- One gambler got his bail revoked by taking to social media too quickly.
- Two cheaters pled guilty to running a scheme to scam a casino.
- An illegal gambling ring was shut down in Rialto, CA.
LAS VEGAS – Gambling and crime are often linked by both media and criminals themselves, who continually commit gambling-related crimes.
Despite the increasingly regulated status of various types of gambling, crime still exists in the gambling world, and the Gambling Crime Roundup covers the weirdest crime news of the week.
Gambler Gets His Bail Revoked On Twitter
Robert Cipriani, a professional gambler, was ordered by a judge not to use Twitter after a dispute with a fellow gambler over a cell phone.
That fellow gambler had recently pled guilty to multiple counts of securities fraud and wire fraud related to an online gambling company he ran.
His lawyer successfully argued that there was no basis for holding his client without bail, as Cipriani had done nothing to justify anyone considering him a flight risk.
However, one of the conditions of Cipriani’s bail was that he was to have no contact with the other gambler and that he was not allowed to tweet or use social media.
Cipriani immediately started tweeting, posting screenshots of his altercation with the other gambler, and accusing the other gambler of harassing him.
Now, Cipriani is being held without the possibility of bail.
Two Plead Guilty To Trying To Scam Casino
Eric Dat Nguyen and Khanh “Tina” Tran operated a two-person casino scamming ring in order to cheat at Baccarat.
Tran was working as a dealer at the Parkwest Casino 580 in Livermore, CA, while Nguyen would pose as a gambler.
Prosecutors allege that the plan had two parts, and also that Tran and Nguyen would often not be directly at the same table.
First, “Tran would peek at a sequence of cards after shuffling and would convey the sequence to Nguyen before she left the table,” they claim. “Nguyen would then begin to play at that same table and place significant wagers when he recognized the sequence of cards relayed by Tran.”
The two were sentenced to eight months in jail and will pay more than $500,000 in fines, as well as dealing with two years of probation.
Illegal Gambling Facility Shut Down In Rialto
Staying in California – a state with very limited legal casino options – it is clear that gambling has to some degree become the purview of the underworld.
A gambling ring was just busted in Rialto, CA, with 20 people detained under suspicion of illegal gambling.
According to the San Bernardino County Probation Department, fifteen of those people were on probation already.
The raid was the product of multiple weeks of investigation, which ultimately resulted in a search warrant for the premises.
All 20 people will be charged, with the fifteen who were on probation catching an extra violation due to their status.