Eight Apprehended in One-Man Gambling Sting

A gambling ring that thrived for more than two decades in this city’s beach-side bars and restaurants--and, in recent years, used a toll-free number to help cloak its customers--has been crippled by eight arrests, police and prosecutors said this week.

The bookmaking arrests, along with six arrests linked to a suspected drug distribution network, were triggered by a Newport Beach police officer who spent the past year undercover, posing as a marijuana farmer from Northern California with a fondness for football bets.

The 33-year-old officer spent months living out of motel rooms and earning the trust of drug dealers, free-spending gamblers, addicts and hired muscle who helped the bookmakers collect their debts.

In the process, officials say, he gathered evidence of the cocaine ring and a far-reaching gambling venture that had long eluded law enforcement.

The gambling ring allegedly took bets via a toll-free number that rang through to an Alhambra office, and bettors were often recorded to help track debts.

The savvy leaders of the ring had “operated with impunity” for years, and much of their clientele is based in Newport Beach and South County, according to Newport Beach Police Sgt. John Desmond.

The 14 total arrests were made during raids that took place over two days and involved the serving of 13 search warrants in four counties. Police seized lists of bettors, $20,000 in cash, six pounds of cocaine, several handguns, computers and other bookmaking materials. At three sites, officers answered phones and pretended to take bets to further the investigation, Desmond said.

Among those arrested were Sam Michael Debarry, 55, of Laguna Hills, the suspected ringleader of the bookmaking business, and Anthony Cortez Aguilera, 56, of Glendale, who was identified by investigators as the organizer of the phone-in betting operations.

Michael Kent Hancock, 45, of Fountain Valley, who was described by investigators as an enforcer for the bookmakers, was arrested on suspicion of distributing cocaine to local dealers and users.

It was the undercover officer’s false friendship with Hancock that led to revelations about the far-reaching gambling ring, investigators said.

On Friday, speaking on condition of anonymity, the officer said he was relieved to abandon a “lifestyle of lies” and danger. He described a year of shuttling between dingy hotel rooms, rubbing elbows with felons and “sleeping with a gun and one eye open.”

The officer was a recently arrived transplant from Northern California a year ago when he was offered the assignment of immersing himself into the city’s criminal element.

“Our department had never done anything like this before,” Capt. Jim Jacobs said Friday. “It’s difficult to do and a big commitment. For him, it meant a horrible, lonely life for a year.”

The officer studied the world of marijuana farming to pepper his conversation with details--which earned the trust of Hancock. When Hancock’s contacts started bringing the officer close to alleged bookmakers, the cop versed himself in the language of hard-core bettors. Soon, he was friends with Debarry--whom the officer described as “an absolute gentleman.”

The alleged bookmaking ring was already under the scrutiny of Los Angeles police and the Orange County district attorney’s office, which had heard from gamblers through the years who said they had been strong-armed over unpaid debts. More arrests are expected in upcoming weeks, investigators said. Anyone with information is asked to call Newport Beach police investigators at (800) 550-6273.

Debarry and Aguilera appeared Friday in Municipal Court in Newport Beach and entered not guilty pleas to charges of bookmaking conspiracy. Hancock was being held Friday at Orange County Jail in lieu of $250,000 bail on suspicion of conspiracy to transport and sell narcotics.

Six other men were arrested on suspicion of bookmaking. They were identified Friday as Michael Patrick Clark, 55, of Laguna Hills; Tommy Contreras, 39, of Oceanside; Edward James Schiffer, 61, of Oceanside; James Harvey Harlan, 49, of Garden Grove; Donald “Dominic” Augustine Giardini, 57, of Lake Forest; and Robert Lee Chenault, 57, of Dana Point.

Three others were arrested Nov. 15 on suspicion of conspiracy to transport or sell narcotics. They were identified Friday as Leann Stone, 41, of Costa Mesa; Keith Skerritt Kevil, 49, of Newport Beach; and David Charles Dorsey, 42, of Newport Beach.

Also arrested were Linda Kay Davis, 37, of Huntington Beach, who was charged with methamphetamine possession, and Debra Marie Jacobson, 37, of Mission Viejo, on suspicion of being under the influence of a controlled substance.