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Bee County 8-liner operator gets probation
by Scott Reese Willey
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Roxann Crenshaw Miguez
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A woman who once owned a so-called eight-liner game room in Beeville was sentenced to two years probation on Tuesday after pleading guilty to a felony charge organized criminal activity.

District Court Judge Joel Johnson also ordered Roxann Crenshaw Miguez to pay a $500 fine for possessing a gambling device, a Class A misdemeanor offense.

Miguez, who also goes by the first name of Angeli, lists Uvalde, Texas, as her present place of residence.

A Bee County grand jury returned indictments earlier this year against Miguez and three other people following raids on so-called eight-liner parlors in August 2008.

All were indicted on the state jail felony charge of engaging in organized criminal activity between June 26 and Aug. 15, 2008.

The indictments alleged that each of the defendants and two or more others committed the misdemeanor offense of gambling promotion and operating or participating in the earnings of a gambling place.

Other misdemeanor charges listed in the indictments included: keeping a gambling place, a place used for making or settling bets, the conducting of a lottery or playing of gambling devices; possession of a gambling device, that being a device designed for gambling purposes; and possession of gambling paraphernalia.

Engaging in organized criminal activity is a state jail felony offense punishable by up to two years in a state jail facility and a fine of up to $10,000.

Convictions on the Class A misdemeanor charges could get the defendants up to a year in the county jail and a fine of as much as $4,000.

Thirteen people were charged with various offenses on the night of the raid but not all of them were indicted last spring.

Miguez was accused of operating Touch of Vegas, a game room at 2446 E. U.S. Highway 59, a state jail felony offense. She was also indicted on three other felony counts associated with the gambling room. Two counts were dismissed a third was reduced to a lesser charge of misdemeanor possession of gaming devices.

Under a plea bargain worked out with the district attorney’s office, Miguez agreed to plead guilty to the felony offense of engaging in organized criminal activity in exchange for two years deferred adjudication probation.

Under deferred adjudication probation, judgment is deferred until later, if ever. If an offender successfully follows the terms of his probation, he will not be judged and thus will not have a criminal conviction on his record in connection with the offense. However, if he fails to abide by the terms of his probation, he could be sentenced to prison without a trial.

Miguez thanked Judge Johnson for accepting the plea bargain and giving her the opportunity to avoid a felony conviction.

However, she said she was upset that her ex-husband was not held accountable. She said he persuaded her to sign the documents of ownership relating to the gaming room and even though he managed the gaming room as owner, she was the one who was indicted.

They divorced immediately prior to the August 2008 raid by authorities.

Johnson told her he would consider shortening her probation later on if she followed the terms of her community supervision to the letter.

When the game rooms were raided August 2008, it was the second time since September 2003 that Bee County authorities shut down the eight-liner operations, so called because the devices offer patrons eight chances of winning on a single bet.
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