Casino Crime Roundup: Illegal Gambling Joint Raided in Georgia

Posted on: June 21, 2024, 05:43h. 

Last updated on: June 21, 2024, 09:02h.

Ed Silverstein @casinoorgedsilv Read More
Expertise: Legal, Tribal Gaming.

A Georgia billiards hall was raided this week for alleged illegal gaming, which led to the arrest of 10 suspects.

Gwinnett County Police Department car
A Gwinnett County Police Department car, pictured above. The department raided an illegal gambling operation. (Image: Pinterest)

Local police raided Norcross, Ga.’s Sosa’s Billiards after getting a tip on illicit activity taking place there.

The owner, Steven Bae Kim, 66, of Duluth, was charged with commercial gambling, keeping a place of gambling, and gambling, according to Georgia TV station WSB.

Seth Abernathy, 40, of Auburn, Ga., an employee, was charged with commercial gambling. Eight other suspects were charged with gambling. They weren’t immediately identified.

The cases against the 10 suspects were forwarded to local prosecutors.

Suspected drugs and an unspecified amount of money were seized from the business during the raid. Additional charges are possible in connection with the drugs.

The billiards hall had been under investigation since last year after a Gwinnett County Police Department (GCPD) officer was tipped that the business had a casino there. Undercover officers were able to confirm the business was being used as a front for illicit gambling.

The business was shuttered after the raid, WSB reported.

Police are looking for more information on the illegal operation. Tips can be phoned in to GCPD detectives at 770-513-5300. Anonymous information can be called into Crime Stoppers at 404-577-TIPS (8477) or can be made online via www.stopcrimeATL.com.

Suspect Arrested at Casino

A woman accused in a South Carolina kidnapping and attempted murder was arrested recently at a Mississippi casino.

Amy Perez is wanted on six warrants for the kidnapping of a woman and her nine-year-old son in May, according to the Tunica County Sheriff’s Office. Perez allegedly kidnapped the two after she became jealous of the woman who started to date her estranged husband, authorities said.

Perez and other suspects forced their way into the victim’s residence, authorities said. They allegedly put bags over the heads of the two victims and stabbed the woman before the kidnapping.

Perez and her son, Hunter Ricci, were arrested for attempted murder and kidnapping.

The son was not injured, not physically injured,” Chesterfield County Sheriff Cambo Streater told Tennessee TV station WHBQ. “His mother had a stab wound and she was cut with knife.”

The adult victim called her boyfriend minutes after the break-in. Authorities were alerted and the two victims were located about eight hours after the abduction.

Perez has continued to threaten the two victims, authorities said.

The Tunica County Sheriff’s Office was alerted Perez was at an unnamed Mississippi casino.

“She needs to be in jail. These are very, very serious charges, and she needs to be in jail. The bond needs to be high enough so she probably cannot secure bond to get out,” Streater said.