By Karen Gleason
The 830 Times
Two persons have been arrested as part of an ongoing investigation into an illegal gambling business in a Del Rio shopping center, Val Verde County Sheriff Joe Frank Martinez said.
Val Verde County Sheriff’s Office investigators, deputies and crime scene technicians descended on the Golden Goose Entertainment Center, located in Suite 19 of La Villita Shopping Center, 2400 Veterans Blvd., about 9:30 a.m. Wednesday.
“The sheriff’s office, as part of an ongoing criminal investigation, executed search, seizure and arrest warrants at the Golden Goose Entertainment Center,” Martinez told the 830 Times in an interview today.
“The investigation, which began in March of this year, was part of a multi-agency operation into organized criminal activity. The sheriff’s office seized several gambling instruments, computers, documents and an ATM (automatic teller machine) and arrested two suspects,” the sheriff added.
Martinez identified the two arrested persons as Marcial G.
Chavira, 48, and Cecilia Moreno, 56, both Del Rio residents.
Both Chavira and Moreno have been charged with the offense of engaging in organized criminal activity, a second-degree felony, Martinez said.
He said Moreno worked at the Golden Goose as manager, host and cashier, and
Chavira was employed by the business as a security guard.
Martinez said the Golden Goose had been open since early March, and his office’s investigation of alleged illegal gambling on the premises began shortly afterward.
VVSO Lt. Gina Garcia, who oversaw the raid and spent most of Wednesday inside the Golden Goose, said the business operated electronic gambling machines known as eight-liners.
According to the Texas Law Library, “Eight-liner machines are electronic devices resembling a slot machine. On these devices a person wins by matching symbols in one of eight lines. Texas law forbids gambling devices from awarding cash prizes.”
“In the course of the raid, we seized 60 machines and 10
computer hard drives,” Garcia said today.
One woman who walked up to the door of the Golden Goose on the day the raid was in progress stopped and spoke with members of The 830 Times staff waiting outside.
The woman, who asked that her name not be used, said she visited the Golden Goose three to four times a month and said the most she’d ever won there was $600, though she said the establishment also offered winners prizes like appliances “and other stuff people might like.”
“It was a nice place. They treated you very nice, and it was just a nice place to go and have some fun. It was a fun place for middle-aged and older people to go,” she said.
Of the operation and the investigation, Martinez said, “At the end of the day, this (type of activity) is illegal, by state statute, it’s in the state’s penal code, and until the laws change, we’ll enforce the law the way it’s written.”
Martinez said the sheriff’s office’s investigation into the gambling establishment is ongoing, and he thanked the area agencies also involved in the effort.
“This was part of a multi-agency effort that also involved assistance from the Texas Department of Public Safety, the 63rd Judicial District Attorney’s Office, the Val Verde County Attorney’s Office and the office of Val Verde County Commissioner Pct. 2 Juan Carlos Vazquez,” Martinez said.
The writer can be reached at delriomagnoliafan@gmail.com
