Newton Citizen

Photo by Howard Reed

CONYERS -- Law enforcement agencies conducted raids on five locations in Rockdale County Monday as part of a coordinated sweep on an alleged illegal gambling operation that covered two counties.

The raids were part of an investigation by the Clayton County Sheriff's Office after receiving citizen complaints about gambling activity in Clayton County. A three-month investigation culminated with the raids, which included four Rockdale County warehouses, a local residence and eight businesses in Clayton County, Clayton County Sheriff Kem Kimbrough said in a press release Monday.

Larry Lee Simmons was arrested at his home on Old Camp Trail along with 14 other subjects. Simmons was identified as the manufacturer of gambling machines and owner of The Cedar Room, located in Riverdale, according to the press release.

Simmons and the others were charged with commercial gambling, possession or manufacture of gambling equipment and keeping a gambling place. Federal charges are pending, and additional arrests are expected. Seizures included $175,000 in cash and several hundred gambling machines, said Clayton County Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Dep. Alicia Parkes.

Parkes said Monday the other Rockdale County locations raided were on Olympic Court and Lake Rockaway Road. The machines confiscated were Keno and Blackjack.

The raids occurred simultaneously at 9:15 a.m. and involved over 150 officers split between the two counties and included the Rockdale County Sheriff's Office and Conyers Police Department. Clayton County Sheriff's Office also received assistance from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, U.S. Immigration Customs Enforcement, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the U.S. Marshals Service.