People Against a Casino Town
Information

Casinos and crime

There are so many reports of crime associated with casinos,
that it's impossible to keep up with all of them. 
This page illustrates the breadth of the problem.

(Click "reload" or "refresh" to see most recent version of this page -  it is updated often)

  • CA - Last year (2007) , incidents included counterfeit chips, child endangerment, numerous auto burglaries, drug busts ("possession of drugs; possession of drugs for sale; under the influence of a controlled substance"), drunks, liars ("providing false information to a police officer"), a stolen vehicle, brandishing a deadly weapon, forgery, battery, domestic battery, petty theft, grand theft, insufficient funds, fictitious checks, a minor in possession of alcohol, trespassing, threats, embezzlement, annoying phone calls, arrests on outstanding warrants, resisting arrest, vandalism, sexual battery, even illegal dumping. (Casino Crime Stats - One California Community, 4/8/08)

  • OR - A woman who embezzled from her employer to finance a gambling addiction pleaded guilty to charges of theft and forgery and was sentenced to 20 months in prison.  Lincoln County Judge Robert Huckleberry also ordered Coreen Savage to pay restitution of more than $122,000. That's the amount the former business manager stole from the Newport nursing home where she worked. Myers says Savage stole the money between late 2005 and early 2007 by writing company checks to herself and forging administrators' names on the checks. She concealed her activity by altering the corporate books. (11/27/07 - Lincoln City, OR, Nursing home manager imprisoned on theft charges) (Editor's note:
    • <>Chinook Winds Casino is located in nearby Lincoln City.)

  • OR - A former assistant manager for First American Title Insurance of Portland has been sentenced to 15 months in federal prison for embezzling almost $800,000 from the escrow accounts of some of the company’s customers. Judith Yoresen, 61, of Portland, stole the money, according to federal prosecutors and court documents, to feed a gambling habit. (4/20/07, Woman embezzles $725,000 from employer) 
  • PA - A gambling addiction led a Lowe's  operations manager to steal more than $49,000 from the home improvement store,  township police said.  Leo Clarke of  Tobyhana Township, Monroe County, started a refund scam in April and used it for  six months at the Southmont shopping center store. Clarke filled out refund receipts, entered them into the computer and  pocketed the money from the refund. (10/26/07, Lowe's worker charged in scam)
  • PA - Palmer police officers looked over the surveillance video after Unity Bank on William Penn Highway was robbed Sept. 20 in the township.  Czerwinski was taken into custody about 4:30 a.m. Sunday.  He was sleeping in his car while it was parked in the Foxwoods Resort and Casino parking garage in Connecticut., Ruoff said.  (10/15/07, Palmer bank robbery suspect arrested)

  • TX - A former Kickapoo tribal manager accused of using money from the tribe's casino to fund political campaigns and personal expenses was convicted of theft and cheating on his  taxes. Isidro Garza Jr. was convicted Friday of 11 counts of conspiracy,  stealing money from the tribe and evading the federal income tax.  Garza's wife and son and the former manager of the Kickapoo Lucky Eagle Casino in Eagle Pass were convicted of an assortment of  similar charges.  His son, former state Rep. Timoteo Garza, was convicted of four counts. And Lee  Martin, the former casino manager, was convicted of three counts. (10/13/07, Former Kickapoo casino manager convicted of stealing)

  • NM - Linda Vigil was fired from the Red Cross shortly after allegations surfaced that she was stealing money intended for victims of Hurricane Katrina. She admitted funneling Red Cross donations to a bank account under her name to pay bills and support her gambling habit at the Inn of the Mountain Gods near Ruidoso. Vigil admitted she stole more than $120,000 in donations. Some of the money she stole came from mailed donations, bake sales and a hurricane relief effort for Katrina victims that was organized by Holloman Air Force Base. (1/10/07, Red Cross worker stole $120,000)

  • MN - Prior Lake fire chief resigns, apologizes over stolen funds -  Prior Lake Fire Chief Bruce Sames has resigned after it was discovered he took $13,463 from a department checking account to help finance a gambling addiction, (1/10/07 Fire chief resigns)
  • CT A Westerly woman who Stonington police say lost almost $200,000 at Foxwoods Resort Casino over the past six years, has been charged with stealing at least $93,769 from the Pendleton nursing home.   Police said Penny M. Sherman, 36, of 20 Wall St., who was in charge  of scheduling at the home, concocted a scam in which she forged signatures and altered records to secure pay for overtime she never  worked. Police said she admitted to having a gambling problem. Records of Sherman's gambling habits at Mohegan Sun and Foxwoods showed she lost large sums of money while working at the Pendleton  Health & Rehabilitation Center. (1/11/07, Police say woman stole $93,769 from nursing home)

