Thursday afternoon was a dirty day at work for Sherriff Ron Seals. Standing in the Sevier County landfill in his pressed blue shirt, Seals remarked that his department would pursue those operating illegal gaming machines and ensure that the machines meet the fate of those destroyed on Thursday.

The machines that Seals spoke of are those that were confiscated from the Speedway Diner earlier this year. After confiscating the machines, the owner of the diner, Sharon Tarwater, was charged with illegal possession of gambling devices, a class B misdemeanor.

Seals had said at the time of Tarwater's arrest, "…the mere possession of the video poker machines is illegal." As he shook the landfill dust from his shirt, Seals noted that he, and his department, would seek out gaming machines, and their operators, in an effort to keep this activity from taking hold in Sevier County.

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