Steve Forte BUSTED in Elaborate Cheating Scam

[zengrifter]

4 indicted in alleged poker scam at Borgata

October 2, 2008

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) _ Four men have been indicted in what New Jersey authorities say was a high-tech poker scam in Atlantic City.

The four - James Harrison of Duluth, Minn., and Las Vegas residents Joseph Ingargiola, Stephen Phillips and Steven Forte - each face a charge of second-degree attempted theft by deception. The indictment was handed up Thursday by a grand jury in Atlantic County.

Forte is a well-known gambling consultant who once hosted his own television show.

Authorities said the four rigged two hotel rooms at the Borgata Hotel Casino and Spa with surveillance cameras and computers, then invited another man to play in high-stakes games of Chinese poker, backgammon and chess.

Before the intended target of the scam arrived, New Jersey State Police seized the equipment and arrested the four men. They remain free on bail.

A person answering the phone at a Las Vegas number listed in Forte's name would not take a message for him. Listings for the others could not be located.

xxx

[callipygian]

Originally Posted by Mimosine

he could probably turn it around and say he "was doing research" on the next generation of cheating techniques.

The Just Doing Research defense strikes again!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/2648987.stm

[zengrifter]

Defendants plead not guilty in high-tech Borgata scam case

by South Jersey News Online
Monday October 27, 2008, 5:00 PM

ATLANTIC CITY -- Three of the Four defendants who have been charged with running a high-tech gambling scheme out of a hotel room at the Borgata Hotel Casino and Spa pleaded not guilty to the charges against them Monday.

The Press of Atlantic City reports Joseph Ingargiola, 51, Stephen Phillips, 53 and Steven Forte, 52, all of Las Vegas, pleaded not guilty to accusations that they set up various high-stakes games in one Borgata room while another room nearby was equipped with surveillance equipment used to allegedly swindle tens of thousands of dollars from one high-roller. The fourth defendant, James Harrison, 42, of Duluth, Minn., will be arraigned separately Thursday morning.

xxx

[zengrifter]

Whatever came of this matter? Anyone know? zg

[QFIT]

Charges dropped against Steve. I believe the others were guilty and got suspended sentences.

[zengrifter]

Originally Posted by zengrifter

Whatever came of this matter? Anyone know? zg

Okay, I found this. Case was dismissed last year but nothing was disclosed...
until now. Good read. One authority alleged that Forte works for the CIA >>

---------
MagicTimes: Jason, thanks for answering some questions.

Jason England: Just let me say at the onset that Steve asked me to leave it alone, but I feel strongly that some things need to be said for the record so he agreed under one condition: that I not mention the names of anyone involved.

MagicTimes: Okay, can you tell us what the case was all about?

England: It's actually easier to tell you what this case was not about. It was not about the casino industry or any casino games, it had nothing to do with cardrooms, the WSOP or any other tournament for that matter. In fact, regardless of what you may have heard, this case had nothing to do with poker!

This was a personal matter between the principal defendant and a police informant. According to this defendant, and witness corroboration that was to be presented at trial, the informant had cheated him on several occasions, bragged about it, and then invited the defendant back to AC to gamble in his suite at the Borgata. This is what the case is all about.

In June 2007 this defendant flew to A.C. from the West Coast. Three other men joined him including Steve who drove up to A.C. from Boston where he was visiting his sister. While in another hotel room with three of the defendants–not the informant's suite–the authorities knocked down the door, raided the room, put guns to everyone's heads and made the arrests. It was a setup!

MagicTimes: But what about the game?

England: There never was a game. It's probably the biggest misconception in this entire case for a variety of reasons, but the truth is that there was no game, not a single card was ever dealt, nor a single die ever cast.

The indictment consisted of a single charge: attempted theft by deception. There was no charge of cheating, possession of cheating equipment, or conspiracy. The legal definition of attempted theft by deception can also encompass the planning stages of a crime; you don't have to be "in progress," so to speak.

MagicTimes: Are you saying the arrests were made based on what the police believed to be the planning stages of a crime?

England: Yes, that was the position of the authorities.

