Gambling house helpers won't ask for new trial

Attorneys for two men convicted of helping to run a gaming house in Shelbyville in 2008 have withdrawn motions for a new trial.

On Thursday, Circuit Court Judge Lee Russell briefly announced that lawyers for Andrew Welsh Craze and Samuel Cory Owens had asked to dismiss their motions for a new trial.

The pair were found guilty last September of one count each of aggravated gambling promotion, a class E felony.

Craze and Owens were two of the card dealers caught in a raid executed Aug. 12, 2008 at 101 Tillett Court, where high dollar poker games were held.

The gambling raid followed an investigation by the Shelbyville Police Department, the 17th Judicial District Drug Task Force, Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Thirty-three people were caught in the 2008 raid; seven were charged with felonies and 26 others with misdemeanor gambling.

Authorities said during the trial that the raid occurred on "a slow night" and that as many as 50 to 60 people would participate.

Officers took $48,000 in cash, gambling paraphernalia, a small amount of marijuana and firearms in the raid.

Last July, the alleged ringleaders of the gaming operation, James Chad Tucker and his wife, Christina Tucker, entered guilty pleas in Eastern District Federal Court in Chattanooga.

The Tuckers were indicted in March on violation of 18 USC 1955, prohibition of illegal gambling businesses, according to federal court documents.

Last November, James was sentenced to 42 months probation, a fine of $3,000 and a special assessment of $100.

However, United States District Judge Harry S. Mattice, Jr. resentenced him a month later, adding that he would be confined in the custody of the Bureau of Prisons from 6 p.m. each Friday until 6 p.m. each Sunday for eight consecutive weekends commencing within the first six months of Tucker's probation.

Tucker is also required to wear an electronic monitoring device and must participate in a gambling addiction treatment program.

His ex-wife, Christina Tucker, was earlier sentenced to two years probation for her role in the illegal operation.

The two other card dealers, Neal C. Phillips and Christian E. Jeppsen II, have already pleaded guilty in Bedford County to their involvement.