excerpt:

The raid of Larry Wittman’s suspected illegal poker room last week had been anticipated for some time by local poker players facing criminal charges from two earlier raids.

The gap between the last Pueblo poker raid in June 2007 and last week’s sting was a pregnant pause that fueled speculation among card players that Wittman had been protected from raid or prosecution because of his past relationship with Assistant District Attorney Cecil Turner, who admits he played in Wittman’s games before his appointment to the post.

The first local poker raid during District Attorney Bill Thiebaut’s administration came in February 2007, when Big Daddy’s Aces Club, 1300 U.S. 50 Bypass, was busted. Tickets for professional gambling were given to 47 people, including the suspected proprietor, Benjamin Gradishar.

Click here to read more:
The Pueblo Chieftain Online :: Role of prosecutors in raids questioned

This entry was posted on Monday, September 8th, 2008 at 7:16 am and is filed under CO, Headlines, Legal, State. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or from your own site.