Saturday, July 19, 2008

Officer Michael King Charged with Bookmaking and Racketerring

Authorities around the country have not only been targeting slot machines, but also illegal sports gambling rings. Their latest investigation has led them to one of their own.

A warrant has been issued for Miami-Dade police officer Michael King, 42. He is being charged with Bookmaking, Racketeering, and Conspiracy to Racketeer. He has been an officer since 1989.

Forty individuals will be arrested in the drug and gambling sting. A second police officer will also be arrested, although his name has not yet been released. The gambling activity took place sometimes while in police cars.

The arrest warrant claims that April 2nd of this year, King was videotaped paying a client his winnings while sitting in his patrol car. The amount of the transaction was not released.

King was caught on tape after a routine stop in which he pulled over a car that was marked as an undercover vehicle. The officer inside was Sgt. Trujillo. When he approached the car, King was told that Trujillo was doing surveillance on a heroin drug hole.

Once Trujillo pulled away, King called fellow accomplice Ricardo Munoz, who is also known to be a bookmaker. "I just stopped one of my lieutenants at the corner watching ya'lls s**t, man," he told Munoz. Wire taps have confirmed that King took illegal bets on basketball games.

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