SAPD Arrests Three San Angeloans for Engaging in Organized Crime

SAN ANGELO, TX - Early Monday morning, San Angelo Police arrested a 32-year-old San Angelo man wanted on an outstanding arrest warrant for engaging in organized crime during a traffic stop.

Public Information Officer Tracy Gonzalez said Robert William Pierson, Jr. was identified as a passenger during the traffic stop that occurred around 3 a.m. at N. Main and Preusser Street.  

"He was taken into custody and transported to the Tom Green County Jail without incident and booked for Engaging in Organized Criminal Activity," she noted.

Gonzalez added that Pierson, along with co-defendants Tera Rockay Chaplin, 46, and James Chaplin, 60, were indicted by a Grand Jury earlier this month as a result of a 2016 joint-area law enforcement investigation of illegal gambling activity at Chadbourne Gold, a gaming spot located at 2821 N. Chadbourne. 

She said, "Tera Chaplin and James Chaplin were also arrested Monday by Tom Green County Sheriff Deputies in an unrelated incident."

On October 13, 2016, members of the San Angelo Police Department’s Street Crimes Division, Texas DPS, and the Tom Green County Sheriff’s Office executed an Evidentiary Search Warrant at the establishment at the direction of State District Judge Ben Woodward. 

"During the search, investigators seized numerous items consistent with Texas Penal Code Sections 47.03 Gambling Promotion, Section 47.04 Keeping a Gambling Place, Section 47.06 Possession of Gambling Devices, Equipment, or Paraphernalia, and Section 71.02 Engaging in Organized Criminal Activity," Gonzalez said.

She also mentioned that area law enforcement officials will continue their investigation of local establishments and their business operators who furnish and maintain sweepstakes and gambling machines because these establishments serve as a breeding ground for further criminal activity. This activity includes robbery, drug use or trafficking, violent crimes, and other "felonious offenses."  

"The continued operation of such establishments poses a direct threat to the welfare and safety of the citizens of San Angelo and Tom Green County," Gonzalez concluded.

Chadbourne Gold was one of the 23 establishments within Tom Green County that received cease-and-desist notices issued in August of 2016.