  • OR - Elma Magkamit, the former West Linn finance director who stole $1.4 million from the city to support a gambling habit and a lifestyle that included clothing from Ralph Lauren, gifts and $17,000 worth of jewelry, was sentenced to more than eight years in prison Friday. ...  As a result of the thefts, the city's bond rating tanked -- making it more expensive for West Linn to borrow money. ... She used most of the money she stole to play the video poker and slot machines -- which Boise called "the crack cocaine" of gambling -- at Spirit Mountain Casino. (Oregon - Embezzler sentence: 8 years 11/18/06)  A grand jury Thursday indicted West Linn's (Oregon) former finance director on 114 felony counts of theft in connection with $1.4 million that was stolen from the city over five years. The public corruption case is believed to be one of the largest in state history.  A search of the Magkamits' house ... revealed numerous receipts from the Spirit Mountain Casino, Timeus said. He said Elma Magkamit also traveled to Las Vegas and Reno to gamble, playing video poker and slot machines. (West Linn's ex-finance chief indicted 4/28/06, Oregonian Newspaper, Portland, Oregon) A later search of Magkamits' house on a Woodburn golf course uncovered piles of gambling receipts from Spirit Mountain Casino, where Magkamit and her husband, Larry, were on a first-name basis with staff, said West Linn Police Chief Terry Timeus. (Corruption, 5/7/06)  Magkamit gambled away much of the stolen money, according to investigators.  The missing money is equivalent to about 14 percent of West Linn's annual $10.1 million operating budget, officials said.  Magkamit resigned last year after four years as West Linn finance director. She had worked for Clackamas County since 1994.  ( 4/28/06, http://www.kgw.com)
  • A U.S. Forest Service employee in Eastern Oregon quietly gave her boyfriend more than $642,000 from federal firefighting accounts over six years, putting the money into a bank account they shared, according to an indictment unsealed Wednesday. From there, the money paid not for firefighting, but for gambling, car and mortgage payments, farm expenses and eating out, the federal grand jury indictment said. Debra Kay Durfey drew the money from a vast national pool of fire funds, where no one missed it among the nearly $1 billion spent nationwide on firefighting each year, court documents and prosecutors said.Durfey, 49, a purchasing agent in Pendleton, was responsible for overseeing the spending on a local level and had concealed the missing money since 2000 by manipulating government records, the indictment said.  (11/16/06 - Oregon gambler fleeced fire funds)
  • Gambling is to blame for a former Central Point city employee's embezzlement of more than $73,000 in public funds, her attorney said.  Katrina Ann Blanton, 46, was sentenced Monday to 20 days in jail for stealing traffic fines paid to the city over several years' employment there.  The former Central Point Municipal Court clerk pleaded guilty in Jackson County Circuit Court to counts of aggravated first-degree theft, official misconduct and falsifying business records. Investigators never found a cache of money in Blanton's possession because she spent it all on her gambling addiction, her defense attorney Carl Caplan told the court Monday. The only full-time court employee, Blanton worked for the city for four years. She resigned several weeks after being placed on administrative leave. She had no prior criminal record and was not arrested for the theft. The sum of $73,489 quoted in court represented only what prosecutors could prove in trial after untangling a mess of documents, said Rachel Bridges, county deputy district attorney.  (OR Embezzler sentenced for stealing, Central Point, Oregon 10/31/06)
  •  A former Treasury Department employee admitted Wednesday that he stole more than $67,000 in uncut sheets of $100 bills and tried to launder the money through casino slot machines.  David C. Faison was caught after casinos in Atlantic City, West Virginia and Delaware noticed $100 bills that did not contain government seals or serial numbers. Surveillance video showed him feeding bills into slot machines, playing for a while, then cashing out for new bills. (Former Treasury employee admits stealing, Washington, 9/6/06)
  • Larence Moreno, 65, of Lakeside, Arizona, was the postmaster for the Whiteriver Post Office, in Whiteriver, Arizona.  During the period of November 2003 through May 2004, Moreno removed approximately $66,110 from the Post Office ... Prosecutors say Moreno ultimately took the Post Office's money to a local casino and lost the money while gambling with it.  (Postmaster charged in Gambling with Postal funds, Arizona, 9/6/06)

