{"id":6125,"date":"2025-10-16T04:15:07","date_gmt":"2025-10-16T04:15:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/6125\/"},"modified":"2025-10-16T04:15:07","modified_gmt":"2025-10-16T04:15:07","slug":"corpus-christi-lounge-raided-twice-for-illegal-gambling-owner-manager-plead-gu","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/6125\/","title":{"rendered":"Corpus Christi lounge raided twice for illegal gambling; owner, manager plead gu"},"content":{"rendered":"

The owner and manager of the Player\u2019s Lounge in Corpus Christi have pleaded guilty to felony charges after two raids uncovered illegal gambling operations and more t<\/p>\n

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas \u2014 The Player\u2019s Lounge, a South Padre Island Drive business already raided once this year, has again found itself at the center of an illegal gambling investigation \u2014 this time ending with felony pleas from its owner and manager.<\/p>\n

RELATED: Southside game room raided for second time this year<\/a><\/p>\n

According to Corpus Christi Police Department Public Affairs Officer Madeline Vaughn, detectives with the Narcotics and Vice Investigations Division served a second search warrant on Aug. 29, following a months-long probe into illegal gambling. The first raid took place on Jan. 11, 2024.<\/p>\n

Investigators, assisted by CCPD\u2019s Traffic Unit and the Texas Comptroller\u2019s Office, seized more than $73,000 in cash along with gambling equipment during the second raid at the lounge, located in a strip mall in the 3400 block of South Padre Island Drive.<\/p>\n

Detectives identified Mark Pelaez, 24, as the business\u2019s owner and Brandon Roe, 25, as the manager. Both men were charged in connection with organized criminal activity and money laundering stemming from the two investigations.<\/p>\n

On Sept. 25, both defendants accepted plea deals and pleaded guilty to all felony charges. As part of the agreement, prosecutors dismissed all pending misdemeanor counts.<\/p>\n

Vaughn said the case serves as a reminder that any game room offering cash payouts is operating illegally, and both operators and patrons may face criminal prosecution.<\/p>\n

Anyone with information about illegal gambling operations is encouraged to contact the Corpus Christi Police Department at (361) 886-2600 or submit an anonymous tip through Crime Stoppers at 888-TIPS (8477).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The owner and manager of the Player\u2019s Lounge in Corpus Christi have pleaded guilty to felony charges after…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6126,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[155,157,156],"class_list":["post-6125","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-corpus-christi","tag-corpus-christi","tag-corpus-christi-headlines","tag-corpus-christi-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6125","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6125"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6125\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6126"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6125"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6125"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6125"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}