Griffin: ‘I am proud to see my Special Investigations team help shut down these operations and bring these criminals to justice’

LITTLE ROCK – Attorney General Tim Griffin today issued the following statement after five people were arrested in Bradley County on charges related to illegal gambling:

“Agents in my Special Investigations Division worked with the Bradley County Sheriff’s Office and the Warren Police Department in a joint investigation of multiple illegal gambling operations in and near the city of Warren. The investigation led to the arrest of five individuals and the confiscation of nearly $40,000 in illegal funds.

“I have long said that my office serves as a resource for law enforcement agencies across Arkansas, so I am proud to see my Special Investigations team help shut down these operations and bring these criminals to justice. I appreciate Bradley County Sheriff Herschel Tillman and Warren Police Chief Shaun Hildreth for inviting us to be part of this investigation, and I congratulate them on their good work.”

After a months-long investigation during which probable cause was established that illegal gambling was taking place inside Que Lindo Michoacan in Warren and Spanky’s in Bradley County, warrants were executed at both locations Monday by the Bradley County Sheriff’s Office, the Warren Police Department, the Office of the Attorney General, Arkansas State Police, and the 10th Judicial Drug Task Force.

At Que Lindo Michoacan, Pablo Ceja, 32, of Warren was arrested and charged with one count of Keeping a Gambling House, a Class D felony, and one count of Gaming Devices-Prohibition, an unclassified misdemeanor. Authorities seized $15,000 and confiscated five electronic gambling machines.

At Spanky’s, Kaysie Miskell, 44, of Pine Bluff, Sandra Huntley, 41, of Kingsland, and Shony Penister, 36, of Warren, were all arrested and each charged with one count of Keeping a Gambling House. Keithron Gibbs, 39, of Warren, was arrested and charged with one count of Gaming Devices-Betting, a violation classified as neither a felony nor a misdemeanor. Authorities seized $24,150 and confiscated 41 electronic gambling machines.

To download a PDF copy of this release, click here.

About Attorney General Tim Griffin

Tim Griffin was sworn in as the 57th Attorney General of Arkansas on January 10, 2023, having previously served as the state’s 20th Lieutenant Governor from 2015-2023. From 2011-2015, Griffin served as the 24th representative of Arkansas’s Second Congressional District, where he served on the House Committee on Ways and Means, House Armed Services Committee, House Committee on Foreign Affairs, House Committee on Ethics and House Committee on the Judiciary while also serving as a Deputy Whip for the Majority.

Griffin has served as an officer in the U.S. Army Reserve Judge Advocate General’s (JAG) Corps for more than 28 years and currently holds the rank of colonel. In 2005, Griffin was mobilized to active duty as an Army prosecutor at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, and served with the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) in Mosul, Iraq.

He is currently serving as the Commander of the 2d Legal Operations Detachment in New Orleans, Louisiana. His previous assignments include serving as the Commander of the 134th Legal Operations Detachment at Fort Liberty (née Bragg), North Carolina, and as a Senior Legislative Advisor to the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness at the Pentagon. Griffin earned a master’s degree in strategic studies as a Distinguished Honor Graduate from the U.S. Army War College, Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania.

Griffin also served as U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas, and Special Assistant to the President and Deputy Director of Political Affairs for President George W. Bush; Special Assistant to Assistant Attorney General Michael Chertoff, Criminal Division, U.S. Department of Justice; Special Assistant U.S. Attorney, U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of Arkansas; Senior Investigative Counsel, Government Reform and Oversight Committee, U.S. House of Representatives; and Associate Independent Counsel, Office of Independent Counsel David M. Barrett, In re: HUD Secretary Henry Cisneros.

Griffin is a graduate of Magnolia High School, Hendrix College in Conway, and Tulane Law School in New Orleans. He attended graduate school at Oxford University. He is admitted to practice law in Arkansas (active) and Louisiana (inactive). Griffin lives in Little Rock with his wife, Elizabeth, a Camden native, and their three children.

###