Blackhawk and Central City Casinos – Fraudulent Acts Under C.R.S. 44-30-822 (1)(c)
Colorado’s Fraudulent Acts laws are designed to ensure a fair gaming experience for everyone involved. Yet men and women and being charged with crimes for taking discarded money or “cashing out” tickets representing gaming proceeds after the money has been abandoned by their rightful owners in Blackhawk and Central City. Should this law prosecute gamblers finding unclaimed money and gaming proceeds? Should good people be given a Criminal Summons to appear in the Gilpin County Court? Charges of this type can harm the careers of responsible citizens, which might be based on intentional entrapment by gaming officials.
C.R.S. § 44-30-822 (1)(c) – Fraudulent Acts Law – Defense Attorneys for Crimes in Gilpin County, Colorado Casinos
Colorado gaming officers are charging men and women in Gilpin County Court under this law, with increasing frequency:
(a) To alter or misrepresent the outcome of a game or other event on which wagers have been made after the outcome is made sure but before it is revealed to the players;
(b) To place, increase, or decrease a bet or to determine the course of play after acquiring knowledge, not available to all players, of the outcome of the game or any event that affects the outcome of the game or that is the subject of the bet or to aid anyone in acquiring the knowledge for the purpose of placing, increasing, or decreasing a bet or determining the course of play contingent upon that event or outcome;
**(c) To claim, collect, or take, or attempt to claim, collect, or take, money or anything of value in or from a limited gaming activity with intent to defraud and without having made a wager contingent thereon, or to claim, collect, or take an amount greater than the amount won.
While this law rightly prohibits intentional acts by professionals to unfairly take money from casinos, it also has an unjust application. Paragraph (c) above is being applied to those who sometimes “find” unclaimed moneys left in slot or other gaming machines, or who find unredeemed cash tickets. Its application in these circumstances seems overkill to our attorneys. Good men and women are being prosecuted for finding money – much like a $10 bill is found on the street. Their prosecution can destroy years of hard work building up a career or license, only to have a criminal charge record show up on a background search.
Central City and Black Hawk Charges of Fraudulent Acts Are Not Fair Under C.R.S. § 44-30-822
The law of Fraudulent Acts should have a goal of ensuring that no unjust gain occurs at gaming casinos in Central City or Black Hawk casinos in Gilpin County, Colorado. Yet, in practice, it is being used as a tool to criminally prosecute good people for the monetary benefit of casinos and Colorado Division of Gaming statistics. It has been misused hundreds of times to the detriment of honest gaming players. Fairness dictates that good people should not be charged criminally for finding money.
The Colorado law on Casino Fraudulent Acts is Unfair – How it Works in Black Hawk and Central City Casinos Say Our Defense Attorneys
Most prosecutions under this law relate to the subsection which provides: “It is unlawful for a person: (c) To claim, collect, or take, or attempt to claim, collect, or take, money or anything of value in or from a limited gaming activity with intent to defraud and without having made a wager contingent thereon, or to claim, collect, or take an amount greater than the amount won.”
The Fraudulent Acts “violation” usually involves someone finding slot machine credits, chips, credit slips (TITO” slips), or poker chips. Someone using or claiming a $2.00 or $10.00 abandoned credit on a slot machine next to theirs is being called a violation of Colorado gaming law. Find a poker chip? You violate the law if you take it or use it. Apparently, Gaming Officers and casino security have little else to do than use video cameras to watch a slot machine with a leftover credit, and then descend upon the lawbreaker who takes or uses the credit. Make no mistake, these security and Gaming officials remotely monitor each slot machine or piece of gaming equipment. They know when credits or money exists on an unattended gaming machine – and they watch to see if anyone sits down and uses or takes that credit, no matter how small. Rather than just erase the credit and hold it for any rightful owner, they lie in wait. Then, you and I can be charged with a class one misdemeanor and get up to 18 months in the Gilpin County Jail. For employees or repeat offenders, felony charges and prison are possible.
Defense Lawyers in Gilpin County Courts for Entrapment of Gambling and Casino Crimes Like Fraudulent Acts Under C.R.S. § 44-30-822
Our Attorneys appear in the Gilpin County Court in defense of men and women charged with a real crime, for conduct that should not be criminal. Lawmakers have given casinos an overly broad law which applies to the innocent conduct of picking up gaming proceeds left by their owners. Are these actually cases of Entrapment? In some cases, gamblers appear to leave their proceeds on purpose, while they go gamble on other machines. One is left to wonder whether such men and women may be working with casinos and Gaming officials to entrap innocent gamers tempted by money appearing to be abandoned.
If contacted by a gaming investigator or casino security officer, be smart, exercise your right to remain silent (don’t try to explain your actions), and call the Gilpin County casino gambling lawyers at 970-616-6009. We understand what is really going on here, and that is NOT you committing a real crime. Together, we can protect your future.
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