By Derek Spellman

Globe Staff Writer

The Jasper County Sheriff's Department on Wednesday seized what it alleges to be illegal gambling machines at the Flying J Travel Plaza.

Records that also were seized from Flying J indicated that the machines had been turning an average profit of about $3,000 a week for the past few months, according to Lt. Aaron Richardson of the Sheriff's Department.

Such poker game machines run afoul of Missouri statutes, Richardson said, for several reasons, including:

They are not regulated by either the state of Missouri or the federal Gaming Commission.

They contain double features that enable the vendors to manually manipulate the outcome of the games and the payouts.

Richardson said anyone who allows such games to be placed in businesses, redeems merchandise for winners or plays the games can face criminal charges. Whether the charges would be felonies or misdemeanors depends on the person's role, he said.

The companies involved also could face sanctions from the state, he said.

Don Pitts, a manager at the Flying J Travel Plaza, referred questions about whether any employees or the company knew the machines could be illegal to the Flying J corporate office in Utah, but then declined to release the exact name of the office or its phone number.

Records with the Missouri secretary of state's office show CFJ Properties, of Brigham City, Utah, as the owner of the Flying J Travel Plaza. Efforts to contact the office on Wednesday night were unsuccessful.

Richardson said authorities also found illegal games at the local Flying J several years ago.

He said authorities suspect the use of illegal gambling machines has revived recently because they offer lush profit margins. The machines are relatively cheap to make, he said, and the companies that manufacture the games split the profits with the local stores that offer them.

"They are profitable," Richardson said. "It is hard for those businesses to turn down that kind of money."

How much?