LEONARDTOWN, Md. (Dec. 30, 2013)—The St. Mary's County Sheriff's Office today released the following incident and arrest reports.
POLICE SEEK HELP IDENTIFYING BOMB THREAT CALLER: On December 19 at approximately 7:59am, the Emergency Communications Center (ECC) received two phone calls from the same male subject reporting bombs inside Leonardtown High School, the Circuit Court for St. Mary's County building, and the District Court for St. Mary's County building. The St. Mary's County Sheriff's Office Criminal Investigations Division has assumed the investigation into the false report.
The recording of a 911 call made to ECC regarding the bomb threat is provided above in the YouTube video. CID is asking anyone who may recognize the voice of the caller to contact Det./Cpl. Robert Merritt at 301-475-4200 Ext. 9042 or to call CRIME SOLVERS at 301-475-3333 or text a tip to "TIP239" plus your message to "CRIMES" (274637). If your information leads to an arrest and conviction of the person responsible for this crime you may be eligible for a reward of up to $1,000.
GAMBLING HOUSE AND THEFT SCHEME: In June of 2013, detectives from the St. Mary's County Sheriff's Office, Vice/Narcotics Division received several complaints from the community regarding the TPR Casino establishment located in Charlotte Hall.
Detectives initiated an investigation to determine how the casino was being operated and identify those individuals responsible for managing the casino. As a result of the preliminary investigation, detectives identified George Raymond Wells as the manager of the casino, which was reportedly being operated to benefit a Prince George's County charitable organization known as Thoroughbred Placement Resources, Incorporated (TPR). TPR, Inc. is a non-profit, charitable organization currently recognized by the Internal Revenue Service.
In October of 2013, detectives entered the casino and furthered the investigation which included interviews with George Wells and several employees. Evidence was obtained which proved individuals involved in the operation were receiving proceeds from the casino. Officers were led to believe that George Wells was routinely giving TPR, Inc. proceeds from the casino, however Mr. Wells nor any of the other paid employees could provide any supporting documentation.
On October 28, 2013, detectives obtained search and seizure warrants for George Wells' person, the TPR Casino, George Wells' residence in Huntingtown, George Wells' vehicle, and the principal offices of TPR, Inc. located in Prince George's County.
As a result of executing the search warrant at the TPR Casino and George Wells' residence, numerous items of evidence were recovered implicating George Wells in a scheme to intentionally divert, convert, or otherwise use proceeds from the casino for his and others personal benefit. Additional information also confirmed that Mr. Wells was using proceeds from the casino for personal benefit. Once again, Mr. Wells was unable to provide any documentation to support his claims of giving proceeds to the charity. However, a document was recovered from George Wells' residence which illustrates his scheme designed to deprive TPR, Inc. of all proceeds from the operation of the casino. The documents recovered from his residence, the gambling store front casino and other sources has implicated George Wells in a theft scheme designed to use TPR, Inc.'s status as a charitable organization to operate a casino and divert a portion of the proceeds for personal benefit.
On the same date, detectives made contact with the President of TPR, Inc. and learned the charity has not received any share of the proceeds derived from the operation of the casino, thereby revealing the scope of George Wells' theft scheme.
On December 30th, 2014 a subsequent search and seizure warrant was executed on the gambling house, located in Charlotte Hall, and gaming devices, poker chips depicting the defrauded charity's logo and name and other items were seized. It was at that time that Mr. George Raymond Wells, 56 of Huntingtown, was formally charged with running a gambling house and theft scheme more than $10,000 but less than $100,000. Although detectives continue to work on a final dollar amount, they have identified approximately $66,000 that has been stolen from Thoroughbred Placement Resources, Incorporated.