  • Alabama State Representative Bryant Melton recently pleaded guilty of laundering thousands of public dollars from his discretionary account through a foundation associated with the Alabama two-year college system, and then using that money to help pay gambling debts.  (Public Funds pay gambling debts , Alabama, 8/6/06)

  • Mickey Heath, 61, was charged with first-degree theft for embezzling $208,649 from the Boone County School District where he was the district's business manager from 1997 to 2005.  In the pre-investigation report, Heath's attorney William Kutmus, noted a battle with gambling and unsuccessful attempts to recover from his addiction by treatment with a psychiatrist and Gambler's Anonymous.  "I would like it noted he spent every dime of that money at Prairie Meadows (race track and casino)," Kutmus said following the sentencing.  (Heath sentenced to 10 years for embezzling, Iowa, 7/28/06)

  • The men used automatic weapons and some type of gas in the robbery, according to Scottsdale police. Numerous Scottsdale police vehicles were seen in the area south of Osborn and Miller roads, where the suspects “either crashed or bailed out” of the armored car, Scottsdale police Sgt. Mark Clark said. ( 2 arrested in armored car robbery at casino at Indian Bend Casino, Arizona, 7/21/06)

  • A 71-year-old nun who co-wrote a popular marriage-preparation program was arrested on charges of improperly spending more than $300,000 on casinos, gifts and air travel.  Sister Barbara Markey, who was fired in January as director of the Omaha Archdiocese's family life office, turned herself in Wednesday and was released on her own recognizance.  Markey was charged with theft by deception, a felony punishable by a maximum of 20 years in prison and a $25,000 fine. (Nun surrenders on charge of stealing $300,000, 6/29/06)
  • A 61-year-old woman who resigned last month as clerk-treasurer for the village of Clyman faces two charges on accusations she took more than $36,000 from the community to gamble at the Ho-Chunk Casino. Jane A. Dornfeld, 61, was charged this week with one count of theft from a business setting over $10,000 and one count of misconduct in office...  The criminal complaint said she admitted to detectives from the Dodge County Sheriff's Department that she wrote additional village checks to herself under the guise that they were legitimate paychecks. Detective said she told them she spent all of the money gambling at the casino. (Village treasurer stole $36,000 to gamble, 6/15/06) 

  • Police on Friday arrested a woman they said kidnapped and robbed a 78-year-old man she met at Mohegan Sun Casino. Candace L. Woodhall, 44, was arrested on a warrant charging her with first-degree robbery, first-degree kidnapping, second-degree larceny, third-degree assault on an elderly person, third-degree assault and threatening, police said.  The victim, a 78-year-old man, had met Woodhall at the Mohegan Sun Casino and left with her, police said. When they got to the parking garage, they met a man who was friendly with Woodhall, police said, and Woodhall and the man agreed to drive the victim to his vehicle. They drove the alleged victim off casino property to a side road where the man pulled a weapon and demanded money from the victim, police said. As the victim struggled with the man, an undisclosed sum of money was taken from him, police said.  (Woman charged with kidnapping and robbery, 6/17/06)

  • Elderly woman robbed at Foxwoods casino - The Connecticut State Police Eastern District Major Crime Squad is investigating a robbery that occurred in the Rainmaker Parking Garage at Foxwoods Resort casino in Ledyard. At about 3:35 p.m., a white male approached an elderly female in the garage, assaulted her and stole her pocketbook containing an undetermined amount of cash. (Elderly woman robbed at Foxwoods casino, 6/6/06)
  • A 74-year-old bookkeeper was ordered to serve a jail term, undergo gambling treatment and make $100,000 restitution Friday for embezzling $167,000 from her boss, a McMinnville neurologist. Patricia Crafton of McMinnville pleaded guilty to one count of aggravated first-degree theft and two counts each of first-degree forgery and first-degree theft. Judge Ronald Stone sentenced her to 80 days in jail and five years probation, with treatment for her gambling problem one condition of her probation. ... Crafton spent most of the ill-gotten gains feeding her gambling habit and paying down her credit card debt.  (Aging embezzler blames gambling, McMinnville, Oregon, 5/20/06)

