News
More Gambling Operations Raided in Port Isabel, Texas
The Port Isabel' Texas District Attorney has raided two Port Isabel alleged gambling establishments. Police searched an eight- liner arcade at 101 Maxan Street, and a second establishment called Pennies from Heaven, whose owner is listed in Texas business documents as Justice of the Peace Bennie Ochoa III.
Although a handwritten sign outside the entrance to Pennies from Heaven reads, "We do not pay cash. We do not pay cash," police investigators uncovered evidence to the contrary in their raid last week. The second gambling establishment has no name on the door, although workers said that it is called the "Game Room." A sign inside the establishment warned visitors that they were playing at their own risk.
District Attorney Villalobos said that last week's raid "represents a continuation of what we set out to do in December, which is to completely shut down all these illegal operations."
He expressed surprise at the fact that the operators of these alleged gambling operations had not learned a lesson from the fates that befell previously raided establishments.
"I really am surprised that they (the gambling operators whose businesses were raided on Friday) did not take it seriously after the last three operations we did. I hope that people are clear that we are going to keep doing this as long as we find them operating."
The patrons at the two cited gambling sites are mostly from out- of- town, and are generally elderly. However, customers' advanced ages were not taken into consideration, as, for the second time in this county, patrons of the gambling establishment were arrested alongside workers.
Nearly 45 patrons were served with Class C misdemeanor citations for gambling at the two raided arcades. The patrons were asked to plead their cases before Justice of the Peace Linda Salazar in the sheriff department's vehicle, which the authorities used as a courtroom- on- wheels. The patrons faced a $300 fine for gambling activities.
Workers, on the other hand, faced stiffer fines and penalties. Ovidio Guevara and Lucila Castillo, who run the gambling establishments and may or may not be the owners, were charged with promoting gambling. This charge is a Class A misdemeanor, and carries a maximum of one year of jail time and a fine of a maximum of $4,000.
Police officers also confiscated the gambling machines they found in the raid on the two establishments. Approximately 70 video gaming machines were seized. In addition, the police confiscated around $8,000 in gambling money.
DA Villalobos said that his office is going to continue investigating these and similar illegal gambling venues.
"It's very important to get to the bottom of true ownership because we suspect that most of these machines are from a select group of people that tend to use other people to be the operators - much like a revolving door," he said, "and we are trying to stop that revolving door."
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