Wife of Pastor Who Allegedly Committed Three M Resort Robberies Worked at Casino

Posted on: November 15, 2017, 02:52h.

Last updated on: November 15, 2017, 02:55h.

Casino.org Staff Writer Read More

Expertise: Commercial Gaming.

Lea Mercado Bolusan, wife of alleged M Resort armed robber and local evangelist pastor Gregory Bolusan, listed herself as an M shift manager on her LinkedIn page.

Lea Mercado Bolusan and Gregory Bolusan — Las Vegas-based evangelical pastor Gregory Bolusan (left) is alleged to have committed three armed robberies at the M Resort and Casino over several months. Now information has surfaced that his wife Lea (seen here, right, in a 2015 Facebook photo from the Grace Bible Church website) was a shift manager at the property. The church has shut down its social media pages and website since the pastor’s arrest.

Now an anonymous source has told a local TV station in Las Vegas that Mrs. Bolusan worked in the casino resort’s cashier’s cage. No one at the M Resort has confirmed whether she was employed at the venue, but casino staff did issue a statement.

“The safety and security of our guests is always our paramount concern and we have a robust security infrastructure in place to help prevent these types of incidents,” the statement read. “As this is an ongoing law enforcement matter, we are referring all media calls to the Henderson Police Department, and while we are cooperating fully with their investigation, we cannot offer any additional details at this time.”

The Henderson Police Department, which is investigating the robberies, has refused to comment on the case as well. It’s unknown whether Lea Mercado Bolusan was in any way involved with the charged crimes, or if she will face any related charges of her own. The Bolusans have taken down all of their social media accounts including Facebook, Twitter, and the Grace Bible Church’s website, where Greg Bolusan was a pastor.

Weapon Potentially Doubles Time

The pastor was arrested on Oct. 28 and charged with three counts of burglary, one count of attempted robbery, and two counts of robbery. Because he used a gun, even though it was later found to be fake, he could get whatever sentence he is given doubled for each count.

Gun use in the commission of a crime in Nevada, according to Nevada Revised Statue (NRS 193.165) carries a penalty of 1 to 20 years. But the amount of time handed out cannot be more than that given for the actual crime itself. So if Bolusan, for example, were to be found guilty and given 10 years for each count of robbery, the judge could then tack on another 10 years for each of those counts.

Plunder Blunders

Bolusan was captured on surveillance video walking into the M on Aug. 24, where he proceeded to the casino cage. He brandished the faux weapon and demanded money, but left empty-handed when the casino worker was able to run away. On Sept. 10, he returned for a second time, and this time was more successful, walking out with $29,589.

The third time Bolusan went in, security recognized him from his prior two visits. He got the cage employee to give him $33,480, but didn’t make it out of the gaming venue, as he was detained until police arrived.

From a prosecution standpoint, Bolusan appears to have made their job easier by some of his actions. He parked his white 2010 Toyota Camry in the identical parking space at an M lot on each of his three visits. He did manage to conceal his license plate with opaque plastic bags, however. His clothes were also the same the first two times, and for all three robberies, he used the same backpack and fake gun and entered and exited through the same doors.