MACON, Ga. — A Bibb County grand jury has indicted 16 people in a case that covers several counties.
According to a 62-page indictment obtained by 13WMAZ, those charges include bribery, money laundering, tax evasion and illegal gambling.
This has been something coming down the pipeline since summer 2019 when there were a handful of arrests.
In a news conference Wednesday, DA David Cooke listed off 16 defendants indicted by the grand jury Tuesday in a racketeering case.
“Now, there’s this expectation of getting away with it. Just because you pay off someone in law enforcement, you think you can escape justice,” Cooke said.
Those indicted include Macon business owners; Rahim McCarley, a former Bibb County Sheriff's Office deputy; a former Bulloch County Sheriff's captain; a Georgia Department of Revenue agent; and the former police chief of Ideal in Macon County.
The businesses all allegedly ran illegal gaming machines.
“I can tell you that the more we investigate this, the more public officials we find who could be involved,” Cooke said.
The indictment says Statesboro business owner Nick Raval bribed a Bulloch County Sheriff's Office captain in 2017.
“With loans, gifts of money, use of Raval's vehicles, liquor and a watch in exchange for the deputy giving Raval a badge, a deputy identification card, assistance with traffic citations and additional law enforcement protection,” Cooke said.
Raval is also accused of bribing the Revenue agent in 2017 and 2018 with airline tickets.
In exchange, the agent allegedly provided confidential information about Raval's business competitors.
“The businesses are located throughout the state with hubs in Bibb, Bulloch, Chatham and Glynn counties,” Cooke said.
Overall, the indictment alleges that 58 businesses around the state took part in the scheme.
The businesses involved allegedly collected over $3 million in sales tax, but never paid it to the state.
In just over three weeks, Cooke leaves office and DA-Elect Anita Reynolds Howard takes over.
This spring, Howard told 13WMAZ that Cooke was going overboard in prosecuting businesses that run those illegal coin-operated gaming machines.
Cooke says that's not why he's bringing the charges now. Because of the pandemic, the grand jury couldn't meet until recently.
“It’s my job as DA until the end of the year to pursue justice, so that’s what we’ve done,” Cooke said.
Cooke also said the illegal cash in these types of businesses have led to armed robberies, assaults and murders.
He added that he’s been working to hold the gambling industry accountable for the past seven years because of constituents pleading for action, saying the addition to these machines tear families apart.