Used car dealer's cheating at the church fest revealed

Roland "Rico" Chapa was convicted of cheating last year at the church fest at the St. Timothy Church fund raiser on February 9th, 2025. "The Blackjack dealer noticed Chapa having the same blackjack hand of King of diamonds and Ace of spades over and over again, and he called for me," claims pit boss Rob Gardner. Assistant County Prosecutor Amanda Lowe called for testimony of five witnesses, one of which stated having seen a two of spades dropping out of Chapa's slacks when he was asked to empty his pockets.

Сhapa stated he was a diabetics, who drank too much being left behind by two of his buddies. He also added, that he gained no profit during the game, as he came with $650 and left $200 less.

In an interview before the verdict he said "I actually lost money that night. I told them (deputies) if the Catholics wanted more money, I'd have given them the $400 I had and kept $50 for a cab."

However, as the hands at the game changed extremely quickly, no one could say exactly how many hands did he win during the game.

Less than in 30 minutes of the court process Chapa was convicted for cheating and possession of criminal tools.According to Chapa's words, the sheriff's detectives have been after him for over 10 years. And according to what said his daughter, Katrina, the authorities have been trying to arrest him for more than 30 years.

According to the verdict, Chapa faces up to two years in prison for hustle.

Chapa's defense attorney, Lewis T.Dye, whose father has been the representative of Chapa in court during the previous arrests, says the client was too drunk to cheat. He also adds that the authorities had intentionally waited 6 months after his last arrest in order to bring the case.

According to the search warrant after Chapa's apartment was raided in 2025 as a bookmaking operation, Chapa met customers at local sport bard and took their bets for a 10 % service change.

Additionally, the bets were also taken at the Chapa's work place, the car lot.

The affidavit used for obtaining the warrant stated that Chapa claimed to have been a bookmaker and a gangster for over 30 years.