With a video showing County Commissioner Wayne Copeland throwing money on the table for his alleged entry into a poker tournament, the court found probable cause to bind him to the grand jury on gambling charges Monday morning.
“He paid the money to enter the Texas Hold ‘Em game and they wrote his name down on the list,” testified the undercover operative who was sitting at the poker table when the county commissioner paid what prosecutors claim was his entry fee into the upcoming poker tournament. “He stood out immediately when he walked in because of the way he was dressed. He didn’t look like he belonged there.”
Copeland had come to the location immediately after a County Commission meeting, explaining his semi-formal clothing which stuck out in a building where several were walking around shirtless.
Copeland was bound to the grand jury following the preliminary hearing before Special Judge Bratten Cook. He stands charged with the Class C gambling charge after lawmen raided an alleged gambling house on Academy Lane last month. They raided the building after getting complains that gambling and drug use were rampant there. Copeland was found outside on the phone and maintained he was just there to see someone.
However, the surveillance video captured by the alleged gambling house’s own security cameras and seized during the raid show Copeland entering the building just before the raid and greeting several people including the alleged manager of the gambling house, Margel Ward.
“He appears to be handing out sandwiches,” the undercover operative noted while viewing the film.
A few minutes after entering the building, Copeland can be seen throwing down money on the table, money the undercover agent told the court was the county commissioner’s entry into the upcoming poker game. There was a $25 entry fee to enter the game, which was reportedly held there every Monday.
Adding to the video and eyewitness testimony by the agent are journal records seized during the raid that have the name Wayne C. on them. The agent pointed out the name “Wayne” appears near his name on the journal for the poker game that night.
Copeland can been seen on the house video walking out the door just before lawmen come pouring into the building with guns drawn. The agent said he called in the raid once he had evidence of gambling and drug use. The agent said he saw people smoking marijuana and had one lady, dressed in nurse scrubs, give him a Xanax. Copeland is not alleged to be part of the drug activity. He was among 22 people charged as part of the raid.
Copeland’s attorney, Ryan J. Moore, questioned the quality of the surveillance footage, noting his client is not readily identifiable in the grainy video and that his client is never actually seen partici-pating in the poker match.
“I’ve explained to Mr. Copeland that the court merely found probable cause,” Moore said following the hearing. “The law requires proof beyond a reasonable doubt.”
Moore added there were several people in the building and there could have been another Wayne entered in the tournament.
Copeland is set to go before the October session of the grand jury. He remains free since he was merely cited into court. He also says he plans to keep his position as 9th District county commissioner. The crime is a misdemeanor generally punishable by a fine but, under state statute, it is a removable offense from elected office, meaning the County Commission could move to impeach Copeland should he be convicted of gambling.