7 charged with cheating at Ohio casino

Associated Press

CLEVELANd

Seven people have been charged with cheating on games including blackjack, roulette and craps at Ohio’s first casino, authorities announced Tuesday.

The defendants are charged with cheating using schemes involving trying to increase or remove bets depending on the likely outcome of a game, Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine and Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Bill Mason said in a joint announcement.

The cheating occurred during the first month of operations at the Horseshoe casino in Cleveland, which opened May 14.

The defendants, each charged with one felony count of illegal gambling, are Nidal Abuaun, 49, and Philip Koch, 54, both of Lakewood, Louis Wilkerson, 30, of Akron, and Nathaniel Emory, 40, Russell Heidenreich, 46, Aaron Higdon, 29, and Theodore Shepherd, 53, all of Cleveland.

None had attorneys listed in court records and none could be reached for comment. Messages were left at phone numbers listed in earlier court cases for four defendants with the same names.