Bellagio Bandit Enters Guilty Plea

Poker News / Matthew Pitt / 15 June 2011 / Leave a Comment

Back on December 14, 2010 a man pulled up on a motorcycle outside the Bellagio hotel and casino, Las Vegas, Nevada walked inside the casino and made his way to the craps table. When he arrived here, still donning his motorcycle helmet, he produced a handgun and made off with $1,500,000 worth of casino chips.

A couple of months later and Anthony Michael Gennaro, the 29-year old son of Las Vegas Municipal Judge George Assad was arrested after an undercover police operation that saw Carleo sell a total of 14 "cranberry" $25,000 denomination chips for prices varying between $7,000 and $10,000.

Carleo was in court yesterday to answer a number of charges related to the heist and unsurprisingly pleaded guilty after negotiating a deal with the state. Carleo told District Judge Michelle Leavitt, "I went into the casino. Went to the craps table, took chips and ran out." He also admitted pointing his gun at a valet worker who attempted to prevent Carleo's escape and also guilty to armed robbery and assault with a deadly weapon. As part of his negotiated plea, Carleo is having eight felony charges against him completely dropped, including three counts of robbery and no charges will sought for potential drugs and weapons offences that were being investigated.

This particular case has been adjourned until August 23, at which point Carleo will be sentenced and will receive a custodial sentence of between three and 36 years. The defendant is also expected to plead guilty to robbing the Suncoast of $18,000 on December 9 and could again face a prison term of up to 36 years for that particular offence. He will be in court on Thursday 16 June to face those particular charges.

The local authorities revealed that they have recovered a total of $1,200,000 of the stolen chips but estimate that at last $300,000 are still unaccounted for. Shortly after the heist, the Bellagio discontinued the use of the $25,000 chips and gave anyone who had them in their possession until April 22 to cash them in.

Carleo's case also seems to have had repercussions in the lives of his family members as Assad, an 11-year judge, last week lost his bid for another term on the bench. Many of those who voted against his stay stated that Carleo's arrest had influenced their decision.

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