SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) The New Mexico Supreme Court is scheduled to hear a case about a Las Cruces man accused of running a gambling enterprise out of his Internet cafe. The state's high court is slated Monday to hear arguments in the case involving businessman Michael T. Vento.
Last year, a state Court of Appeals overturned Vento's conviction of commercial gambling, a fourth-degree felony. Vento lost his business in July 2008 after the state Gaming Control Board raided it and seized his 21 computer terminals.
Gov. Susana Martinez, a district attorney when Vento was operating his Las Cruces cafe, prosecuted him for commercial gambling. But the 64-year-old Vento says he only provided his customers a chance to win sweepstakes prizes.
