{"id":188276,"date":"2021-10-07T13:44:40","date_gmt":"2021-10-07T20:44:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=188276"},"modified":"2021-10-08T13:42:14","modified_gmt":"2021-10-08T20:42:14","slug":"las-vegas-convicted-chip-thief-faces-eight-years-or-more-in-prison","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/las-vegas-convicted-chip-thief-faces-eight-years-or-more-in-prison\/","title":{"rendered":"Las Vegas Convicted Chip Thief Faces Eight Years Or More In Prison"},"content":{"rendered":"

A convicted repeat gaming chip thief is expected to spend at least eight years in prison based on a sentence this week. But during a Las Vegas virtual court appearance on Wednesday, he claimed the case was \u201cfixed.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"
Michael Sanft, William Ferguson’s defense attorney, addresses the judge during the Oct. 6 case. Ferguson was found guilty of chip theft during the case. (Image: Las Vegas Review-Journal<\/em>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

William Ferguson, 66, was convicted by a jury in April for allegedly stealing an estimated $20,000 worth of chips. The thefts came from roulette tables at five Nevada gaming properties during 2019, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal<\/em>.<\/p>\n

The thefts took place at New York-New York, Golden Nugget, the Palms, Binion\u2019s, and Wynn Las Vegas, prosecutors said. It appears the thefts were videotaped by surveillance cameras in the casinos.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Since the 1990s, Ferguson allegedly either stole or tried to steal more than $150,000 worth of chips, the Review-Journal <\/em>added.<\/p>\n

In court on Wednesday, Ferguson interrupted District Judge Monica Trujillo multiple times when as she tried to speak. He used profanities and challenged evidence used in his case, the Review-Journal<\/em> said.<\/p>\n

Cold-Hearted Dogs<\/h2>\n

\u201cYou are very evil, evil, cold-hearted dogs,\u201d Ferguson told court officials on Wednesday, the Review-Journal<\/em> reported. \u201cThey fixed a way to get a guilty verdict on me.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"
William Ferguson confronts the judge during this trial. He appeared in court via video, as seen above. He will serve at least eight years for the crimes. (Image: The Las Vegas Review-Journa<\/em>l)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Trujillo, who before becoming a judge was a Nevada public defender representing indigent clients, suggested that Ferguson was a \u201chabitual\u201d criminal.<\/p>\n

This is a hard one, because the habitual criminal statute proposes to deter repetitive behavior,\u201d the judge said in court. \u201cAnd I\u2019m not sure how much more repetitive you can get with steadily increasing your wealth from people and businesses of Clark County.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Next week, Ferguson will return to court to hear how much he will have to pay in restitution for the thefts. Over recent decades, Ferguson was found guilty on nine counts in trials for similar charges, the report adds. He was imprisoned multiple times.<\/p>\n

DA Wanted Him To Get Life in Prison<\/h2>\n

Ferguson\u2019s repeated behavior led Deputy District Attorney Brianna Lamanna, who prosecuted the case, to ask that Ferguson be given a life sentence.<\/p>\n

When someone spends 26 years of their life living a life of crime, I do think that it\u2019s appropriate,\u201d<\/strong> Lamanna told the judge in requesting the life sentence, the Review-Journal <\/em>reported. \u201cWhen you victimize tourists in our town, where tourists are our lifeblood.\u201d<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

But Michael Sanft, the veteran Las Vegas criminal defense attorney representing Ferguson, pointed out the chips were not cashed in at the casinos.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s obviously talented enough to take these chips off the table,\u201d Sanft was quoted by the newspaper. \u201cBut in terms of the stuff that was actually taken in these situations, it\u2019s not to the level where we\u2019re saying this guy is a threat to the economic engine of Nevada.\u201d<\/p>\n

Other Chip Thefts<\/h2>\n

The theft of chips has taken place numerous times in casinos and in other locations nationwide.<\/p>\n

Brock Brewer was arrested in May for allegedly stealing a safe containing $750,000 in cash and $250,000 in poker chips from the Henderson, Nev. residence of pro poker player Chad Power<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Across the country in Maryland, Horseshoe Casino Baltimore<\/a> was the site of the theft of $16,000 worth of chips. A local man was charged with the 2019 crime.<\/p>\n

