A veteran electronic roulette dealer at Pittsburgh’s Rivers Casino and her supervisor have been arrested in what police said was a scheme to rig betting on the game of chance that cost the North Shore casino thousands of dollars.
Pennsylvania State Police and the casino started investigating after receiving an anonymous tip earlier this year.
In addition to the two casino employees, police also arrested a player they say was involved in the alleged scheme and are working on finding information about a fourth suspect.
Police identified the dealer who was charged as Robin L. Schnepp, 34, of Kennedy, a 14-year employee of the casino.
Schnepp was supposed to spin the ball in the opposite direction of the wheel, Trooper Rocco Gagliardi said.
By spinning the ball in the same direction as the wheel, it caused an error that required her supervisor — Anthony A. Laush, 40, of Ross — to reset the game, Gagliardi said.
When there’s an error with the roulette machine, the supervisor is supposed to void the winning number, and the dealer is supposed to spin again, Gagliardi said.
But, police said, that didn’t happen.
Investigators conducting surveillance watched as Schnepp spun the wheel incorrectly, and a roulette ball landed on the number 2. A man and woman then increased their bets on the winning number, police said.
Laush then validated the spin, police said, which allowed the two players “to profit from placing late bets because the outcome of the spin was already determined,” according to a criminal complaint.
They cashed out at that point, with the man earning $2,760 and the woman making $2,675, the complaint said.
“These two players knew what they were doing in the errored state,” Gagliardi said.
Players who bet on the winning number but weren’t involved in the alleged scheme also could have won off the verification of the supervisor, Gagliardi said.
But, he added, it is unlikely that other players would increase their bets after the spin was completed because players not in on the alleged scheme wouldn’t know that was an option.
Police arrested one of the players, Jack Daniel Mars III, 43, of Pittsburgh’s East Allegheny neighborhood, charging him with conspiring with Schnepp and Laush.
State police charged both Schnepp and Laush March 13 with theft by deception, receiving stolen property, and two counts each of criminal conspiracy and conducting a fraudulent scheme. They were taken to the Allegheny County Jail and released pending a preliminary hearing.
Their attorneys were not listed Monday in court records.
Mars was charged Monday with theft by deception, conspiracy, receiving stolen property, intent to defraud, five counts of conspiracy, and two counts of manipulation to cause a win and conspiracy.
He was awaiting arraignment Monday afternoon. His attorney was not listed either.
The scheme cost Rivers Casino at least $10,800 in the past couple months, Gagliardi said. Gagliardi said the investigation remains open; the casino is continuing to look into how many times the scheme was carried out.
It was unclear Monday if Schnepp or Lausch were still employed at Rivers Casino.
Jack Horner, a Rivers spokesman, said the casino cooperated with police but declined to address the defendants’ work status.
Gagliardi said the casino is working to re-tool its popular electronic table games to ensure copycats do not pull off the same roulette scheme.
Correction: An earlier version of this article incorrectly explained the mechanism by which police alleged that employees at the Rivers Casino rigged betting on electronic roulette.
Justin Vellucci is a TribLive reporter covering crime and public safety in Pittsburgh and Allegheny County. A longtime freelance journalist and former reporter for the Asbury Park (N.J.) Press, he worked as a general assignment reporter at the Trib from 2006 to 2009 and returned in 2022. He can be reached at jvellucci@triblive.com.