12 charged with casino cheating

SAN DIEGO, Sept. 12 (UPI) -- A federal grand jury in San Diego has indicted 11 defendants for an alleged conspiracy to cheat a dozen casinos, the U.S. Justice Department said Friday.

The grand jury charged defendants each with one count of conspiracy to steal money and other property from tribal casinos, and conspiracy to travel in interstate and foreign commerce in aid of racketeering.

The defendants are accused of trying to cheat at tribal casino blackjack and baccarat games by bribing casino dealers and supervisors to perform false shuffles during card games so they could bet on known sequences of cards.

They allegedly used hidden transmitter devices and specially created software that would predict the order in which cards would reappear during card games, the department said.

If convicted, they face a maximum five year prison sentence.