Phat Ngoc Tran, 35, pleaded guilty today in San Diego to conspiring to participate in a racketeering enterprise, the ‘Tran Organization,’ in a scheme to cheat at least 12 casinos across the United States and Canada out of millions of dollars, officials announced today.
According to the indictment, Tran and his co-conspirators unlawfully obtained up to $2.5 million during card cheats, targeting casinos such as the Beau Rivage Casino in Biloxi, Miss.; Casino Rama in Orillia, Ontario, Canada; Foxwoods Resort Casino in Ledyard, Conn.; and Sycuan Casino in El Cajon, Calif.
The indictment alleges that members of the criminal organization bribed casino card dealers and supervisors to perform false shuffles during card games, creating ‘slugs’ or groups, of un-shuffled cards. They would then bet on the known order of cards when the slug appeared on the table, repeatedly winning thousands of dollars.
The indictment also alleges that the members of the organization used sophisticated mechanisms for tracking the order of cards during games, including hidden transmitter devices and specially created software.
Tran’s sentencing is scheduled for June 1, 2009, in San Diego before U.S. District Judge John A. Houston. At sentencing, Tran faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison on the racketeering conspiracy charge. He agreed to a personal money judgment in the amount of $180,000 and acknowledged that the restitution he may be ordered to pay by the court at sentencing is not limited by the forfeiture amount.
Tran’s guilty plea brings the total number of convicted members of the Tran Organization to 20. The case is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California and the Criminal Division’s Organized Crime and Gang Section.
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Key Facts
- State: California
- Category: Organized Crime
- Source: DOJ Press Release ↗
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