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Police investigator pleads guilty to owning gambling machines
The Associated Press

MANNING, S.C. --A Clarendon County sheriff's investigator was on the job Friday, a day after he admitted operating video gambling machines at his downtown Manning business.
Todd Avant, 38, was fined $500 Thursday after pleading guilty to possessing the gambling machines, banned in South Carolina since July 2000. He has 45 days to pay the fine.
Avant told Judge George James he had gambling machines in his store, Party World, and authorized his employees to make cash payouts.
One witness was prepared to testify he had been playing the machines since September 2005, said Jeff Carter, a South Carolina Law Enforcement Division agent.
Clarendon County Sheriff Keith Josey defended Avant in court, calling him a friend and loyal employee.
"He is at work this morning," Josey told The Associated Press on Friday.
The sheriff said Avant may face disciplinary action but refused to say what that might be, saying that was between him and Avant, who remains an investigator with the department. Josey said the fine imposed by the court Thursday was a fair sentence.
Neither Avant nor his attorney immediately returned telephone messages Friday.