MACON, Ga. — Outgoing Macon-Bibb DA David Cooke held a news conference Wednesday where he announced new indictments in a gambling and racketeering investigation related to S&W Amusements.
The ball really began rolling in the case in summer 2019 with a handful of arrests.
CASE RECAP
Last July, a Georgia Department of Revenue agent was charged with violating the state’s RICO Act for bribery..
At the time, Cooke said 53-year-old Special Agent Ronald Huckaby exchanged ‘influence and information’ with a man in exchange for round-trip flights and a $13K Hublot watch.
According to an arrest warrant, that man – identified as Nital Raval – told Huckaby and his agents to investigate one of his competitors, Manoj Patel.
Both Raval and Patel were accused of participating in a racketeering enterprise after a gambling raid as part of an investigation into S&W.
Huckaby oversaw the Pooler and Douglas region of the Georgia Department of Revenue’s Alcohol and Tobacco Division from Jan. 2016 to July 2019.
Also caught in the initial announcement was Rahim McCarley, a Bibb deputy who was fired after being arrested on racketing charges.
McCarley’s hiring came under scrutiny at the time because Bibb Sheriff David Davis agreed to hire him despite three Atlanta police supervisors saying he “shouldn’t be in law enforcement.”
Davis said Atlanta police didn’t provide him a complete file with details on their investigations before he hired McCarley.
What's new today?
A Bibb grand jury voted Tuesday to indict 16 people in the investigation, including Huckaby, Raval, Patel and 13 others.
They were identified as:
- Macon business owners Mukeshkumar Patel, 53; Manishkumar Patel, 43; Kunj Patel, 29; Hiren Patel, 37; Panth Patel, 34; former Ideal, Ga. police chief Ennis Odom; and Rahim McCarley, 25, who also was a Bibb County deputy at the time of the alleged racketeering enterprise;
- Savannah area business owners Manoj “Ray” Patel, 48; Bhunica Ambu, 32; Zankhana Patel, 32; Nimishaben Chaudhari, 33; and Parth Patel, 24;
- Statesboro area businessmen Nital “Nick” Raval, 40; and Samir Patel, 53; and
- Georgia Department of Revenue agent Ronald C. Huckaby, 55. Huckaby is no longer employed by the Department of Revenue. Also charged is then-Bulloch County Sheriff’s Department Captain Larry Todd Mashburn, 50, who is now head of School Safety at Bulloch County Schools.
DETAILS IN THE INDICTMENT
The indictment says Raval bribed Mashburn in 2017 in exchange for a badge and deputy ID card, as well as help with traffic tickets and law enforcement protection.
It says Raval bribed Huckaby, then a Georgia Department of Revenue agent, in 2017 and 2018 with flights for confidential information about a competitor.
The indictment alleges 58 locations throughout the state in Bibb, Bulloch, Chatham and Glynn counties were a part of the racketeering effort.
A news release from DA David Cooke says that for the state to provide coin-operated gambling machines, a license must be obtained. Applicants must swear all the information on their applications is correct and that they are not delinquent in taxes.
But, the indictment says the defendants in this case – the store owners and their other locations – collected more than $3 million between Jan. 2017 and March 2019 and failed to pay taxes.
They are accused of making false statements on their applications in 2018, 2019 and 2020 when they said they weren’t delinquent in paying taxes.
The Master License Holders are also accused of making similar false reports, filing false tax returns and underreporting income.
Where it all comes together in the indictment are claims that Master License Holders paid the individual stores' license holders to keep the machines in the stores, which is prohibited by state law.
Additionally, the indictment alleges the same Master License Holders owned some of the real estate where the machines were located and, in some cases, received rent payments from the Location License Holders.
In the end, the 27-count indictment presents a picture of racketeering, false statements, money laundering and illegal cash payouts.