  • Susan Birtch, 49,  who "couldn't live with herself" and confessed to Brockville police to taking as much as $25,000 over several years from an elderly woman to feed a gambling addiction was spared time behind bars Tuesday.  She told police she'd taken between $23,000 and $25,000 from the victim, Marie Seguin, an elderly resident of Sherwood Park Manor. The money, none of which remains, was used to feed a gambling addiction - mainly ProLine sports wagers and casinos. Some of the money Birtch gambled away was drawn from funds intended to pay the victim's rent at Sherwood Park Manor. Seguin (the victim) was more than $11,000 in arrears on her rent.  (Thefts fed woman's gambling addiction, Brockville Recorder & Times, Canada, 5/17/06)
  • A 43-year-old city man, Darrell K. Hann, faces weapons and assault charges after he attacked a woman near the Casino Saturday morning, police said.  The victim, a 45-year-old Tinton Falls woman, was near the Casino at Lake and Ocean avenues, when Hann attacked her at knifepoint.  (City man charged in Asbury Park assault, New Jersey, 5/8/06)
  • A chemical-company executive used company debit cards to withdraw $246,434 from automated teller machines and wrote bonus or commission checks to himself for $207,500 to cover stock-market losses and casino gambling debts, police said. Anthony J. Maro Sr., 64, of Upper Makefield, president of Gharda USA Inc., was arraigned Thursday before District Judge Donald Nasshorn on felony charges including theft, theft by deception, and receiving stolen property. Prosecutors said Maro had signed an agreement with the company acknowledging he had misappropriated money and agreeing to probation, reduced pay, and a plan to repay $200,000 by Dec. 31. Instead, he visited the ATMs three more times between Dec. 29 and Jan. 4, they said. (Executive accused of stealing nearly $250,000, 4/9/06, Pennsylvania)

  • Bank worker in court on $10.5 million fraud - A former Commonwealth Bank employee who allegedly transferred $10.5 million from clients' accounts into his own before losing most of it at a Sydney casino.   It is alleged he gambled away $8.5 million of the money.  (Bank worker in court, 4/3/06, Australia)
  • The grand jury believed she took more than $25,000 worth of PTO funds for personal use.  Frey, who was working for Casino Arizona as a blackjack floor supervisor, told police she tried to win money gambling as a way to pay back the PTO. She admitted to police that she had a gambling problem. (Former AZ School Parent-Teacher Organization treasurer arrested, (5/2/06)
  • Blue Lake (Callif.) resident Abraxas Layton shared a geography research paper with the City Council Tuesday that points to a data-supported relation between the city's rising crime and Blue Lake Casino's presence just over the city line. Layton cites Blue Lake Police Department statistics and questions why the Blue Lake Rancheria, the casino's governing body, does not financially support the nearby city's police department.  Departmental statistics shared with the council and the public show sizable increases between crime data collected in 2002 -- the year Blue Lake Casino opened its doors -- and 2005. Particular spikes are revealed in burglaries, 4 in 2002 and 32 in 2005; marijuana sales, 4 in 2002 and 13 in 2005; driving under the influence, 2 in 2002 and 23 in 2005; and drunkenness, 3 in 2002, 12 in 2005. The end result is arrests and bookings that went from nine in 2002 to 372 in 2005. (Crooks challenge police, 5/1/06)

  • A Fallbrook man was arrested after allegedly selling drugs from his parked car at the Pechanga Resort & Casino, authorities said Tuesday.  Deputies found and seized about 8 ounces of a substance believed to be methamphetamine (4/19/06 - North County Times,  Man accused of selling drugs from car)
  • "They're taking money from their kids' college funds. I've seen cases of parents breaking into their kids' piggy banks so they can gamble." Renee Wert, gambling addiction counselor - - "Over the past five or six years, I've seen a dramatic increase in embezzlement-type crime, and gambling has played a role." Frank Clark, Erie County district attorney (Hidden costs of gambling, 4/17/06)

