Nearly thirty people were arrested in what is considered the largest international casino cheating scam in history that went on between 2002 and 2007 and raked in more than $30 Million from dozens of mostly US and Canadian casinos, but everyone involved (including all those with the last name Tran and all the other big-casino-cheat honchos and inside casino employees involved) except for forty-six year-old Mike Waseleski pleaded out and received probation or relatively short prison terms. Waseleski, who compromised his casino, the Ameristar Resorts Casino in East Chicago, Indiana, refused to cop out to being in on the huge baccarat cheating fix and was subsequently convicted yesterday of one count of conspiring to commit various offenses against the US government, whatever that means??? I don't know why taking part in cheatng a casino is conspiring against the US government, but that's what the court records say.
Waseleski, who helped the Tran Organization scam $1.5 Million from Ameristar, faces up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The mastermind of the scam, Phuong Quoc Truong, was sentenced to 6 years in prison earlier this year, so it is hard to imagine that Waseleski, despite his refusal to accept a plea bargain, will get more than a couple of years.
To read more about this huge international baccarat scam, search "Tran Organization Baccarat Scam here.