Judge among gambling arrests in Clayton County

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By MIKE MORRIS
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 04/11/07

A Clayton County judge was among those arrested in a Tuesday night raid on a Clayton County gambling hall, authorities said.

The raid on the Poker Palace in the 8600 block of Tara Boulevard in Jonesboro was the second high-profile bust of a metro Atlanta poker game in as many nights.

This one came after a month of undercover surveillance by the Clayton County Sheriff's Office Joint Vice Task Unit, sheriff's spokesman Jonathan Newton said in a press release.

According to the release, a Clayton Magistrate Court judge was arrested in the raid. The names of the judge and others arrested have not been released.

Newton said in the release that there had also been a "brash attempt to bribe Clayton County Sheriff Victor Hill to protect the operation."

In the release, Hill said, "the sheriff's office is not for sale and those who wish to do any illegal activities in Clayton County will face the same consequences with no hope of safety."

Hill planned to release further details on the raid and arrests at a 10 a.m. press conference.

Monday night, Roswell police arrested 27 people at a weekly poker party at a home in a neighborhood off Holcomb Bridge Road.

Roswell police said players from as far away as Pittsburgh, Pa., Savannah and Macon paid $10,000 to get into the Texas Hold 'em game being played in the basement of a home on Nesbit Ridge Drive.

That raid capped a six-month investigation initiated after some neighbors complained about the traffic in the otherwise quiet subdivision of 39 homes.