  • Federal authorities announced $2.5 million in penalties Friday against an Indian tribe and an official in charge of its casino in Oklahoma for alleged violations of provisions designed to thwart money launderers, terrorist financiers and other criminals. ..."This case involved the absence of an adequate anti-money laundering program, the use of fictitious Social Security numbers for customer identification, an unreported deposit of $300,000 in cash from a duffel bag, and other suspicious transactions,'' said Robert Werner, director of the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network. (US fines casino tribe, casino official, Oklahoma, 3/24/06)

  • Four men are in custody in connection with the fatal shooting of three men near a casino on the Rincon Indian Reservation, authorities said Saturday. A total of five people were shot at the casino at about 5:15 p.m. on Friday, a homicide lieutenant said. There was no information immediately available on two other people who were taken to a North County trauma center. (Pauma Valley, Calif., 2/4/06 - Four Arrested After Shooting At Indian Reservation Casino ) 

  • Over five years, the business manager of a Roman Catholic parish in Buffalo Grove stole more than $600,000 in collections and other church funds to feed a gambling habit that cost at least $1.8 million.  Donato "Dan" Suffoletto, 68, used the money largely to feed slot machines at the Grand Victoria Casino in Elgin, authorities said. (Parish business manager faces charges, Chicago, Illinois, 12/15/05) 

  • New Jersey authorities are looking for a nursing-home executive accused of stealing $1.7 million from various accounts at the Essex County facility. Peter Joseph Leus, 38, of Clifton, is accused of siphoning the money from accounts at the New Vista Nursing & Rehabilitation Center to bankroll his gambling habit, according to the State Division of Criminal Justice. (9/11/05 - Nursing Home Controller stole $1.7 for gambling habit)

  • A woman who worked in Wal-Mart's cash office is facing charges she embezzled more than $100,000 in cash from the Klamath Falls (Oregon) store. Fuimaono admitted to stealing approximately $100,000 to $160,000 in four months, according to the probable cause statement filed by Greg Rote, the arresting officer. "Fuimaono further stated she stole more than $2,000 on more than 10 occasions," Rote wrote. "Fuimaono stated she has no money, as she pays bills, gives money to friends and has a gambling problem." (8/20/05, http://www.heraldandnews.com/articles/2005/08/20/news/top_stories/top3.txt)

  • A former bookkeeper has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for stealing nearly $400,000 from her employer. Police say Cynthia D. Quinn, of Davenport, frequently forged her boss' signature at Midwest Reconstruction. They also say she failed to record checks written to herself and altered deposit slips to avoid being caught. Police say Quinn used the money on gambling, about 80 percent was lost on a riverboat casino. (Davenport, Iowa, 7/20/05, Bookkeeper sentenced in theft)

  • Ma Lina Royandoyan Mendoza, formerly of Aloha, (Oregon) gambled away much of the $939,903 she stole from U.S. Bank in Portland, Oregon. For nearly two years, Ma Lina Royandoyan Mendoza was a high roller. She gambled so much at MGM Grand in Las Vegas and at Spirit Mountain Casino (in Oregon) that they rewarded her with cash and even a diamond tennis bracelet. On a salary of about $60,000, feeding her gambling addiction would have been tough, so she turned to another revenue stream: She embezzled nearly $1 million from her employer, U.S. Bank in Portland. For 20 months, Mendoza, 48, formerly of Aloha, was engaged in what federal authorities say was a complex scheme to defraud the bank by skimming money from commercial loan payments. (6/10/05, The Oregonian, Oregon)

  • A woman accused in the grisly death of a Creek Nation casino worker has been found competent to stand trial. 39-year-old Effie Goodson is charged with first-degree murder in the December 2003 death of Carolyn Denise Simpson. A hunter in a Hughes County field discovered Simpson, 21, shortly after Christmas that year. She had a small caliber bullet wound to the head and lacerations to her stomach. Simpson was six months pregnant and was last seen several days prior at her job at the Creek Nation casino in Okemah. Goodson, a frequent customer at the casino, was the last person seen with Simpson. (7/7/05, Woman to be tried for murder of casino employee, Native Times)

  • A Lane County, Oregon soldier recently returned home from a tour of duty in Iraq to find himself the victim of identity theft from an unusual source. When the Veneta man completed his overseas National Guard service and returned to the Eugene area, he discovered more than $10,000 missing from his bank account. Bank records showed a series of ATM withdrawals occurring while he was out of the country. Alloway appears to have stolen the ATM card and pin number from her son's mail and used it to get money for video poker, electronic entertainment devices, ... (Mom steals from soldier son to gamble 6/9/05)

