five required participants. Under any view of the matter, therefore, the required total of five participants can be reached only if one includes at least one of the three waitresses, and also includes both the owner of the poker machines and the mechanic who serviced them. Appellants argue first that the waitresses did not actually participate in the illegal gambling operation, since they merely served coffee and breakfast to the gamblers. There was, however, ample evidence to permit the jury to conclude that the waitresses were actively involved in handling payoffs and resetting the machines from time to time. It is also clear that, although the operation did not require the participation of three waitresses at any given time, it was reasonably necessary to engage the services of more than one waitress. Appellants further argue that none of the waitresses should properly be counted 6 among the five required participants because they were hired by Trooper Cornetta, in his capacity as the manager of the restaurant. Thus, according to appellants, either the waitresses were Government agents themselves, or, at the very least, the Government manufactured federal jurisdiction by hiring them in order to achieve the required total of five participants. We reject these contentions. Amati and the two undercover Government agents purchased a going business which had video-poker machines and employed three waitresses. The scope of the operation was not expanded by Cornetta and Hansen. Mr. Amati was well aware of the number and identity of employees, and of the active involvement of the waitresses in the day-to-day conduct of the gambling enterprise. We are satisfied, therefore, both that the waitresses can properly be included in achieving the total of five or more participants, and that their inclusion does not support a charge that federal jurisdiction was artificially created.