North Carolina: Casino Dealer Agrees to Plead Guilty in $132K Craps Cheating Case

A former craps dealer at Harrah’s Cherokee Valley River in Murphy, North Carolina, has agreed to plead guilty in a cheating case, Casino.org reported, citing court documents. The scheme cost the tribal casino about $132,000 in just a few hours.

Law360 also reported the plea agreement, which was filed in federal court.

The dealer is Lateek Kahmal Taylor, known as “Tray.” Casino.org reported on September 29 that his plea hearing was scheduled for October 9 in Asheville.

The dice said one thing, the screen said another

Taylor worked the casino’s Quartz hybrid electronic craps game. Players roll real dice. The result of each roll is then entered into a computer terminal, and the recorded result is used to determine payouts on players’ bets.

As the “stickman,” Taylor was responsible for entering roll results into the terminal, according to the filing described by Casino.org.

Prosecutors say he used that job to cheat between July 18 and August 31, 2024, Casino.org reported. It worked in two ways. Sometimes he called a losing throw a “bad roll,” so it did not count, and handed the dice back for another try. Other times, he simply entered a win, whatever the dice showed.

The filing gives one example. At 2:26 p.m. on August 26, 2024, the dice landed on 6 and 3. Taylor entered 6 and 4. A losing roll became a winning one, according to the outlet.

He did not act alone, prosecutors say. Donta Dewayne Harris, known as “Johnny Mathis,” allegedly texted Taylor to find out when he was working, then showed up with other players and told them how and where to bet, Casino.org reported.

What the numbers do and don’t show

The $131,858.36 loss is from a single day. It covers several hours of play at the Quartz table on August 26, 2024, according to court documents described by Casino.org. It is not presented as a total for the whole July-to-August period.

Two other figures stand apart. Harris gave Taylor approximately $45,000 in cash, Casino.org reported, citing court documents. Prosecutors are also asking for forfeiture of at least $131,858.36. That is a request to the court, and the report does not say whether any money has been recovered.

Two men, two different paths

A federal grand jury indicted both men in April on charges of theft from an Indian gaming establishment, wire fraud and money laundering, Casino.org reported. The money laundering count alleges that the men redeemed casino ticket-in, ticket-out vouchers in transactions intended to conceal the source and ownership of the proceeds.

Those vouchers are the paper slips casinos print in place of cash. Put simply, prosecutors say the men used them to hide where the money came from.

Taylor’s deal is not the end of his case. Casino.org’s report does not specify which charges Taylor has agreed to plead guilty to, and both Casino.org and Law360 describe a plea agreement, not a sentence.

Harris is taking a different path. He pleaded not guilty to all three charges on August 12 and requested a jury trial, Casino.org reported. The outlet’s September 29 report listed his next docket call for November 2.

Elsewhere in North Carolina, five people were recently charged in an unrelated Raleigh sweepstakes parlor gambling investigation. An unrelated Indiana case also concerns an allegedly improper payout attempt. In that case, a woman is accused of trying to cash a sports bet that had already been paid.

The allegations against Harris have not been proven, and he is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.

Featured image: Harrah’s Cherokee Valley River Casino & Hotel in Murphy, North Carolina, in January 2019. Photo: Warren LeMay / Wikimedia Commons (CC0)