A New Stanton man pleaded guilty Wednesday to three gambling charges in connection with Texas Hold 'Em poker tournaments held at the Fort Allen Volunteer Fire Department in 2007.
James Earl Miller, 37, was sentenced by Westmoreland County Judge Al Bell to serve three years on probation.
Miller was arrested with three other men, including attorney Larry Burns of Derry Township, for running the for-profit card games.
Burns, 66, was convicted by a jury last year of 12 misdemeanor gambling counts for holding tournaments at fire halls in Adamsburg and Seward. He was sentenced to serve one year on probation and is appealing his conviction.
Earlier this year, two other men associated with Burns pleaded guilty to misdemeanor offenses.
James L. Hricko, 44, of Hempfield pleaded guilty in April to one misdemeanor count of disorderly conduct. District Attorney John Peck agreed to drop three gambling counts and, in return, Hricko paid a $4,000 fine.
That same day, Ronald Boggs, 62, of Hempfield was sentenced to one year on probation and fined $2,000. Boggs was admitted into the Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition program for first-time, nonviolent offenders. Entry into the program is not an admission of guilt and participants can have their criminal record wiped clean upon completion of probation.
Defense attorney Bill McCabe said Miller was given the option of paying a fine or serving time on probation.
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