Georgia’s appeals court has overturned a Macon man’s conviction for running illegal gambling at his restaurant.
Last year, a Peach County jury convicted Ronnie Bartlett of commercial gambling, a felony.
He received a five-year sentence -- two in prison and three years of probation.
Prosecutors say Bartlett operated illegal coin-operated gambling machines at Captain Jack's Crab Shack in Byron.
His lawyers argue that the machines were strictly games of skill, which is legal, but prosecutors said those machines were altered to operate randomly like slot machines.
The appeals court this week ruled that prosecutors never showed any evidence that Bartlett tampered with the machines.
The court said Bartlett could have been charged with giving cash prizes to winners -- but that's a misdemeanor.
Bartlett, his wife Lee and six other people were arrested in May 2015.
The Bartletts filed a federal lawsuit against District Attorney David Cooke and others.
They claimed they made no cash payments, and that all their earnings from those machines were properly reported to the Georgia Lottery.
And their lawsuit claims that Cooke seized businesses that used legal machines to "extort" funds from the defendants.
That lawsuit is still pending.