Arrests Target Newport Beach Gambling Ring

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

The bookmaking arrests, along with other 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 pot 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 the 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 southern Orange County, according to Newport Beach Police Sgt. John Desmond.

The arrests were made during raids that took place over two days; 13 search warrants were served in four counties. Police seized lists of bettors, $20,000 in cash, six pounds of cocaine, several handguns, computers and other bookmaking materials.

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, described by investigators as an enforcer for the bookmakers, was arrested on suspicion of distributing high-grade Peruvian 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.”

A year ago, the officer was a new hire recently arrived from Northern California when he was offered the assignment.

“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 authentic details--which earned the trust of Hancock. When Hancock’s contacts started bringing the officer close to alleged bookmakers, the officer versed himself in the language of hard-core bettors. Soon, he was friends with Debarry.

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

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

Six other men were arrested Nov. 10 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 other people 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. Also arrested were Linda Kay Davis, 37, of Huntington Beach, who was accused of methamphetamine possession, and Debra Marie Jacobson, 37, of Mission Viejo, who was booked on suspicion of being under the influence of a controlled substance.