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Gambling Operations In Trenton Busted

Posted on March 28th, 2010

Federal law banning sports betting exists in New Jersey and all the other states, except Delaware, Nevada, Oregon and Montana, which had already laws on sports betting before the ban took effect in 1992. Currently, only Nevada offers sports wagering. Despite the prohibition, people still bet for the Super Bowl, the NCAA and other professional sports through covert sports betting operations. In Trenton City, Mercer County authorities mounted raids to break up illegal sports gambling organizations and announced yesterday arrests of two operations which were the objects of investigations police have been conducting for quite some time.

The first arrest was done on Feb 8, one day after the Super Bowl, at Q&M Deli at 130 South Cook Avenue. Detectives of the Special Investigations Unit of the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office, armed with a search warrant and together with the Sheriff’s Special Emergency Response Team (SERT) and with help from the FBI, confiscated $13,500 in cash, a computer, a printer used to print betting slips, and some stuff for drug packaging available for sale. Twenty-six year old Joel Jaquez, owner of the deli, was arrested and charged with maintenance of a gambling resort, promoting gambling, possession of gambling records and possession of drug paraphernalia with intent to distribute. Also arrested was Keith Richmond, 34, of Levittown, Pa., from whom betting slips and $2,500 in cash were seized. He was charged with promoting gambling and possession of gambling records.

The second arrest happened recently on Mar. 19, during the NCAA college basketball tournament. The raiding team was composed of SIU detectives, officers from the Trenton Police Vice Unit and the Mercer County SERT. Police raided Rossy’s Supermarket at 111 Martin Luther King Boulevard in Trenton and with a search warrant, was able to seize and destroy a computer system used for sports betting, a laptop computer, three handguns, a 2003 Hummer H2, a flat screen TV, $5,000 in cash and drug packaging materials. Police nabbed three people believed to be patrons of the sports betting operation. They were Lowell Allen, 50, of Hamilton, Kenya Williams, 32, of Ewing, and Clarence Ford, 38 of Trenton. The owner of the store, 31-year old Martin Jaquez had the same last name as the first suspect. Martin was also arrested, and similarly charged with maintenance of a gambling resort, promoting gambling, possession of gambling records and possession of drug paraphernalia with intent to distribute.

Casey DeBlasio, spokesperson for the prosecutor’s office said Martin Jaquez was not charged for the guns because they were legally licensed in his name, but the guns were taken by the police in relation to the alleged illegal gambling activity. Although similar items were found in both suspects’ stores and similar charges were filed against the two, in addition to the two suspects having the same last name, and both having come from the Dominican Republic, DeBlasio said investigators believe the two are not in any way related, and that there is no link between the two illegal businesses. The two illegal activities allegedly robbed bookies and bettors a total cash of more than $20,000.