The state’s Attorney General’s Office says it’s “close to the goal line” on a plea deal with a Schuylkill County gaming and amusements company facing racketeering charges related to a sting operation into suspected illegal gambling and kickbacks.
Lawyers from the AG’s office Organized Crime Section and those representing Deibler Brothers Novelty Co., of Hegins Township, appeared before Magisterial District Judge David Plachko on Thursday for a preliminary hearing in Tremont.
Plachko was filling in for recently retired Judge David Rossi.
In December 2024, a Grand Jury in Harrisburg alleged that Arthur Deibler, Donald Deibler, and Joel Ney of Deibler Brothers Novelty Co., along with former State Police officer Ricky Goodling, operated a wide-ranging illegal gambling scheme. Investigators said Deibler Brothers placed thousands of gambling machines in businesses across at least 15 Pennsylvania counties. Because these machines were based entirely on chance rather than skill, the Grand Jury considered them illegal. The company was accused of earning more than $1 million in profits from the operation.
To disguise the devices, the Deibler Brothers allegedly mixed their illegal machines with legal Pace-O-Matic skill games and even put banners on them to fool investigators and business owners. Goodling, who once oversaw gambling enforcement for the State Police before joining Pace-O-Matic as Director of Compliance, allegedly used his position to shield the Deibler Brothers. According to the Grand Jury, he ignored complaints, allowed banned operators to continue using Pace-O-Matic devices, and helped co-mingle them with illegal machines.
The Grand Jury also said Goodling arranged a kickback scheme with the help of an undercover trooper, using a shell company to launder tens of thousands of dollars in payments from Deibler Brothers. Between 2021 and 2023, Arthur Deibler allegedly made regular $10,000 cash payments to Goodling, and in total the Deibler Brothers paid more than $150,000 in bribes. The money was distributed among those involved, with Goodling allegedly dismissing concerns about its illegal origins.
Charges against the Deiblers and Nye were continued once again with the belief that they’ll be dismissed in lieu of charging the company instead. The case against the Deiblers’ business was advanced to Schuylkill County Court of Common Pleas but a guilty plea is expected to be entered soon.
Goodling’s case was previously transferred to Cumberland County and was advanced to that county’s Court of Common Pleas.
Deibler Bros. Novelty Co. has been charged with felony counts of corrupt organizations, conspiracy, dealing in unlawful proceeds, knowingly handling illegal proceeds, possession of a gambling device, and criminal use of a communication facility, along with misdemeanor counts for fifteen gambling device violations and possession of an instrument of crime.
READ MORE FROM ORIGINAL REPORT: Schuylkill County Company Principals, Employee, and Former State Trooper Charged with Racketeering in Illegal Gambling Devices Scheme
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