  • Sonoma County Sheriff Bill Cogbill wants $700,000 to increase patrols in northern Sonoma County, citing increased calls for service to River Rock Casino, the county's first Indian gaming hall. Calls for deputies to respond to the (River Rock) casino increased by 51 percent, from 85 calls in 2003 to 128 calls in 2004, according to the (Sonoma County, Calif.) Sheriff's Department. (6/6/05 - Money Requested for River Rock Casino Policing)
  • Phillip Anthony Williams — one the U.S. Marshals Service’s 15 most wanted fugitives in the country. ... Williams, 46, is charged with murdering Josephine Chacon, his ex-girlfriend, in the parking lot of an Indian casino in Albuquerque. Chacon was stabbed repeatedly in her back, neck, arms and upper chest, according to the Marshals Service. ("America's Most Wanted fugitive nabbed"- 5/27/05 )

  • A former school district superintendent from northwest Missouri admitted yesterday in federal court to stealing more than $840,000 from the district, money he said he needed to pay for his gambling addiction. (3/9/05, Ex-school district chief pleads guilty to embezzlement, Kansas City, MO, http://www.columbiatribune.com/2005/Mar/20050309News018.asp)

  • The former payroll clerk for a Northeast Philadelphia family-owned candy company Frankford (Candy & Chocolate) was sentenced yesterday to 38 months in prison for embezzling $858,936 and blowing it gambling in Atlantic City. (1/12/05, Embezzler receives 38-month sentence, Philadelphia)

  • It's quite a phenomena that we have had three highly regarded town officials, some elected, some appointed, who have stolen such large quantities of money. It goes to show how gambling has permeated this area. “There's been a lot of gambling-related crime. This area has the highest amount of second and third mortgages in the state. You see people liquidating their assets, putting their homes at risk, not paying taxes. (Down and Out: Donna Allen Went To Jail Because Of Her Gambling Addiction. Could It Happen To You? 1/31/05, Connecticut)

  • The former chief financial officer of a Crestwood company has been indicted on charges that he embezzled more than $548,000 from his employer. He caused checks to be issued by Fasteel to pay his own debts, for deposit into his own accounts and to pay for gambling, the indictment claims. (St. Louis Today, 1/23/05)
  • Traffic accidents on three major roads around Thunder Valley Casino near Lincoln have increased 92 percent since the gaming facility opened in June 2003.Statistics from the California Highway Patrol also show arrests for driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs have skyrocketed more than 600 percent on the same roads. (Traffic wrecks up by casino, Sacramento Bee, CA, 12/16/04)

  • Criminal activity a reality in casinos, police say -- Toronto Law enforcement officials say loan sharking, money laundering and other criminal activities have become a reality inside Ontario's legalized casinos. Officials have told CBC News that several cases of illegal activity, including dealer corruption and one murder, have filtered into the province's four casino operations. (11/9/04 - Criminal activity a reality in casinos)
  • "Documents detail a Grants Pass marijuana operation and casino accounts that cast doubt on a reason for a couple's high living." "... she said she made a living playing the slot machines, not from selling drugs. ..." "Carl Salter, executive director of the Cow Creek Gaming and Regulatory Commission, told agents that Davis had net losses in both years." "... Davis ... spent $2.3 million playing the slot machines ..." (High-rolling ways raise question of slots or pot, 11/18/04, The Oregonian newspaper, OR)

  • Casino profits lure drugs -- Isabella County Sheriff's Deputy Kevin Dush Sr. knows what community is responsible for the biggest drug problem in the Mount Pleasant area. And it is not the students of CMU, he said. "Our No. 1 drug problem in this county is the crack epidemic that is fueled by the per-cap checks," he said. The tribal per-cap checks come from profits made by the Saginaw Chippewa's Soaring Eagle Casino and Resort, 6800 Soaring Eagle Blvd., and are distributed to individual members of the tribe, which would not disclose the value of the checks. (Tribal casino profits lure drugs, 11/8/04)

  • Casino management turns a blind eye to drug dealing -- There are drug dealers who often have a lot of money, so the management can't afford to offend them. It's well known that they're selling drugs in the toilets, but the management turns a blind eye to it. ( A lose-lose situation, 10/27/04)

