Two men are charged in bid to defraud casino

By DAVID HARPER World Staff Writer - 11/4/2009


Two Missouri men have been charged by a federal grand jury in Tulsa with conspiring to defraud an Oklahoma casino by using counterfeit poker chips.

William Reece Lancaster, 49, and Mark Vernon Edmiston, 45, are accused of victimizing the Seneca Cayuga Grand Lake Casino near Grove from Sept. 11 through Oct. 8. Assistant U.S. Attorney Trent Shores said authorities believe that the case involves more than $25,000.

The indictment was one of two released Tuesday in unrelated cases as a result of the grand jury's regular monthly meeting.

Lancaster, of Webb City, Mo., and Edmiston, of Joplin, Mo., are accused of cashing in counterfeit chips, exchanging them for legitimate chips, introducing bogus chips into play and meeting to divide the "illegally and fraudulently stolen funds and money of the Seneca Cayuga Grand Lake Casino."

Shores said casino security personnel eventually detected the alleged activity.

The pair were arrested in early October but are free on bond, records show.

Shores would not comment about how the pair are suspected of acquiring the chips.

In an unrelated indictment: Ruben Garcia, 29; Mauro Banuelos, 25; Rubi Garcia, 21; Leonel Ledezma, 26; Juan Antonio Martinez, 20; Oscar Palacios, 24; Gilberto Rivera, 32; and Alejandra Romero, 23, were charged with participating in a cocaine and methamphetamine conspiracy.

The eight — who have all lived in the Tulsa area — were first charged in an originally sealed complaint that was made public Oct. 21 when the defendants appeared in U.S. District Court after their arrests.

The following day, federal officials in Washington announced that the eight were among more than 300 people who were arrested across the country in raids aimed at what authorities said is the newest and most violent Mexican drug cartel, La Familia.



David Harper 581-8359
david.harper@tulsaworld.com


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Tulsa World Reader Comments
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Sand In My Shoes, Tulsa (11/3/2009 6:40:45 PM)
Chips and coke have always gone well together.

RomeosTune, Tulsa (11/3/2009 10:34:26 PM)
Casinos don't get robbed / cheated too often because of the people who run them. You get broken body parts and worse.

Few Clothes, America (11/4/2009 5:17:48 PM)
They can't do that! Indians are supposed to do that!

ttr1975, Sand Springs (11/3/2009 6:38:11 PM)
The house always wins...

FUTURE WORLD, Tulsa (11/3/2009 7:37:45 PM)
Easy money gets ya hard time.

FUTURE WORLD, Tulsa (11/4/2009 12:54:08 AM)
I bet they changed the law after that.

FUTURE WORLD, Tulsa (11/4/2009 12:54:47 AM)
It's just so hard on a criminal these days.

FUTURE WORLD, Tulsa (11/6/2009 10:20:32 PM)
American Indian tribes are simply exercising and practicing the virtues of market economics. Plain simple free world market economics.

Mr. Brown, Kanagawa, Japan (11/3/2009 9:43:18 PM)
Laziness + dishonesty = incarceration.

Popeye, T-Town (11/3/2009 6:02:36 PM)
Hmmm, my problem is that I can't hold onto the chips long enough to get a good look at 'em!

Zoltar, Boltar (11/6/2009 10:16:07 PM)
The tribes have all turned out to be greedy capitalists, have they no shame?

AllSmiles, Sperry (11/4/2009 12:35:30 PM)
Daniel~ You story was more interesting than the one posted! Thanks =0) TW he needs to freelance for you! LOL

Newsmax, Tulsa - MidTown (11/3/2009 5:30:10 PM)
Thieves stealing from crooks, what irony!

Newsmax, Tulsa - MidTown (11/6/2009 11:08:12 PM)
The Indians don't tip very well!

SoonerChris, Tulsa (11/6/2009 11:09:18 PM)
Sooner-Fans do!

yep, Tulsa County (11/3/2009 5:20:24 PM)
Maybe they were trying to be Robin Hoods, stealing from the casino that "stole" from the government and citizens already?

dustyoutlaw, Tulsa (11/6/2009 10:26:19 PM)
Isn't it a bit hypocritical to complain about the Indians being a burden on society when they had nothing and then to complain when they make something out of themselves? More power to the Indians.

