According to authorities, agents have been conducting an investigation into illegal gambling and gambling houses, and during the investigation they executed a search warrant at a home located at 827 Five Forks Road.
Along with arresting 18 people, police seized several large gambling tables, multiple sets of poker chips, playing cards, other poker related items, money, firearms, a video surveillance system, marijuana and vicodine.
Sixteen of those arrested were charged with gambling, including Sonya Atkins, 29; Robert Brian Dills, 35; Tracy Donn Dobbs, 39, Charles Forrester, 63; Calvin Curtis Hughes Jr., 54; Steven Howard Kelley, 32; Christoper George Lomax, 30; Byron Marcus Kinsgbury, 49; Jason Calvin Massingale, 30; Charles George Norton, 71; David Preston Pace, 42; Donna Joe Shumway, 46; Elaine Hughes Stokes, 52; Arnold Dean Smith, 57; Christopher Robert Waldon, 32; and Frank Walter Woods, 42.
Michael Shane Holcombe, 35; and Timothy Earl Sewell, 43, were charged with operating a gambling house.
Dobbs was also charged with possession of marijuana and possession of a controlled substance.
A Pickens County magistrate released all 18 on a personal recognizance bond the same day.




