Ex-Judge's Son Gets 3-11 for Hollywood-Style Heist of $1.5M in Chips from Las Vegas Casino
It clearly wasn’t the cleverest of crimes, but it made headlines because it was so brazen: An unknown suspect was caught on security cameras as he rode a motorcycle up to the Bellagio casino in Las Vegas last December, walked in, still wearing his helmet, and robbed a craps table of $1.5 million in high-value chips at gunpoint before escaping on his bike.
Then, when Anthony Michael Carleo was caught trying to sell some of the $100 to $25,000 chips to undercover officers, he turned out to be the son of a sitting Las Vegas municipal court judge.
Now an apologetic Carleo has been given a three- to 11-year prison sentence for the crime by a Clark County, Nev., judge, the Las Vegas Sun reports.
Carleo’s lawyer, William Terry, has argued Carleo shouldn’t have to make restitution for the full $1.5 million since most of the chips are either recovered or worthless because the Bellagio will no longer accept them, and the sentencing judge has reserved decision on that question. Terry said Carleo had been doing well before he got involved with drugs and gambling while attending school at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas.
Meanwhile, his father, former Las Vegas Municipal Court Judge George Assad, was not re-elected. In a statement earlier this year, after Carleo was arrested, he said the family was “devastated and heartbroken” and said he himself, as a prosecutor and a judge, believes that “people who break the law need to be held accountable,” the Associated Press reports.
Assad was present at the sentencing today, according to the Sun, but apparently didn’t say anything in court.
Carleo is scheduled to be sentenced later this week in another December casino heist that earned him $19,000 in cash. Terry and prosecutor Chris Owens, who had argued for a hefty sentence today, are expected to debate at the next court hearing whether he should get concurrent or consecutive sentences.
Earlier coverage:
ABAJournal.com: “Las Vegas Municipal Judge’s Son Is Charged in ‘Brazen’ Heist of $1.5M in Bellagio Casino Chips”
ABAJournal.com: “News Report: Judge’s Son Said He Stole $1.5M in Casino Chips After Dad Docked His $1K Allowance”
ABAJournal.com: “Judge’s Son, AKA Bellagio Biker Bandit, Takes Plea in $1.5M Vegas Casino Chips Heist”
