WEBER CITY - Two Tennessee senior citizens arrested for running an illegal gambling ring out of a Scott County mobile home have been sentenced to forfeit almost $25,000 to the commonwealth of Virginia.
According to records from Scott County Circuit Court, William T. Rogers, 71, 238 Aesque St., Kingsport, and Verlin T. Grills, 68, 708 Old Stage Road, Church Hill, pleaded guilty to charges stemming from a raid on a trailer located on 1110 Cleek Road near the Weber City town limits on "Super Bowl Sunday" earlier this year.
The trailer was the site of two Virginia State Police-led raids that happened within three months of each other and yielded 15 arrests, thousands of dollars in bets made on everything from poker hands to NASCAR races to the Super Bowl, and tip boards.
"We entered the trailer, and a poker game was going on. Some of the same guys we saw the first time were there," said Trooper Sergeant M.T. Conroy at the time of the May operation at a trailer that authorities said was used only for gambling.
Officers with the VSP's Bureau of Criminal Investigations had been working undercover for months on the case, attending poker games and gathering information on the suspects.
Grills was apprehended at both raids and had his two-year prison sentence suspended after pleading guilty to four counts of operating and promoting an illegal gambling operation.
He was also ordered to forfeit $6,189.37 in restitution costs to the state.
Rogers, one of five individuals arrested during the May 6 raid, had a one-year prison sentence suspended and was ordered to surrender $17,884 to state officials.
Scott County Commonwealth's Attorney Marcus McClung said a third individual arrested in the sting, Calvin Timothy Cleek, 46, of Gate City, will likely be tried before a jury in early 2006 after not entering a plea last week in circuit court.
According to records from Scott County Circuit Court, William T. Rogers, 71, 238 Aesque St., Kingsport, and Verlin T. Grills, 68, 708 Old Stage Road, Church Hill, pleaded guilty to charges stemming from a raid on a trailer located on 1110 Cleek Road near the Weber City town limits on "Super Bowl Sunday" earlier this year.
The trailer was the site of two Virginia State Police-led raids that happened within three months of each other and yielded 15 arrests, thousands of dollars in bets made on everything from poker hands to NASCAR races to the Super Bowl, and tip boards.
"We entered the trailer, and a poker game was going on. Some of the same guys we saw the first time were there," said Trooper Sergeant M.T. Conroy at the time of the May operation at a trailer that authorities said was used only for gambling.
Officers with the VSP's Bureau of Criminal Investigations had been working undercover for months on the case, attending poker games and gathering information on the suspects.
Grills was apprehended at both raids and had his two-year prison sentence suspended after pleading guilty to four counts of operating and promoting an illegal gambling operation.
He was also ordered to forfeit $6,189.37 in restitution costs to the state.
Rogers, one of five individuals arrested during the May 6 raid, had a one-year prison sentence suspended and was ordered to surrender $17,884 to state officials.
Scott County Commonwealth's Attorney Marcus McClung said a third individual arrested in the sting, Calvin Timothy Cleek, 46, of Gate City, will likely be tried before a jury in early 2006 after not entering a plea last week in circuit court.
