A Beeville man and woman were sentenced to one year probation on Tuesday for possessing gambling devices.

Joe Henry Lopez, 64, and Joy Louise Greenwood, 48, and two others were indicted last year for various felony offenses associated with running adult game rooms in Beeville.

Louis Anthony “Tony” Rivera, 51, and Roxann Crenshaw Miguez, were each sentenced to probation last fall.

A Bee County grand jury returned indictments last year against the four individuals 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.

Each of the four defendants agreed to accept a plea bargain in exchange for a lighter sentence.

The plea bargain called for the state to dismiss three counts on the indictment and proceed on the third count – engaging in organized criminal activity, a state jail felony offense punishable by up to two years in a state jail. All four agreed to plead guilty to a lesser included offense of possessing a gambling device, a Class A misdemeanor, in exchange for probation and a $500 fine and court costs.

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.

The defendants also agreed to forfeit the gambling devices and any proceeds earned at the so-called eight-liner game rooms.

District Court Judge Mike Welborn said he would consider terminating the defendants’ probation early if they abide by the terms of their community supervision over the next six months or so.

“Your honor, I have never been involved with the justice system before, and it has been an ordeal,” Lopez told Judge Welborn at the conclusion of Tuesday’s bench hearing. “And I do not plan to get involved with the justice system ever again.”

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

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.

Beeville attorney Jose Aliseda represented Lopez. Corpus Christi attorney John Gilmore represented Greenwood. Harry White with the Texas Attorney General’s office prosecuted the case on behalf of the state of Texas.

Under a plea bargain worked out with the district attorney’s office, Miguez and Rivera were sentenced to two and five years of deferred adjudication probation, respectively.

Under deferred adjudication probation, judgment is deferred until later, if ever. Offenders who successfully follow the terms of their probation will not be judged and thus will not have a criminal conviction on their record in connection with the offense. However, if they fail to abide by the terms of their probation, they could be sentenced to the maximum time allowable in prison without a trial.