Former Pace-O-Matic compliance chief charged with fraud

Posted: January 5, 2025, 09:02 pm.

Last updated: January 5, 2025, 09:02 pm.

The former national compliance director of Georgia-based skill game maker Pace-O-Matic is facing fraud charges for operating “an illegal scam to obtain large sums of money obtained from illegal gambling activities,” according to Pennsylvania prosecutors. .

Former Pennsylvania State Police Corporal Rick Goodling, who led the gambling unit for 15 years, is accused of abusing his position at Pace-O-Matic to receive more than $500,000 in bribes. Pennsylvania Capital Star Report.

This was in exchange for suppressing complaints about illegal slot machines, as well as supplying Pace-O-Matic games to distributors and operators who violated company rules.

undercover operation

According to the complaint, one such distributor, Deibler Brothers Novelty Company, was banned by Pace-O-Matic for offering its machines with illegal slots. Prosecutors claim Goodling enabled Deibler Brothers to provide the company's games to other Pace-O-Matic customers.

When its compliance team received complaints from other Pace-O-Matic operators, Goodling was able to abuse his position to make those complaints disappear, according to petitions filed in court.

The compliance team is made up of former state troopers and liquor enforcement officers who encourage businesses to replace illegal games with skill games, as Goodling himself testified before a state Senate committee in 2019.

Pace-O-Matic is the largest supplier of skill games in Pennsylvania. Manufacturers argue that skill games cannot be classified as slots or illegal gambling games because the skill-based features present in them dominate over chance.

Staying on the right side of “almost legal” is a delicate balance for the Pace-O-Matic, and it was Goodling's job to “eliminate illegal gaming machines that should not be on the market,” as he told the committee.

'Extremely upset'

Pace-O-Matic told the Capital-Star in a statement that the company was deeply troubled by the allegations against Goodling. He was removed from his position in late 2023 after the company became aware of a federal investigation into his taxes.

While we are monitoring the situation, law enforcement has assured us that Pace-O-Matic is not involved or connected to any alleged actions or allegations against Mr. Goodling,” a Pace-O-Matic spokesperson said.

The company has strengthened and expanded its compliance department under the leadership of former State Police Commissioner Frank Noonan, the spokesperson said.