  • Reputed mob figures at Foxwoods Casino -- At his federal racketeering trial, reputed mob underboss Anthony "The Genius" Megale won't be the only one at the defense table who prosecutors say has ties to the Gambino crime family. Federal investigators say they have a videotape showing one of Megale's lawyers, Joseph Corozzo, relaxing at the Foxwoods Resort casino with several reputed Gambino figures, including John A. "Junior" Gotti. (Reputed mobster hires lawyer with 'family' ties, A-P, 10/19/04 Hartford Courant )

  • Casino Cash: Terrorist Temptation? Federal sleuths are taking a closer look at the mushrooming Indian casino industry, where the rivers of cash flowing through slot machines and across gaming tables could be a tempting target for international terrorists. . . . Casinos aren't "concerned about the source of the money," Thompson said. "If we are not watching, it becomes a venue for laundering of terrorist and drug money." (William Thompson, University of Nevada, Las Vegas) (9/10/04, Hartford Courant)

  • Losing their bets. "For about 25% of the addicts, the financial pressures caused by mounting debt became so unbearable that they committed illegal acts to pay for their habit. Roughly the same number said gambling cost them a marriage or other significant relationship." (Commentary on Oregon Department of Human Services Report on problem gambling program. - 9/6/04, The Register-Guard)

  • Hooked on gambling, priest steals $226,000 - Jacksonville, IL, Aug. 30, 2004 - An Illinois priest has issued an apology for stealing $226,000 from the church to support his gambling addiction, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch said Monday. Gerald Bunse, 52, told the newspaper he resigned in January as pastor from St. Mary Catholic Church in Edwardsville, Ill., east of St. Louis, after realizing he needed counseling. (Washington Times, 8/30/04)

  • "Investors in a Rincon tribe operation in San Diego County were accused of plotting to launder more than $2 million for a Pittsburgh crime family." (Rincon Casino) "Ten people associated with Chicago crime boss John DiFonzo and a San Diego mobster were convicted of racketeering and extortion in another attempt to take over a tribal gambling hall." "Members of the New York Seneca Nation are facing a RICO indictment for smuggling untaxed cigarettes." (Seneca Niagara Casino) "In southern Arizona, $1.8 million in marijuana was seized in a single incident on the Tohono O'odham reservation." (Desert Diamond Casino) "New York's Mohawk tribe was charged in 1999 with smuggling drugs, guns, and illegal aliens - including associates of Osama bin Laden - for as much as $47,000 a head." (Akwesasne Mohawk Casino) (The American Enterprise, September 2004)

  • "... Then, comes the dramatic increase in crime everything from theft and drugs to murder. So there is the need for increase in local and state law enforcement personnel and resources." "There has not been a day yet that the Connecticut State Police have not arrest someone at Foxwoods casino or Mohegan Sun Casino. In 1997, the State Police Casino Operations Unit investigated over 800 casino-related crimes. In 1999, the Casino Operations Unit investigated over 1,000 incidents. The crimes investigated include but are not limited to rape, murder, larceny, and grand theft auto. In 1996 there were 500+ larcenies at Foxwoods. The next year, 1997 when the Mohegan Sun Casino opened its doors they had 250+ larceny investigations and Foxwoods had 530+. In 1998, Foxwoods 730+ and Mohegan Sun 300+." (Casino Impact on the Town of North Stonington, CT)

  • A (Calif.) lawyer has admitted embezzling nearly $824,000 from the Beverly Hills Bar Association to support his gambling habit. (7/6/04, Lawyer Admits Embezzling From Bar Assn.)

  • "The Connecticut State Police troop responsible for the area near the casinos apprehends the highest rate of drunken drivers in the state" (5/25/04 - Providence Journal, RI)

  • According to an investigator for the Yolo County, Calif. District Attorney, "the Cache Creek casino accounted for 97 drug arrests in the 12-month period ending Feb. 10, more than twice the number than in the nearby university town of Davis, which has a population of more than 60,000." (Indian Casino Has Rural Residents Up in Arms," Los Angeles Times, March 29, 2004)

  • Crime rates are approximately 8% higher in counties with casinos at least four years old. (Scientific American Magazine, Oct. 3, 2001)

  • 99% of compulsive gamblers commit crimes (bad checks, forgery, fraud, embezzlement from job, theft, bank robbery, selling drugs, street crime, prostitution, etc. ) (Valerie C. Lorenz, Ph.D.., CCMHC, CPC Executive Director, Compulsive Gambling Center, Inc.)

