AUTHOR: Jerry "Jet" Whittaker TITLE: Two Macon men charged in Roswell poker raid DATE: 3:14 AM ----- BODY: A pair of 32-year-old Macon men were among 27 people arrested in a
raid at an apparent high-stakes poker game in a north-Atlanta suburb
late Monday, police there said. Brian Everette Taylor, of 619 Willow
Creek Drive, was charged with gambling and possession of a firearm by
a convicted felon, Roswell police Sgt. B.C. Brackett said Tuesday.
Brackett said police found a gun in Taylor's car. Taylor was released
from the Roswell Detention Center on $5,600 bond. Mitchell Ray Harris,
of 105 Bass Plantation Drive, was charged with gambling and released
from the Roswell jail on $600 bond, Brackett said. Brackett said the
game was an invitation-only gathering, which he said participants
reportedly paid $10,000 to enter. As the investigation continued,
however, Brackett said there were conflicting stories about just what
the stakes were.
Some of those involved were saying it was "just a little friendly hand
of cards," the sergeant said. The suspected gambling operation was in
a house near Roswell's Centennial High School, north of the Atlanta
perimeter and just east of Ga. 400.
"It's a very affluent neighborhood," Brackett said. The arrests
Monday, following a 9:30 p.m. raid at the house while a poker game was
in progress, were the result of a six-month investigation into
commercial gambling, police said. Prospective players went online,
registered and then received invitations to the game, police said.
Some people were holding money and some were holding poker chips when
police entered the house, Brackett said. Two women hired to serve
drinks were among those arrested.
Officers began an investigation after residents in the quiet
neighborhood complained about traffic. More than 20 cars were
impounded after the raid, including Taylor's, Brackett said. Officers
also seized "a good bit of money," Brackett said, but added not
everyone arrested was playing poker. "We didn't seize $270,000." Most
of the players will face misdemeanor charges, police said. --------