Red Faces In Baltimore
Published: Friday, November 11, 2005 Online-Casinos.com
RED FACES IN BALTIMORE
The Great Poker Raid arrests are thrown out
It was reported by Baltimore press as the biggest gambling raid in the city since Prohibition, and attracted nation-wide media coverage when Baltimore police raided the Owl's Nest club on Nov. 2, arresting 95 and seizing more than $25 600 in cash, thousands of poker chips, card decks and liquor and beer allegedly being sold without a license.
But now the embarrassing news - prosecutors say they will drop charges against 80 poker players after police quoted the wrong statute when charging them, and if all the cases went to trial, it could overburden an already stressed court system.
Police charged the players under a subsection of law that states that a person may not "keep, rent, use or occupy" a building for the purpose of gambling. Another subsection - one that prohibits a "bet, wager or gamble" - should have been used, prosecutors said.
"Had these 80 players been charged appropriately, we might have taken a different route and prosecuted them," said Assistant State's Attorney Patricia Deros.
Gambling charges and liquor violations remain against the other 15 people arrested, said police spokesman Donny Moses. They include tournament organizers Gerald C. Dickens, 65, of Bowie and Joseph A. Cary, 50, of Pasadena, dealers and waitresses.
Police Commissioner Leonard D. Hamm said his office would meet with prosecutors to determine the next steps in the case.
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