Mohegan Sun Pocono casino card PIN numbers are thought to have been used in the scheme.
Robert Pellegrini, the 50-year old former Vice President of Player Development at the Mohegan Sun Pocono in Pennsylvania, is accused of conspiring to steal more than $400,000 from the casino’s gaming operations. Furthermore, Mr. Pellegrini alleged conspirators are a former cocktail waitress at the casino and a known gambler there.
Mohegan Sun Pocono VP Robert Joseph Pellegrini, beverage server Rochelle Poszeluznyj, and frequent patron Mark Joseph Heltzel of Dallas, Pennsylvania are charged with 177 counts in their supposed plan to rob the casino. The charges range over a number of felonies, but the most serious ones involve theft, criminal conspiracy, winning by fraud, misapplying trusted property, computer trespassing, and identity theft. For readers wondering about the legal definition of a conspiracy in the State of Pennsylvania is, a conspiracy is two or more people planning a crime together.
Conspired with Waitress and Gambler
In the court documents, the Pennsylvania State Police’s Bureau of Gaming accused the 37-year old Rochelle Poszeluznyj of Kingston of collecting casino cards from players, along with their PIN numbers. She would collect this information from players when they ordered drinks from her. To get comps, players would present their casino cards — a general term used by rewards or loyalty programs such as the slots card — and the waitress would take down the cards’ indentification numbers.
After she did this, she would hand the numbers to Robert Pellegrini, a resident of Mountain Top, to make duplicates of the cards. Then she would hand the cards to the 51-year old Mark Heltzel for use on the slot machines. With house money, Heltzel would play the slots like any other customer would. When he won, he allegedly split the proceeds with his two accomplices.
Accused of Stealing $419,000
The scheme is thought to have netted about $419 thousand before it was discovered. They used about $480 thousand of player comps to play the slots for free. In all, the trio operated the conspiracy from May 2014 and April 2015 and netted just under $40 thousand a month on the scheme. Policed say they expect the Robert Pellegrini to turn hismelf in to be arraigned in the case and is expected to be arraigned on Thursday. Poszeluznyj and Heltzel turned themselves in for arraignment on Tuesday. Poszeluznyj was released on bond, while Heltzel is in jail after being held on $500,000 bond.
Demetrius Fannick, Heltzel’s lawyer, expressed outrage by the amount of the bond. “I’m upset. I’ve had individuals who have been charged attempted homicide of several people and bail is $500,000. This is a theft case.”
Heltzel’s Lawyer Complains of Bail Price
Tom Marsilio, the Luzerne County prosecutor, had little patience for the Heltzel’s plight. Marsilio said, “Mr. Fannick has been around for many years and he knows that the issue of bail is solely in the discretion of the magisterial district judge.”
Prosecutors say the scheme was investigated after a dealer at the casino tipped off Mohegan Sun officials of an ongoing plot to defraud the casino. Security at the casino alerted law enforcement of the scheme and an investigation was initiated.
Never Steal from a Casino
The plot to rob Mohegan Sun Pocono sounds clever on its surface, but it underscores why it is always a bad idea to scam a casino. The three operated without the casino’s security noticing the scam for 11 months, collecting over a thousand dollars a day for their troubles. But the scheme was bound to fail in several different ways.
Reasons Conspiracies Unravel
Three people were involved. That meant any two of the conspirators were at the mercy of the third conspiracy member. That person might have boasted to someone of their crimes, gotten inebriated and told, or been noticed by an employee. Famous Pennsylvania native Benjamin Franklin once wrote, “Three people can keep a secret, if two of them are dead.”
If guilty, the three conspirators in this case would have been wise to have read his advice.
Since three people are charged with crimes, that gives prosecutors significant leverage when it comes to prosecuting the case. Depending on who they consider the ringleader, they are likely to get one or more of the accomplices to reach a plea bargain, to punish the main perpetrator. Given Robert Pellegrini was the high-ranking member of the alleged conspiracy and is being arraigned separately, the former VP of Player Development at the Mohegan Sun Pocono is the likely defendant to be targeted by prosecutors. His position as a trusted executive makes his alleged crime seem all-the-more treacherous.
