Casino news source: Puget Sound Business Journal - http://seattle.bizjournals.com
Nickels' son indicted in million-dollar casino scheme
Puget Sound Business Journal (Seattle) - 2:54 PM PDT Thursday, May 24, 2007
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A plan to steal more than $1 million from the Emerald Queen Casino and Nooksack River Casino has resulted in the indictments of several Washington residents, according to the U.S. Department of Justice, including the son of Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels.
The government alleges that defendants bribed casino employees to rig games by pretending to shuffle decks of cards and cheat casinos out of millions of dollars.
In one indictment, the government alleges that the defendants bribed casino mini-baccarat dealers at the Emerald Queen Casino near Fife to perform false shuffles during games. In another, two of those indicted paid casino employees at the Nooksack River Casino near Deming, operated by the Nooksack Indian Tribe, to perform the false shuffle technique, according to the government.
When some of the cards in the deck aren't shuffled, it's easier for the players involved in the scheme to know the order of the cards being dealt and to illegally win money from the casino, according to the indictments.
According to an indictment, Jacob Dyson Nickels was a pit boss at the Nooksack River Casino and was paid $5,000 to introduce casino dealers there to those indicted who participated in the false shuffle scheme that netted more than $90,000.
Federal grand juries in Seattle and San Diego indicted 24 defendants as part of the alleged racketeering scheme, which included casinos in Southern California and Washington. In the indictment filed in the U.S. District Court in Seattle, Jacob Nickels was indicted along with two casino dealers and two others.
Mayor Nickels and his wife, Sharon, issued the following statement: "Sharon and I have just learned of the charges involving our son Jacob. We will be encouraging him to cooperate fully with the investigation. Until we know more we will have no comment on the substance of these allegations. We love our son deeply and will be supporting him fully throughout this difficult time." |
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