Slain Woman’s Husband One of Those Charged in Oklahoma City High Stakes Poker Case
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — The husband of a slain Oklahoma City woman is one of nine people accused of running an illegal gambling operation that included high-stakes poker games, U.S. Attorney Sanford Coats said Monday.
Teddy Mitchell, 57, was among those named in an indictment that also included his two sons, Dryden Mitchell, 32, and Billy Nick Mitchell, 22, and one business. Teddy Mitchell is also accused of operating "as a traditional bookmaker by taking sports bets for clients, both in person and over the phone," Coats said.
A telephone message left with Teddy Mitchell's attorney on Monday was not immediately returned, but he has previously denied any wrongdoing by Mitchell.
Dryden Mitchell's attorney, Billy Bock, said the father and sons have been a target of investigators since Teddy Mitchell's wife, Julie Mitchell, was found beaten to death in November 2010 in the couple's northwest Oklahoma City home, a case that remains unsolved.
"The murder case couldn't get solved, so they started coming after them for this stuff," Bock said. "I don't think the general public is going to think Dryden Mitchell is a criminal."
Coats declined comment on the homicide investigation.
Bock said the father and his sons were arrested Friday and were held without bond during the weekend in the Grady County Jail.
Federal authorities are seeking to seize more than $8.1 million in alleged gambling proceeds and the forfeiture of 24 tracts of land and numerous vehicles.
"This was not an investigation of a couple of guys who just stopped by the house for a friendly, small-stakes poker game," according to Jim Finch, special agent in charge of the FBI in Oklahoma.
"This was a major, organized criminal investigation," Finch said.
