Maryland Casino Admitted Kidnapper Facing Over 10 Years in Prison for Abduction

Posted on: February 21, 2022, 11:05h. 

Last updated on: February 21, 2022, 11:48h.

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

A Washington, DC man is likely to be sentenced to 10 and a half years’ incarceration for last February’s abduction of a victim from a Maryland casino. Officials have yet to identify the gaming property.

Maryland US Attorney Erek L. Barron,
Maryland US Attorney Erek L. Barron, pictured above. He announced that one of three suspects in a robbery and kidnapping that began at a Maryland casino has pleaded guilty. (Image: Maryland Matters)

On Thursday, Christopher Allen Young, 26, who also goes by the name of “40,” pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit kidnapping, Maryland US Attorney Erek L. Barron announced on Friday.

Young is scheduled to be sentenced on May 5. Before then, US District Court Judge George J. Hazel has to review and agree to the plea bargain in the case.

It stems from a Feb. 3, 2021 incident, when Young and two other unnamed suspects allegedly robbed and assaulted the victim at gunpoint after getting him to travel to Washington, DC. The lure was that they would arrange for him to meet women.

They stole approximately $6,000 and other items from him, prosecutors said. The trio of bandits agreed to share the proceeds from the robbery.

Casino Chips Stolen

Among the items robbed were at least $1,500 in MGM Casino chips, officials added. It is unclear if the incident involved an MGM gaming property.

The victim also suffered a wound on his forehead, cuts on his mouth and eye, and a broken nose during the robbery. At one point in the scheme, Young threatened if the victim “gets feisty, I don’t want to have to crush him,” prosecutors revealed.

The three robbers initially met the victim at the Maryland casino, and he willingly sat down in a car with them. Once in Washington, a suspect pulled out a firearm and pointed it at the victim. The robbers then stole a cellphone, wallet, and hotel room key.

The bandits got violent after the victim refused to provide a code for a room safe at an unnamed hotel. Eventually, he told them the code after he was struck in the forehead with the firearm.

Young and another suspect later forced the victim to accompany them to a boiler room of an apartment building. The victim was once again assaulted. They also threatened to kill him. Later, the suspects fled the boiler room, with the victim remaining there.

Young allegedly told the victim: “If the police come, or anything come, I got your address. Mom … your little brother, all them is gone,” prosecutors said.

Prior Casino Kidnapping

In Jan. 2021, a Bethlehem, Pa. man was sentenced to at least 12 years in state prison for the kidnapping and robbery of a slots-playing senior citizen. Hykeem Sessoms, 39, stole just $7 after terrorizing his victim, an 84-year-old woman.

In December 2019, Sessoms had followed the woman out of the Wind Creek Casino in Bethlehem, formerly the Sands Bethlehem.