Sunday, April 08, 2007

Four people were indicted by a Nueces County grand jury this week on charges
of illegally promoting gambling in connection with a March 3 eight-liner
raid just outside the city limits. Margie Torres, 22, Jose David Menchaca,
46, Anna Menchaca, 45, and Norma Lisa Ramos, 40, were indicted Wednesday
after a raid at the 624 Game Room in Calallen. All of the accused were
released from the Nueces County Jail after posting bonds of $5,000 each,
according to officials. The Nueces County Sheriff's Department, Corpus
Christi Police Department, Internal Revenue Service and Texas Department of
Public Safety raided the business, which had been in operation for about two
years, seizing more than $40,000 in a gambling bust, according to police
reports. Officers seized money from machines inside the building, a
pay-out-room and a Ben Bolt residence linked to the operation, according to
police reports. They also seized 75 eight-liner slot machines, which Nueces
County Sheriff Jim Kaelin valued between $1,500 and $2,000 each. According
to the indictment, defendants engaged in organized criminal activity by
promoting gambling and profiting from it.