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Backgammon Cheaters Got Suspended SentencesThree of the four men who were involved in a large-scale poker and backgammon cheating scandal at the Borgata Casino Hotel in Atlantic City two years got 3-5 years on probation, while the fourth suspect, gambling security advisor Steven Forte, was released with no charges last July. The trio is barred from Atlantic City casinos for the time of their sentences.
The cheating scandal that stirred up Atlantic City gaming scene about a year ago came to its end last week with no jail time to any of the suspects. After all four have pleaded not guilty of cheating their opponents in the games of backgammon, Chinese poker and chess, aided by sophisticated surveillance equipment while taking over two hotel rooms, Joseph Ingargiola has admitted cheating one certain casino patron, as a vengeful response to the latter's self declared fraud, using cameras and other surveillance tools to verify the success of the operation.
Ingargiola, who had previously spent prison time and received the longest probation period of the three, was assisted by Steven Phillips, who supplied the cameras and the transmitters, and James Harrison who contributed his technology skills. The scheme was discovered by a police raid on the hotel room that stored the surveillance equipment. All three have pleaded to Steven Forte's innocence, and cleared the name of the famous gaming cheats' expert.
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