Charges against Steve Forte, the accused mastermind of the high-tech Borgata Camera-In-The-Wall Poker Cheat Scam have been dismissed, so I'm told by an e-mail I received from crime novelist James Swain, a friend of Forte's. Swain has asked me specifically to post Forte's being cleared of the criminal charges contained in a 2008 felony indictment for setting up this scam, so I am obliging even though I have not seen this news published. If anyone has seen it, please link me to it.
Do I believe Forte is actually innocent? Of course not. Forte, an ex-casino game protection consultant who was convicted in an Atlantic City cooler scam in 1987, has maintained that he "was in the wrong place at the wrong time." Come on, gimme a break! I just have a hard time believing that Forte was in a hotel room where a major poker scam was going down with digital cameras hidden in walls sneak-peeking opponents' hole cards and not only was Forte not involved in it but had no clue it was going down. If Forte was in the wrong place at the wrong time, how did he get there? By invitation?
You have to remember that having a case dismissed does not mean the person charged and indicted is innocent. It only means that for lack of evidence or some other reason, the judge dismissed the case. Heck, you know how many times casinos wanted to prosecute me? They never could...does that mean I was innocent? I was fifty times more guilty than Forte or anyone else!
But all my opinions aside, I am willing to give Steve Forte the chance to enlighten us with the truth on this blog. As James Swain no doubt is following this blog, he is also no doubt in communication with Forte regarding this matter. So then James and Steve--if you're reading--I invite you to share with us on this blog HOW you, Steve, managed to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Tell us all what really happened that summer in 2007 at the Borgota. How did the coppers come to believe that YOU were the mastermind behind the cheat scam and HOW DID YOU END UP IN THAT HOTEL ROOM WHILE THAT POKER CHEAT SCAM WAS GOING DOWN?
Please answer these questions so that the poker and poker cheating world can believe you are REALLY innocent. I doubt we'll be hearing from you, but you never know.
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