A third suspect has been charged with commercial gambling after authorities raided two local convenience stores earlier this month and seized a dozen coin-operated poker machines.

Syed Shaffiuddin, 51, of Lawrenceville was taken into custody March 11, three days after managers at his gas stations were arrested for allegedly paying out cash winnings on poker machines.

Shaffiuddin is listed as the owner of the Shell station at 41 Big Horn Drive and the Silver City Citgo at 6623 Hwy. 9 South, near the Dawson-Forsyth County line, where the raids took place March 8.

Ravikumar Kondaveeti, 46, and Avinash Kondaveeti, 20, both of Dawsonville, were released on bond March 9, according to the sheriff's office.

While the coin-operated gaming machines are legal in Georgia, cash payouts are not.

Dawson County Sheriff's Capt. Tony Wooten said investigators received information that management at the stores was making cash payouts and launched a more than two-month investigation into the allegations.

In addition to confiscating the poker machines, several thousand dollars in cash was seized. The stores were allowed to reopen the day after the raid.

"We've had this happen in the past. We try to watch as close as we can," Wooten said. "We were tipped off as to what was going on."