A Chapin man has been sentenced to five years in federal prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to engage in an illegal gambling business. 

Investigators said James O. Helms, 73, was a partner in a large-scale gambling operation based in Lexington. 

Authorities uncovered that the poker operation generated as much as $100,000 per week at times and operated daily from 11 a.m. to 2 a.m. The business also had two shifts of workers to oversee the business, investigators said. 

The gambling scheme was run out of co-defendant Fred McCary’s home and other buildings located on his property. McCary, 63, of Gaston, was previously sentenced to six months in prison followed by six months of home confinement. 

There is no parole in the federal prison system.