Also, in April, Lucas Bunn, 25, of Kelso, Wash., broke into the state\u2019s ilani Casino Resort<\/a>. He made his way to the high-limit area on the gaming floor and allegedly used a drill to break into the table where chips were held. He then allegedly stole $12,500 worth of gaming chips. Later, Bunn was apprehended.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A convicted repeat gaming chip thief is expected to spend at least eight years in prison based on a sentence this week. But during a Las Vegas virtual court appearance on Wednesday, he claimed the case was \u201cfixed.\u201d William Ferguson, 66, was convicted by a jury in April for allegedly stealing an estimated $20,000 worth […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":188433,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[60],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nLas Vegas Convicted Chip Thief Faces Eight Years Or More In Prison<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A convicted repeat gaming chip thief is expected to spend at least eight years in prison But he maintains the case was \u201cfixed.\u201d\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Las Vegas Convicted Chip Thief Faces Eight Years Or More In Prison\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A convicted repeat gaming chip thief is expected to spend at least eight years in prison But he maintains the case was \u201cfixed.\u201d\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/las-vegas-convicted-chip-thief-faces-eight-years-or-more-in-prison\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-10-07T20:44:40+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-10-08T20:42:14+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/15679262_web1_FERGUSON-SENTENCE-OCT07-21_100621kc_004.jpeg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"935\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Ed Silverstein\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@casinoorgedsilv\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Ed Silverstein\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/las-vegas-convicted-chip-thief-faces-eight-years-or-more-in-prison\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/las-vegas-convicted-chip-thief-faces-eight-years-or-more-in-prison\/\",\"name\":\"Las Vegas Convicted Chip Thief Faces Eight Years Or More In Prison\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/las-vegas-convicted-chip-thief-faces-eight-years-or-more-in-prison\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/las-vegas-convicted-chip-thief-faces-eight-years-or-more-in-prison\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/15679262_web1_FERGUSON-SENTENCE-OCT07-21_100621kc_004.jpeg\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-10-07T20:44:40+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-10-08T20:42:14+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/b3771b02527bcbda9af984b9b1ff098e\"},\"description\":\"A convicted repeat gaming chip thief is expected to spend at least eight years in prison But he maintains the case was \u201cfixed.\u201d\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/las-vegas-convicted-chip-thief-faces-eight-years-or-more-in-prison\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/las-vegas-convicted-chip-thief-faces-eight-years-or-more-in-prison\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/las-vegas-convicted-chip-thief-faces-eight-years-or-more-in-prison\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/15679262_web1_FERGUSON-SENTENCE-OCT07-21_100621kc_004.jpeg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/15679262_web1_FERGUSON-SENTENCE-OCT07-21_100621kc_004.jpeg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":935},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/las-vegas-convicted-chip-thief-faces-eight-years-or-more-in-prison\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"News\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Las Vegas Convicted Chip Thief Faces Eight Years Or More In Prison\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/\",\"name\":\"Casino.org\",\"description\":\"Latest Casino and Gaming News\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/b3771b02527bcbda9af984b9b1ff098e\",\"name\":\"Ed Silverstein\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-6-1-96x96.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-6-1-96x96.png\",\"caption\":\"Ed Silverstein\"},\"description\":\"Ed Silverstein is a senior reporter covering gambling law and crime news for Casino.org. Ed is an award-winning journalist with credits ranging from the Associated Press to American Lawyer Media. Ed joined the Casino.org news team in 2019 after decades of experience in legal reporting. His past reporting and editing assignments include Cowles Business Media, Columbia University Press, the Connecticut Post, and Southern Connecticut Newspapers, Inc. Besides the law and its application to the gaming industry, Ed\u2019s areas of expertise span business, politics, education, and state and local government. Ed holds an undergraduate degree from the University of Connecticut and master\u2019s degrees from Harvard and Yale. His professional awards include recognition from the New England Press Association and New England AP News Executives. Ed currently resides in Connecticut, where he enjoys photography and bowling in his spare time. Contact Ed at ed.silverstein@casino.org.