CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- The former owner of Drummy's Bar and Grill in St. Albans admitted in federal court Friday to being the go-between between a gambling ring in Welch and a bookie in Dunbar.

Derrick Jay Drumheller, 48, of St. Albans, also pleaded guilty to income tax evasion by under-

reporting his income from five video lottery machines at the bar.

"I got in between two gentlemen and made bets for one with another," he said.

Under extensive questioning by U.S. District Judge John T. Copenhaver Jr., Drumheller acknowledged that he placed bets on behalf of his friend, Saad Kamil Deeb.

In April, Deeb, who owns Citizens Pharmacy in Welch, pleaded guilty to conducting illegal bank transactions to hide his gambling activities. Deeb also pleaded guilty to filing false tax returns in 2003 and 2004 and mail fraud, admitting that he skimmed hundreds of thousands of dollars a year from his business to bankroll his gambling.

Deeb faces up to 30 years in prison when sentenced by U.S. District Judge David A. Faber in Bluefield on Monday.

On Friday, Assistant U.S. Attorney Hunter Smith said that, while Deeb was the only one who would phone in bets to Drumheller, Deeb also was passing along bets for numerous other people.

The bets, which typically included illegal wagers on every National Football League game, would total up to $50,000 a week, Smith said.

Drumheller said he did not make any money for placing Deeb's bets with a bookie.

"Saad Deeb is a good friend of mine," Drumheller said. "From time to time, he would send down a case of moonshine" or take him to an expensive dinner, Drumheller said.

Drumheller did not give any information about the people he placed bets with, other than saying he called a phone number in Dunbar. He said that he no longer owns Drummy's, having given the bar to his wife.

According to an affidavit filed in January 2007 by IRS Special Agent Jason M. Baumgardner, several people admitted delivering brown paper bags of cash on Deeb's behalf to Drumheller at various locations, including the parking lot of the Golden Corral restaurant in Cross Lanes, the parking garage of the Marriott hotel in Charleston and the Lexus dealership in St. Albans.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- The former owner of Drummy's Bar and Grill in St. Albans admitted in federal court Friday to being the go-between between a gambling ring in Welch and a bookie in Dunbar.

Derrick Jay Drumheller, 48, of St. Albans, also pleaded guilty to income tax evasion by under-

reporting his income from five video lottery machines at the bar.

"I got in between two gentlemen and made bets for one with another," he said.

Under extensive questioning by U.S. District Judge John T. Copenhaver Jr., Drumheller acknowledged that he placed bets on behalf of his friend, Saad Kamil Deeb.

In April, Deeb, who owns Citizens Pharmacy in Welch, pleaded guilty to conducting illegal bank transactions to hide his gambling activities. Deeb also pleaded guilty to filing false tax returns in 2003 and 2004 and mail fraud, admitting that he skimmed hundreds of thousands of dollars a year from his business to bankroll his gambling.

Deeb faces up to 30 years in prison when sentenced by U.S. District Judge David A. Faber in Bluefield on Monday.

On Friday, Assistant U.S. Attorney Hunter Smith said that, while Deeb was the only one who would phone in bets to Drumheller, Deeb also was passing along bets for numerous other people.

The bets, which typically included illegal wagers on every National Football League game, would total up to $50,000 a week, Smith said.

Drumheller said he did not make any money for placing Deeb's bets with a bookie.

"Saad Deeb is a good friend of mine," Drumheller said. "From time to time, he would send down a case of moonshine" or take him to an expensive dinner, Drumheller said.

Drumheller did not give any information about the people he placed bets with, other than saying he called a phone number in Dunbar. He said that he no longer owns Drummy's, having given the bar to his wife.

According to an affidavit filed in January 2007 by IRS Special Agent Jason M. Baumgardner, several people admitted delivering brown paper bags of cash on Deeb's behalf to Drumheller at various locations, including the parking lot of the Golden Corral restaurant in Cross Lanes, the parking garage of the Marriott hotel in Charleston and the Lexus dealership in St. Albans.

Baumgardner also reviewed Deeb's phone records between December 2005 and June 2006. In that period, 1,892 separate phone calls were made between Deeb and Drumheller, the affidavit states.

In February 2006, Deeb told an undercover agent that he bet on college and professional football, basketball and baseball, according to the affidavit.

At that time, Deeb said he dealt with a guy in Charleston who could cover a $500,000 bet. That person, whom Deeb later identified as Drumheller, "owns a beer joint and ... recently lost $300,000 himself," Deeb told the investigator.

During Friday's hearing, Drumheller denied betting heavily himself.

"I gambled a little bit myself," he said, "but not to the extent we are talking about [regarding Deeb]."

Following his November 2006 arrest, Deeb told Baumgardner that he bet as much as $60,000 on a single game through Drumheller, the affidavit states.

Drumheller made more than $272,000 from the five video lottery machines between 2002 and 2006, which represents one fourth of the machines' profits over that period, according to the affidavit.

In five years, players put almost $3.13 million into the machines, which paid out winnings of $2.06 million. Roughly half of the $1.07 million of profit went to the state, with the remaining 51 percent split between the machines' owner and Drumheller.

Drumheller admitted Friday that he purposefully underrepresented his income from the machines to his accountant.

Smith said the resulting tax loss to the IRS between 2002 and 2005 was roughly $65,000. Drumheller has since filed amended tax returns and paid the government what he owed, Smith said.

Drumheller faces up to 10 years in prison when sentenced by Copenhaver on Nov. 5.

Reach Andrew Clevenger at acleven...@wvgazette.com">acleven...@wvgazette.com or 348-1723.