Casino Crime Round Up: California Casino is Site of Attempted Murder

Posted on: February 27, 2023, 01:31h. 

Last updated on: February 27, 2023, 02:27h.

Ed Silverstein @casinoorgedsilv Read More
Expertise: Legal, Tribal Gaming.

A man was arrested for attempted murder after he allegedly repeatedly stabbed an unnamed woman at Cabazon, Calif.’s Morongo Casino Resort and Spa on Saturday night.

Morongo Casino Resort and Spa
Morongo Casino Resort and Spa, pictured above. An attempted murder took place at the California casino. (Image: Ticati.com)

Jesse Romero, 46, of Bellflower, Calif. was apprehended early on Sunday morning, the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department said in a statement. He was located in Whitewater, Calif., which is about 10 miles east of the tribal casino.

Details on the victim’s condition were not immediately available from the sheriff’s office. The motive for the attack was unclear.

Romero remained in custody on Monday at Banning, Calif.’s Larry D. Smith Correctional Facility. Bail was set at $1 million and he’s scheduled to appear in local court on Wednesday.

The Morongo Casino is operated by the Morongo Band of Mission Indians.

Kidnapping Victim Heading to Prison for Bribe

A man who was kidnapped from Maryland’s MGM National Harbor casino is now heading to prison himself.

The reason? He allegedly solicited a $5,000 bribe from one of the alleged kidnappers to either not testify against him or to change his story on what happened.

Jolen “Jay” Ghorbani, 28, formerly of Fairfax, Va., was sentenced on Friday by US District Judge George J. Hazel to 18 months in federal prison for bribery. The sentence will be followed by three years of supervised release, according to the plea agreement.

On February 3, 2021, Ghorbani was kidnapped from the casino and taken to a building in Washington, D.C. He was held at gunpoint, beaten, and robbed. Some of the conspirators also stole about $10K, casino chips, and an Xbox from his hotel room.

One of the five suspects was Tray David Sherman, 28. Ghorbani allegedly sent Sherman a social media message which said, “[C]all me If you want to finesse trial.”

Before the start of Sherman’s trial for conspiracy to commit kidnapping, Ghorbani sent Instagram messages to Sherman. Ghorbani asked for $5K in exchange for falsely testifying or refusing to testify against him, prosecutors said.

Either you cough up sum bread or sit in the feds for next 20 years,” his message said, according to the Baltimore Banner newspaper.

On January 20, Sherman was sentenced to 126 months in prison, according to a statement from Maryland US Attorney Erek L. Barron. The other four defendants, Darius Young, Anthony Erik Hebron, Christopher Young, and Lamar Perkins, have pleaded guilty to various charges. They were sentenced to between 10 and 14 years in prison.

Injured Iowa Cop Settles Lawsuit Against Casino

A West Des Moines, Iowa police officer, injured when an intoxicated driver rammed his patrol car, has settled a lawsuit against a casino where the suspect was drinking.

The lawsuit claimed the Lakeside Hotel & Casino in Osceola, Iowa, served too much alcohol to Jon Schwartz, 63, on Nov. 7, 2020, the Des Moines Register newspaper reported. Schwartz consumed at least 11 beers at the casino, the lawsuit added.

The car driven by Schwartz later struck Officer Jon Kaufman’s patrol car on Interstate 35. Kaufman was waiting for a tow truck at the time of the crash.  Kaufman and Schwartz were both injured in the accident, and Schwartz was charged with operating while intoxicated, the Register reported. He was found guilty and was sentenced to five years in prison.

Two hours after the accident, Schwartz had a blood alcohol concentration of 0.10, according to court records. Typically, a .08 percent blood alcohol level is the legal limit for drivers. Schwartz also admitted he was watching a movie in the car while driving, the Register reported.

Kaufman filed a lawsuit against HCI Lakeside, the operator of Lakeside Casino. Details on the settlement were not released. Kaufman was able to return to duty in March 2021.

Gun Found at New York’s Rivers Casino

A firearm was located on the floor at Rivers Casino & Resort Schenectady on Friday. When a security guard picked it up, the weapon discharged. There were no injuries.

The gun was found by a cleaning crew, according to WNYT TV. The gun didn’t belong to security guards at the property and it remains unclear how it got into the casino.

York Hollywood Player Smashes Slot Screen

Joseph Zielinski, 60, of Elizabethtown, Pa., was arrested Friday after he allegedly broke a slot machine screen at Pennsylvania’s York Hollywood Casino.

Zielinski thrust his fist into the screen, police said. The screen was shattered, according to PennLive, a regional news site.

The estimate to repair the screen is about $1,800, police said.