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/muckrack.com\/ed-silverstein\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/casinoorgedsilv\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/author\/ed-silverstein\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Las Vegas Convicted Chip Thief Faces Eight Years Or More In Prison","description":"A convicted repeat gaming chip thief is expected to spend at least eight years in prison But he maintains the case was \u201cfixed.\u201d","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"follow"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Las Vegas Convicted Chip Thief Faces Eight Years Or More In Prison","og_description":"A convicted repeat gaming chip thief is expected to spend at least eight years in prison But he maintains the case was \u201cfixed.\u201d","og_url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/las-vegas-convicted-chip-thief-faces-eight-years-or-more-in-prison\/","og_site_name":"Casino.org","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews","article_published_time":"2021-10-07T20:44:40+00:00","article_modified_time":"2021-10-08T20:42:14+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":935,"url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/15679262_web1_FERGUSON-SENTENCE-OCT07-21_100621kc_004.jpeg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Ed Silverstein","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@casinoorgedsilv","twitter_site":"@Casino_Org","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Ed Silverstein","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/las-vegas-convicted-chip-thief-faces-eight-years-or-more-in-prison\/","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/las-vegas-convicted-chip-thief-faces-eight-years-or-more-in-prison\/","name":"Las Vegas Convicted Chip Thief Faces Eight Years Or More In Prison","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/las-vegas-convicted-chip-thief-faces-eight-years-or-more-in-prison\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/las-vegas-convicted-chip-thief-faces-eight-years-or-more-in-prison\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/15679262_web1_FERGUSON-SENTENCE-OCT07-21_100621kc_004.jpeg","datePublished":"2021-10-07T20:44:40+00:00","dateModified":"2021-10-08T20:42:14+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/b3771b02527bcbda9af984b9b1ff098e"},"description":"A convicted repeat gaming chip thief is expected to spend at least eight years in prison But he maintains the case was \u201cfixed.\u201d","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/las-vegas-convicted-chip-thief-faces-eight-years-or-more-in-prison\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/las-vegas-convicted-chip-thief-faces-eight-years-or-more-in-prison\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/las-vegas-convicted-chip-thief-faces-eight-years-or-more-in-prison\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/15679262_web1_FERGUSON-SENTENCE-OCT07-21_100621kc_004.jpeg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/15679262_web1_FERGUSON-SENTENCE-OCT07-21_100621kc_004.jpeg","width":1200,"height":935},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/las-vegas-convicted-chip-thief-faces-eight-years-or-more-in-prison\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"News","item":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Las Vegas Convicted Chip Thief Faces Eight Years Or More In Prison"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/","name":"Casino.org","description":"Latest Casino and Gaming News","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/b3771b02527bcbda9af984b9b1ff098e","name":"Ed Silverstein","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-6-1-96x96.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-6-1-96x96.png","caption":"Ed Silverstein"},"description":"Ed Silverstein is a senior reporter covering gambling law and crime news for Casino.org. Ed is an award-winning journalist with credits ranging from the Associated Press to American Lawyer Media. Ed joined the Casino.org news team in 2019 after decades of experience in legal reporting. His past reporting and editing assignments include Cowles Business Media, Columbia University Press, the Connecticut Post, and Southern Connecticut Newspapers, Inc. Besides the law and its application to the gaming industry, Ed\u2019s areas of expertise span business, politics, education, and state and local government. Ed holds an undergraduate degree from the University of Connecticut and master\u2019s degrees from Harvard and Yale. His professional awards include recognition from the New England Press Association and New England AP News Executives. Ed currently resides in Connecticut, where he enjoys photography and bowling in his spare time. Contact Ed at ed.silverstein@casino.org.","sameAs":["https:\/\/muckrack.com\/ed-silverstein","https:\/\/x.com\/casinoorgedsilv"],"url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/author\/ed-silverstein\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/188276"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=188276"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/188276\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/188433"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=188276"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=188276"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=188276"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}