Thunder196, Tulsa (11/3/2009 7:50:48 PM)
Legal thieves upset about the illegal thieves.

chef LaDon, tulsa (11/3/2009 8:29:43 PM)
The dinner of thieves.

nomansland, (11/4/2009 1:02:21 PM)
Daniel~ You story was more interesting than the one posted! Thanks =0) TW he needs to freelance for you! LOL Or just watch "Breaking Vegas" on the history channel.

CMTzMoM, GROVE (11/4/2009 4:46:13 PM)
It's unfortunate that those who have negative comments in regards to Indian Gaming only see the down side. Indian Gaming has provided hundreds, if not thousands of jobs to Oklahoma and many other states. Allowing tribes to regain a status in this country, that was taken against our ancestors will, is not an act of thieves. I know of several gaming facilities that donate to their local communities and charities. So until those of you, that have negative comments, can figure out a better way for the tribes to rise once again as a whole, provide the same opportunities for casino employees and contribute to your local community-DO NOT PASS JUDGEMENT. ONLY ONE CAN PASS JUDGEMENT ON MYSELF, MY TRIBE, AND FELLOW CASINO EMPLOYEES. As for the crime committed by the two men named above. They not only stole from a casino, but also from the tribe and the employees. Seems a little similiar to what happened to our ancestors, only we can do something about it now.

Larry Cain, (11/11/2009 8:52:38 PM)
Is this the "so called" upstanding bussiness man that owns Sign-A-Rama sign company in Joplin Missouri? If so I have more information on Mr. Lancaster..............

chelsea, wyandotte (11/4/2009 1:27:18 PM)
THEY DID TAKE FOOD OFF OF PEOPLES TABLES BECAUSE WHAT ABOUT PEOPLE THAT WORK THERE THEY HAVE KIDS THEY NEED TO FEED AND BILLS THEY NEED TO PAY THEY NEED EVERY THING THEY GET FOR TAKEING FOOD OFF OF MY TABLE AND OUT OF MY KIDS MOUTH THANK YOU FOR GETTING THEM

swhiteeagle, grove (11/4/2009 3:34:09 PM)
Ok so I know there is a big controversy about casino's being "thieves" and all that, but seriously does anyone stop and think that first off casino's don't hold a gun to your head and make you come in and play. Secondly casinos are higher paying and better benefits than most companies in your area. Most of the casino's (at least I know G.L.C.) donates to local charities and school. So who are all of you to look down on the casinos and call them bad? Do you help out the schools, charities, and overall community with THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS A YEAR? Didn't think so. The casino has provided a comfortable life style and a stable job. This is a huge piece of mind in today’s economy. It was wrong of those two men to conspire against our casino and take our money away. The money of not only the casino, but its employees that are just working to provide for our families. At Grand Lake Casino we receive a quarterly bonus check based off the casino's profits, well with those two men taking the house for 25, ooo + that in turn affects our bonus checks because it takes away from the profit of the casino. Also let me note that gambling is like any other “addiction” some people just don’t know when to stop. You have your leisure gamblers who do it for fun, and you have those that make it a lifestyle. Same thing with drinking some people are social drinkers, where some people are alcoholic’s. It all depends on the person, not the company or the product. It is called self control and obviously some people can’t control themselves so there for the public blames the company and the products as if it’s our fault.

Daniel Day Simpson, Edmond (11/3/2009 10:57:31 PM)
They may have copied from the men in New Jersey who did the same thing but took millions from Vegas and New Jersey casinos. The Vegas casinos refused to admit they had a problem even though the men were minting perfect copies of coins and chips from big places like MGM, NYNY, Bellagio, Harrahs, and Monte Carlo. It cost them $300,000 just to set up the minting equipment in a New Jersey warehouse. They made trips to the casinos to buy various denominations and returned and actually engraved the dies. But they got greedy and started printing chips and coins for smaller NJ casinos. Audits caught the overages and the NJ state police set up surveillance. They almost caught the man when some misprinted $1 coins jammed in a machine and he quickly left. That got the attention as most players will demand a refund on the spot when a coin jams. The NJSP detective stayed on the case and finally made an arrest as he fed a machine fake coins. New Jersey had trouble finding a crime in the code books that fit. There was no crime in NJ against counterfeiting casino coins, tokens, or chips. In the end, they filed copyright infringement as they included the tribes' registered insignia along with the ©. They got prison time for that.


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