MagicTimes: But why would the police make arrests before there was even a game?

England: That's a good question and one we'll probably never really know the answer to. The defense believed that the police made the arrests because they knew that one or more defendants were leaving and they wanted to cast the largest net possible. Though this is not the place to expound on this, I'll just say that this information came from a government source and could have caused all kinds of problems for the prosecution.

MagicTimes: If there never was a game, how could there be a victim?

England: Well, in the strictest sense, there was no victim. The indictment referenced a single person with the initials J.H., alleging that he was to be the target in a future game.

MagicTimes: Can you tell us who J.H. is?

England: I could, but it isn't important for the sake of this interview. I can tell you that he was previously an acquaintance of the principal defendant, and that they met and talked after the arrests (a fact not known to the authorities). Another interesting thing regarding J.H. is that over a period of approximately 26 months, the New Jersey authorities never met with this person. Not once! According to the discovery, the police had a single, short phone conversation early in the investigation and that was it.

MagicTimes: Can you tell us anything about the informant?

England: Only that he is a convicted con man who was sentenced to 15 years for bilking investors in a stock scam some years back. His claims regarding this case were preposterous and in many cases technically and literally impossible. All of these claims were shown to be ridiculous in my certification to the attorneys.

FULL STORY AT MAGIC TIMES NEWS

[Sucker]

Wow! What a great story! IMO Jason England could quite possibly be the best P.R. man who's ever walked the planet. Richard Nixon HIMSELF could have had his reputation rehabilitated had Mr. England been on his side.

The police have one story. Jason has another. Is it possible that the REAL story lies somewhere in between? Out of respect for all parties involved, I'll say no more.

[Lonesome Gambler]

I hate to say it, but I can't see any way that even Jason England can spin Forte out of this one. Regardless of his role in the whole affair, it's hard to imagine why he would be there with these guys and in yet no way involved in what was clearly a planned cheating scheme.

Jason England is a brilliant card mechanic, as well. His work on riffle stacking is unbelievable.

[zengrifter]

Originally Posted by Lonesome Gambler

I hate to say it, but I can't see any way that even Jason England can spin Forte out of this one. Regardless of his role in the whole affair, it's hard to imagine why he would be there with these guys and in yet no way involved in what was clearly a planned cheating scheme.

Jason England is a brilliant card mechanic, as well. His work on riffle stacking is unbelievable.

So England's PR pulpit may be a bit of misdirection and sleight of hand, something that would come naturally,
and Forte, a card-illusionist in his own right not giving away the 'secret' of the case.

Richard Marcus took heavy criticism for speculating on the implications of Forte's case dismissal, back in August >>

-----------
Suspected Camera-In-The-Wall Poker Cheat
Steve Forte Walks...But Is He Innocent?

Charges against Steve Forte, the accused mastermind of the high-tech Borgata Camera-In-The-Wall Poker Cheat Scam have been dismissed, so I'm told by an e-mail I received from crime novelist James Swain, a friend of Forte's. Swain has asked me specifically to post Forte's being cleared of the criminal charges contained in a 2008 felony indictment for setting up this scam, so I am obliging even though I have not seen this news published. If anyone has seen it, please link me to it.

Do I believe Forte is actually innocent? Of course not. Forte, an ex-casino game protection consultant who was convicted in an Atlantic City cooler scam in 1987, has maintained that he "was in the wrong place at the wrong time." Come on, gimme a break! I just have a hard time believing that Forte was in a hotel room where a major poker scam was going down with digital cameras hidden in walls sneak-peeking opponents' hole cards and not only was Forte not involved in it but had no clue it was going down. If Forte was in the wrong place at the wrong time, how did he get there? By invitation?

You have to remember that having a case dismissed does not mean the person charged and indicted is innocent. It only means that for lack of evidence or some other reason, the judge dismissed the case. Heck, you know how many times casinos wanted to prosecute me? They never could...does that mean I was innocent? I was fifty times more guilty than Forte or anyone else!

FULL BLOG- http://richardmarcus-pokercheats.blo...oker-cheat.htm