Racing Reporter Pleads No Contest, Fined $500 for Gambling Violation

Gordon Jones, the Los Angeles Herald Examiner’s racing reporter and handicapper, pleaded no contest in Santa Anita Municipal Court in Monrovia Thursday to violating a municipal code that prohibits a person from operating a public place for the purposes of gambling.

Jones admitted that he rented a banquet room at the Santa Anita Inn for the purpose of collecting money to wager on Pick Six tickets. Jones was fined $500 by Judge Eleanor Provost. However, all 18 bookmaking charges, dating back to Feb. 23--the date of Jones’ arrest--were dismissed.

Jones’ attorney, Robert E. Courtney of Redondo Beach, said Jones never disputed that he and other racing seminar operators had conducted their business for several years without any indication that the betting portion of the seminar might have been illegal.

Said Bruce F. Marrs, deputy district attorney: “I think the fine should have been closer to $2,000, and there should have been a probationary period. We want this to be a deterrent to other people who plan these Pick Six seminars. But that was her judgment.”

Jones, 55, will continue on voluntary leave of absence from the Herald Examiner.

The case against his daughter, Joanne Jones, 21, also involving multiple counts of bookmaking, was continued to Oct. 17.