Report: Town Councilman Involved in Video Poker Operation

A Lexington town councilman is involved with setting up gambling operations in Lexington County, according to a recent report in a Columbia publication. 

In recorded conversations obtained by the Free Times, Danny Frazier told a potential business associate how to set up a parlor and how to get the machines.

The Town of Lexington released a statement Thursday saying that the video poker machines are illegal based on legal advice and a recent opinion from the State Attorney General Alan Wilson. 

The town doesn't license sweepstakes parlors or internet cafes, according to the release.

Frazier told the Free Times that he has no problems with video poker and that he doesn't make any money from helping other people set up video poker parlors. He's in favor of legalizing and taxing the industry, he told the paper.

But he also told the newspaper that he doesn't recall making some of the statements from the recording — such as the part where he says he opens the parlors as limited-liability corporations under a friend's name. 

. Three people were .

Town of Lexington officials said Thursday that when they find out about illegal machines at a licensed business, the town alerts SLED and offers assistance to the agency.