Screenshot of YouTube video, Macon Judicial Circuit District Attorney David Cooke called for a statewide ban on commercial gambling machines.

The Supreme Court of Georgia on Thursday announced it will not review a state appellate decision throwing out the felony gambling conviction of a 74-year-old restaurant owner forced into bankruptcy after he was prosecuted for having coin-operated game machines in his establishment.

Macon Circuit District Attorney David Cooke sought to reinstate the felony conviction of Ronnie Bartlett, the owner of the now-defunct Captain Jack's Crab Shack in Peach County. The high court's decision to deny Cooke's petition for a writ of certiorari lets stand the unanimous reversal last year of Bartlett's 2018 conviction and five-year sentence for having nine coin-operated gaming machines in his restaurant. 

On Friday, Cooke contended that both the state Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court were mistaken and that he agrees with the Peach County judge and jury who determined that Bartlett broke the law.  Cooke said he will file a motion for reconsideration "in hopes that the Supreme Court will remedy this situation."

Cooke also doubled down on his intention to continue prosecuting gaming machine cases, contending that they "go hand in hand" with other crimes such as money laundering, tax evasion, and public corruption.  "Nothing in this ruling affects our ability to hold defendants accountable who break those laws," he continued. "We will not turn a blind eye to these crimes."

Bartlett is one of a long line of defendants Cooke has charged with felony gambling offenses associated with coin-operated gaming equipment. Bartlett is the first who chose to fight rather than enter a plea, said his attorneys, Chris Anulewicz and former Georgia Attorney General Mike Bowers of the Atlanta offices of Balch & Bingham. 

"It is disappointing but not surprising that the district attorney refuses to acknowledge the law that exists, the Court of Appeal's affirmation of that law, and the Supreme Court;s affirmation of the Court of Appeals," Anulewicz said Friday.  "It is a sad day when an officer of the court puts his own agenda ahead of the law."

The two lawyers said the appellate court's reversal of Bartlett's conviction last year was the first step in halting to what they contend is a pattern of similar, lucrative—and potentially abusive—prosecutions across the state that have been promulgated for nearly two decades by Decatur attorney Michael Lambros as a hired gun for local prosecutors.

Multiple district attorneys, including Cooke, have retained Lambros as a special assistant DA to seize coin-operated video games in raids on convenience stores and restaurants, file criminal charges, and then push for the forfeiture of millions of dollars in seized assets that are eventually funneled into prosecutors' coffers.

Bartlett's restaurant was shut down in 2015 after Lambros, while working for Cooke, seized the restaurant's coin-operated games, according to a federal lawsuit that Bartlett and his wife filed against the two prosecutors in 2016. 

Thursday's action by the high court reboots Bartlett's federal suit, which was stayed pending the resolution of the criminal charges.  On Friday, U.S. District Judge Steve Jones issued a show cause order as to why he shouldn't allow Bartlett's four-year-old claims to move forward.  Cooke said he will likely ask Jones for additional time to renew his motion to dismiss the case.  "Whether or not the stay is lifted won't really have an effect on the ultimate outcome, and that is that we will be victorious,'" he said. 

The suit claims that when Bartletts' lawyers notified Cooke and Lambros of their intent to sue over the arrest, Cooke told them he had not planned to prosecute the couple but, after receiving the notice, intended to "prioritize their case for prosecution."

The suit also accuses the prosecutors of using the unwarranted threat of criminal prosecution to illegally seize financial assets and bolster the DA's discretionary fund.

Cooke called the allegations false, and said he intends to prove it.

The commercial gambling charges against Bartlett and other merchants were based on the premise that winners of the coin-operated games received cash prizes for playing games that require no skill on the part of the player—a misdemeanor offense under state law. Bartlett was charged with multiple felonies.