February 7th, 2011 – by Glen Farmer
Anthony Carleo, the 29 year old son of a Las Vegas Judge, had reportedly lived the high life prior to his arrest over the alleged theft of the $1.5 million in chips. According to recent reports, Carleo had actually stayed at the Bellagio while spending some of the chips he had allegedly stolen.
Carleo had begun using the chips as early as New Year’s Eve. The proposed thief had lost $73,000 on New Year’s Eve Alone. He even spent a week in the casino in late January, only leaving a few times, all the while receiving complimentary food and beverage incentives, as well as free rooms. These are rewards typically afforded to those who are high stakes gamblers.
Police first caught on to Carleo when he had reportedly dropped a $25,000 chip into a Salvation Army collection kettle. He then helped implicate himself by attempting to sell the chips on a poker website. Police ended up forming a sting operation in order to bust Carleo with the chips.
Police said that Carleo did not attempt to resist arrest when they arrived at the sting operation to apprehend him.