According to Pennsylvania prosecutors, a previous national compliance director for Pace-O-Matic, a skill games manufacturer based in Georgia, is charged with racketeering for running "an unlawful scheme to acquire significant amounts of money obtained from … illegal gambling activities." 

Rick Goodling, a former corporal with the Pennsylvania State Police who led the gambling unit for 15 years, is accused of misusing his role at Pace-O-Matic to secure over $500,000 in bribes, according to The Pennsylvania Capital Star. 

This was in exchange for silencing grievances regarding unlawful slot machines and for providing Pace-O-Matic games to distributors and operators who breached the company’s rules. 

Covert Mission 

According to the complaint, one distributor, Deibler Brothers Novelty Co., was also accused of being banned by Pace-O-Matic for providing its machines with illegal slot games. Prosecutors assert that Goodling allowed other Pace-O-Matic clients to offer the company’s games to Deibler Brothers. 

When this led to grievances directed at the compliance team by other Pace-O-Matic operators, Goodling exploited his role to eliminate those complaints, according to court documents. 

Nonetheless, a few approached the FBI and state police with their complaints, leading to a lengthy undercover inquiry. This required the police to forge retirement documents for one of their detectives, enabling him to secure a position with Goodling on the Pace-O-Matic compliance team. The detective subsequently spent several years employed at Pace-O-Matic. 

The compliance team consists of ex-state troopers and liquor enforcement officials, who advocate for businesses to swap illegal games for skill games, as Goodling testified before a state Senate committee in 2019. 

Pace-O-Matic is the biggest provider of skill games in Pennsylvania. Producers contend that skill games cannot be categorized as slots or unlawful gambling games since the skill elements they incorporate outweigh the aspect of chance. 

Maintaining a position just shy of being “almost legal” is a tricky equilibrium for Pace-O-Matic, and Goodling's responsibility was “to eliminate illegal gaming machines that do not belong in the market,” as he stated to the committee. 

‘Profoundly Distressed’ 

Pace-O-Matic informed the Capital-Star in a statement that the company was very concerned about the allegations against Goodling. He was dismissed from his role in late 2023 once the company learned of a federal probe into his taxes.

"While we are monitoring the situation, law enforcement has assured us that Pace-O-Matic is not involved in or connected with any of the alleged actions or charges facing Mr. Goodling,” a Pace-O-Matic spokesperson said.

The spokesperson noted that the company has since bolstered and enlarged its compliance department under the guidance of former state police commissioner Frank Noonan