Card room operator sues city for permit denial

Stanley Penn, the longtime owner and operator of San Diego card room Lucky Lady, has filed a lawsuit against the city of San Diego for refusing to renew the 43-year-old card room's permit. The current permit is set to expire in November 2017.

In the July 6 writ of mandate Penn's attorneys say the longtime card-room owner failed to include on the annual permit application that he and his business were named in a July 2016 federal indictment. Penn's attorneys blame the omission was an oversight caused by Penn's age and current battle with stage 4 cancer.

In the indictment, Penn, along with 13 others, was charged with operating "Segal's Lucky Lady Sports Book, an illegal betting ring that connected bookies, bettors, and international sports gambling websites.

“This case is a classic example of how a legitimate business can be infiltrated and used to facilitate criminal activity by members of a criminal enterprise,” FBI agent Eric S. Birnbaum said at the time of the indictment. “The FBI is committed to disrupting and dismantling criminal enterprises that seek to use legitimate businesses as a platform for their criminal activity.”

The indictment was announced in July. Penn submitted his renewal application to the city the following month, on August 25, 2016. On the application, Penn was asked if he had been convicted or charged with a crime that year. He stated that he hadn't, which technically was correct. At the same time, however, he failed to list the indictment as a "material circumstance."

One month later the city notified Penn that his application had been denied.

Penn says the city's decision will impact the 100 people employed through the card room. "The great majority are women, minorities and persons over 45 years of age who are the sole source of support for their families; many are decades-long employees. Their average compensation is over $30 an hour including wages and tips. These workers are highly unlikely to be able to obtain similar-compensating positions if the card room is shut down."

Over the past two decades the City of San Diego and its police department have looked to phase out the legal gambling centers. In 1983 the city adopted an ordinance which prohibited the transfer and/or sale of licenses from one owner to another. Last year the Palomar Casino card room closed after the city denied its permit.

According to Penn's lawsuit, the city is only using the discrepancies on the permit to further target what has become the last surviving card room in San Diego.