One of the big gambling scams of 2008 has carried over into 2009 as the twentieth member of a illegal gambling operation that took place at the Foxwoods Casino and Mohegan Sun has plead guilty. Phat Ngoc Tran age 35 pleads guilty on Thursday to charges that stem from the cheating scandal of last year.

Tran pleads guilty to charges of conspiring to participate in a racketeering enterprise. In his plea, Tran admitted that he and thirteen others who have been charged earned $2.5 million in the cheating scandal. Tran could be sentenced to a maximum of twenty years in prison when he is sentenced on June 1st.

Tran also stated that from October 2002 and July 2006 he and the other members of the group cheated at mini-baccarat and blackjack. Tran admitted that the group bribed casino dealers to create false shuffles.

One person would track cards while they were being dealt and used a transmitter and cell phone to relay the information to another group member who would enter the information on the computer. When the un-shuffled cards were dealt the members of the group at the table were told when to bet so they would win.


- 2009-01-26