Bulloch County Sheriff’s investigators shut down a mobile gambling operation Tuesday after receiving complaints about dice games and cash payouts.
Five Ludowici men operating a mobile gaming trailer parked at a convenience store on U.S. 301 South across from Ogeechee Technical College had set up shop, apparently offering stuffed animals as prizes, but in reality handing cash out to winners, said Capt. Todd Hutchens, Bulloch County Sheriff’s chief investigator.
Describing the set-up as a “carnie-style trailer” pulled by a white Chevrolet truck, Hutchens said the men had been operating the gambling setup at other locations in the county during the past few weeks. After receiving several complaints, sheriff’s investigators were informed that the men had returned, he said.
Sheriff’s Investigator Kent Munsey went undercover and played the dice games, where “people were allowed to roll dice, but instead of a stuffed animal (which were displayed on the trailer) they were given money,” he said.
After Munsey won cash, he called Bulloch County Investigator Bill Black, who along with Deputies Ross Newman and Travis Tuenge, responded to the scene and arrested all five men involved, Hutchens said.
The suspects, Randall Wayne Roach, 59, Kausta Martin Kaclum, 30, James Johnson, 45, George Allen Thomas, 47, and William Russell Holtz, 50, were all charged with commercial gambling and keeping a gambling place, he said.
Roach was also charged with obstruction of an officer. Johnson and Kaclum were also charged with giving false identity information to officers.
Hutchens said all five men have extensive criminal histories in Georgia and other states, including previous gambling offenses.
The men were taken to the Bulloch County Jail to await bond, he said. The truck and trailer were confiscated and towed.
Five Ludowici men operating a mobile gaming trailer parked at a convenience store on U.S. 301 South across from Ogeechee Technical College had set up shop, apparently offering stuffed animals as prizes, but in reality handing cash out to winners, said Capt. Todd Hutchens, Bulloch County Sheriff’s chief investigator.
Describing the set-up as a “carnie-style trailer” pulled by a white Chevrolet truck, Hutchens said the men had been operating the gambling setup at other locations in the county during the past few weeks. After receiving several complaints, sheriff’s investigators were informed that the men had returned, he said.
Sheriff’s Investigator Kent Munsey went undercover and played the dice games, where “people were allowed to roll dice, but instead of a stuffed animal (which were displayed on the trailer) they were given money,” he said.
After Munsey won cash, he called Bulloch County Investigator Bill Black, who along with Deputies Ross Newman and Travis Tuenge, responded to the scene and arrested all five men involved, Hutchens said.
The suspects, Randall Wayne Roach, 59, Kausta Martin Kaclum, 30, James Johnson, 45, George Allen Thomas, 47, and William Russell Holtz, 50, were all charged with commercial gambling and keeping a gambling place, he said.
Roach was also charged with obstruction of an officer. Johnson and Kaclum were also charged with giving false identity information to officers.
Hutchens said all five men have extensive criminal histories in Georgia and other states, including previous gambling offenses.
The men were taken to the Bulloch County Jail to await bond, he said. The truck and trailer were confiscated and towed.