Three face organized crime charges

Three people accused of running an illegal gambling establishment in Texarkana, Texas, were indicted by a Bowie County grand jury last week on charges of engaging in organized criminal activity.

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Emergency personnel respond to a reported shooting at the Washington Navy Yard, Monday, Sept. 16, 2013 in Washington. Police and federal agents from multiple law enforcement agencies responded to the scene. Ambulances were parked outside, streets in the area were closed and departures from Reagan National Airport were temporarily halted for security reasons. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

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Police work the scene on M Street S.E. in Washington, where a gunman was reported in a military building at the Washington Navy Yard Monday, Sept. 16, 2013. Shots have been fired and employees directed to a shelter. Police and federal agents from multiple law enforcement agencies responded to the scene and streets in the area were closed. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

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Police keep streets clear from cars and pedestrians after a gunman was reported at the Washington Navy Yard in Washington, on Monday, Sept. 16, 2013. At least one gunman launched an attack inside the Washington Navy Yard, spraying gunfire on office workers in the cafeteria and in the hallways at the heavily secured military installation in the heart of the nation's capital, authorities said. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Lee Roy Dailey, 52; Jamie Choate, 53; and James Thompson, 25, allegedly ran a computer gambling business that was advertised by word-of-mouth in a shopping center on New Boston Road in Texarkana, Texas, according to a probable-cause affidavit used to create the following account. Undercover police officers allegedly gambled at the business on multiple occasions in June and July, at times winning and at times losing.

Choate and Thompson were allegedly working for Dailey, whose name appears on the lease for the space the alleged gambling operation occupies. Investigators verified that state lottery officials had not licensed the business for any purpose. Texarkana, Texas, officials told investigators the space or business did not appear on a certificate of occupancy with the city.

When officers with the Texarkana, Texas, Police Department's Special Investigations Unit and members of the Criminal Investigation Division went to execute a search warrant on the business July 14, they were allegedly spotted by Thompson, who ran inside.

Thompson, a convicted felon, was arrested in the building "within lunging zone" of a Taurus handgun and a Saiga 12-gauge shotgun, the affidavit alleges. While searching Thompson's pockets, officers allegedly found a baggie containing suspected methamphetamine.

While Choate and Dailey were indicted only for engaging in organized criminal activity, Thompson was indicted on that offense, possession of methamphetamine under a gram and two counts of felon in possession of a firearm with a prior felony conviction.

All the cases have been assigned to 102nd District Judge Bobby Lockhart.

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