Card house falls

April 17, 2007

By MATT TUNSETH

Frontiersman

WASILLA - Alaska State Troopers and members of the Palmer and Wasilla police on Saturday busted what they say was a large, ongoing criminal gambling enterprise serving the needs of high-stakes Mat-Su poker players for more than a year.

Police raided a home on Merciful Circle off Bogard Road at approximately 1:05 a.m. Saturday and subsequently arrested five people - including an assistant principal at Chugiak High School - who troopers say ran the organized card game. Troopers also seized more than $9,000 in cash and 14 poker tables.

Police say Hollie Metzler, 27, Mohammad Hereimi, 29, Jeremy Ferreira, 28, Samuel Henry, 30, and James McDowell, 32, ran the gambling operation, which they claim specialized in organized poker games.

Chugiak High School's Web site lists McDowell as an assistant activities principal at the school. According to the Mat-Su Borough, the home is owned by McDowell and McDowell LLC.

Alaska State Trooper spokeswoman Megan Peters said Monday that seven search warrants were served at various locations around Mat-Su.

When police arrived at the house, there were eight patrons and two card dealers there. She didn't immediately know how many of those arrested were at the main house at the time of the bust, but some patrons were allowed to leave the home.

&#8220They weren't all located at Merciful Circle at the beginning,” she said. &#8220They were kind of picked up and brought there.”

Peters said the arrests wrapped up a two-month investigation that began with information from the public.

&#8220What prompted the investigation was tips from the public,” Peters said.

Along with card tables and cash, poker chips and gaming ledgers were also seized.

Peters said all five arrested Saturday were charged with first-degree promotion of gambling and first-degree possession of gambling records, both felonies.

Subtle clues seen outside the unassuming house on Merciful Circle Sunday afternoon hinted at what may have been going on inside.

Along with a few empty beer and soda cans, hundreds of cigarette butts were scattered around the property in front of the home - the only house on an otherwise undeveloped circle just down the road from the Boys and Girls Club on Bogard Road. The only two windows were covered from the inside. There was a satellite dish on the roof and bars on a side door. A large Dumpster out front contained discarded office chair boxes and boxes of empty snack foods.

Peters said police believe that the group was operating as a for-profit enterprise.

&#8220It was a set-up establishment that was taking a cut,” she said.

That, she said, is what elevated the case to something the troopers wanted to pursue, as opposed to a simple home poker game.

&#8220What truly made it illegal to the point that it prompted our interest was the house was taking a cut,” she said.

Contact Matt Tunseth at 352-2265 or matt.tunseth@frontiersman.com