2 Residents Accused of Bookmaking

A 2 1/2-year Sheriff’s Department investigation has ended with the indictment of 21 people--including two Granada Hills men--on charges they ran Southern California’s largest sports betting ring, which authorities say grossed at least $65 million a year.

The indictment, handed down June 19 and unsealed by Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Michael Tynan on Wednesday, alleges Granada Hills resident Kale Kalustian headed the interstate bookmaking operation for more than two decades.

Kalustian, Walter “Red” Miller, also of Granada Hills, and 17 of the others indicted were arraigned Wednesday on conspiracy and bookmaking charges, sheriff’s officials said. One defendant, Ray Gutierrez, pleaded guilty at the arraignment.

The investigation of the alleged ring began in earnest in June 1994 when 100 deputies swept through five Southern California counties, arresting many of those indicted and seizing computers, financial ledgers and $82,408 in cash--including $34,099 from Kalustian’s home.

Deputies released the suspects but took the evidence to a grand jury, beginning the process that led to the indictments.

Kalustian and some of his alleged associates had been arrested at least once before, in 1986, on suspicion of running a similar, smaller ring. Records on the outcome of those cases were not available.

Authorities suspect Kalustian took at least partial control of an international bookmaking operation once run out of the Dominican Republic by Californian Ron Sacco. Sacco pleaded guilty in 1994 and is in federal prison.