  • Gambling in counties with Class III gambling (casinos) are responsible for:
    7.9 % of total crime (FBI Index I)
    7.7 % of property crime
    10.3 % of violent crime
    For an average county with 100,000 population this implies 772 more larcenies, 357 more burglaries, 331 more auto thefts, 12 more rapes, 68 more robberies, and 112 more aggravated assaults. (U. Illinois-U. Georgia, Grinols-Mustard Study, 4/30/03 Testimony before Senate and House Finance Committees)

  • Congress created the National Indian Gaming Commission (NIGC) to be the Federal Government's principal oversight and enforcement agency for Indian gaming - and then guaranteed that it could do neither. With a budget capped at $8 million, the agency has 63 employees to monitor the $12.7 million all-cash business in more than 300 casinos and small gaming establishments nationwide. The New Jersey Casino Control Commission, by contrast, has a $59 million budget and a staff of 720 to monitor 12 casinos in Atlantic City that produce one-third the revenue. The NIGC has yet to discover a single major case of corruption - despite numerous complaints from tribe members. ( Special Report - Indian Casinos, Time Magazine, 2003 )

  • Casinos on Indian reservations: By 1996 compact-counties have significantly higher crime rates than non-compact counties. (U. Illinois-U. Georgia, Grinols-Mustard Study, 4/30/03 Testimony before Senate and House Finance Committees)

  • Crime rates in casino communities are 84% higher than the national average. (U.S. News and World Report Jan. 15, 1996, pp. 58, 60)

  • Total "Behavior Crimes" defined in the report as "crimes against society" including such crimes as "... drunk driving, drug offenses, and extortion ..." increased 13% during the 4-year study period in Oregon casino counties compared to 5% in much heavier populated non-casino counties. Various behavior crimes which increased after a casino was introduced in the counties: Weapons Violations (2.9%), Prostitution (276%), Drug offenses (7%), Liquor Law violations (16%), Crimes Against Families (17.6%), Curfew violations (30%), Runaway Juveniles (17%) and All Other (19%). The report admits that their analysis "shows that the introduction of casinos is significantly related to higher than expected rates of behavioral crimes." (EcoNW Report, October 1998, "Answers to Client Questions and A Report to the Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Indian Reservation")
  • The percentage of gambling clients who committed prosecutable crimes (embezzlement, theft, etc.) is estimated at 38% and may be higher. A majority of gambling clients begin to steal monies out of their household budgets, write bad checks, commit forgery, steal from their employers (e.g. take checks written to retail stores where they are employed and commit forgery), obtain credit cards and max out the amount, and so on. (Michael Bean, Director, Addiction Counseling and Education Services, Inc., letter to Lane County Health and Human Services re: potential impact of casino development in Springfield, Oregon, 12/12/95)

  • Three in the news recently were real attention-getters:
    * Piekarski, 38, was charged in Milwaukee with embezzling $518,000 from Gesu Church, where she was the bookkeeper and spending "thousands and thousands" of it at Potawatomi Bingo Casino.
    * Wertz, 38, another former bookkeeper, has been accused in Waukesha of stealing more than $600,000 from her former employer during the same period. She and her husband spent more than $420,000 at the casino, the criminal complaint says.
    * Braun, 64, a former Goodwill Industries controller, was sentenced in Oshkosh to five years in prison for stealing more than $500,000 from the charity for the disabled and spending much of it at casinos.

  • Milwaukee County District Attorney E. Michael McCann, a longtime opponent of casino-style gaming in Wisconsin, is convinced that some of the people his office prosecuted for gambling-related crimes would not have become criminals if the state didn't have casinos. "I think the proximity of casinos introduces people to it," McCann said. "Persons who might never have gone to Las Vegas or Reno suddenly have one nearby and encounter a problem. (Gamblers accused of theft on job increasing, 11/28/03 Milwaukie Journal Sentinal)

  • As access to money becomes more limited, gamblers often resort to crime in order to pay debts, appease bookies, maintain appearances, and garner more money to gamble.” (National Gambling Impact Study Commission, Final Report, June)

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