Criminal Gambling Charges Dropped

Alabama Mobile Criminal charges against a man accused of running a $500000 gambling ring have been dropped but the District Attorney's office says Billy Poole Sr. is not off the hook.

by Jessica Taloney

Published: Tue, July 01, 2008 - 5:37 pm CST

The Mobile District Attorney's office is taking a man accused of running a gambling ring to civil court instead of criminal court.
Police arrested Billy Charles Poole, Sr., 68, last month, charging him with two misdemeanor gambling offenses. Police Chief Phillip Garrett touted the arrest during a press conference on June 11th. But, because the criminal charges could only carry up to one year in jail, the DA's office has dropped the charges. Instead, they plan to file a civil complaint.
Assistant District Attorney Martha Tierney says it's a strategic move to seize hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of assets, which she says are tied to illegal gambling.
"The criminal sanction is going to be a misdemeanor conviction at best," said Tierney. "The civil sanction is going to disgorge these ill gotten gains."
Poole's attorney, Bob Clark, tells News Five he will fight the civil complaint. Clark says police had no business showing off Poole's cash during last month's press conference.
"He didn't make that kind of money on 33 gambling machines," said Clark. "He's 68 years old, and he's been working his whole damn life."
A second suspect arrested along with Poole will not face criminal or civil sanctions. Tierney says the DA's office does not plan to take action against Chieko Barnes, 61, who was also charged with misdemeanor gambling offenses, though she would not say why the decision was made.
The Mobile Police Department issued a statement Tuesday saying "Chief Garrett has discussed the case with District Attorney John Tyson and agrees with the steps he is taking."

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cmb1 Says:

Wed, Jul 02, 2008 at 8:03 am

Money, Money, Money that is all Mobile is interested in but what do we get in return? Get his money the jails are already over crowded! I hope his lawyer gets it all bvack for him… Those machines were not making that kind of money!?

working4u Says:

Wed, Jul 02, 2008 at 7:49 am

And one other thing. If law inforcement wants to spend a lot of time investigating opportunities to get free funding…...

INVESTIGATE A BUSY INTERSECTION AND PASS AROUND THE BUCKET.

working4u Says:

Wed, Jul 02, 2008 at 7:41 am

I think law enforcement should be spending OUR time and money on fighting the crime that harms this community. If they run accross a gambling machine or something of a misdemeanor every once and while ok. Focusing on crap like illegal gameing and tieing up our very limited resources to investigate such is about as stupid as flushing tax payer dollars down the drain. I want to see real crimes against society, like rape, murder, drugs and armed robbery tieing up our law enforcement. I would rather see sheriff cars on Moffat road writing speeding tickets and slowing down speeders that chasing around gamblers in Theodore or wherever. Inforcing the sign ordinances in Mobile is more important than chasing around a bunch of illegal gaming machines. If the sheriff’s department has run out of things to do during the day, how about a little more traffic law enforcement? As for the DA’s office, it seems like they should be concentrating on crimes of a serious nature.

asda Says:

Wed, Jul 02, 2008 at 7:19 am

I would like to know what happens to all this money and the money from the roadblocks. It seems that Mobile Police are only interested in taking as much money from the citizens as possible. So where exactly is this money going? It certianly is not going to the school system.

carl Says:

Wed, Jul 02, 2008 at 7:09 am

Owning something and not using it in criminal way should be considered lawful. just owning something that might be used in an unlawful way or purpose and arrested and fines imposed seems to be unlawful in itself, Otherwise most anyone could be arrested for owning a car and possibly speeding or running a red light before any such events happened. Something is wrong with the legal system when people can be arrested and fined for something they might do. In this case the man might be guilty as sin on gambling charges but that’s not what they’re charging him for. Having preemptive strikes for National security is called for but for things not concerning the health and welfare of the public it is going way over the lines in my opinion.

working4u Says:

Wed, Jul 02, 2008 at 6:45 am

I cant beleive what I just read. The man breaks the law for having gambling machines. Kinda like in a casino. Not hurting anyone. Not stealing from anyone. Only against the law in Alabama because of a bunch of religious wackos.
Well he gets caught. And now he is facing a misdemeanor conviction at best. But wait, the DA’s office now wants everything this old man owns because of a misdemeanor crime. Oh, so now the charges have been dropped? So basically he was excused for the misdemeanor and will not be prosecuted? Now the DA’s office is not interested in enforceing the law. It is only interested in monetary gain? I guess the bust was an investment by our local law enforcement in exchange for a large pay off. That is not only a miscarriage of the law but sounds down right crimminal itself. I am not saying that breaking the law is right. But I am not against gambling machines. I do visit the casinos in MS. This guy has not harmed anyone. This is not justice, this is greed.