The prospect of a jail sentence still hangs over the head of a man charged in the Gold Eagle Casino card cheating case.
Christopher Stone-Spyglass, who was a dealer at the casino, was in provincial court in North Battleford for sentencing Wednesday after entering a plea of guilty in November to theft over $5,000.
While no final decision on sentence was handed down this week, the question for the court to decide is whether Stone-Spyglass should serve a conditional sentence order in the community, or serve actual jail time.
The charge is in connection to cheating over a period of several months in 2007 and early 2008, involving himself and six players. According to the Crown, the activity cost the Gold Eagle Casino $20,000.
Submissions were made before Judge Violet Meekma by Crown and defence counsel. However, a decision on sentence has been put off by three months to allow time for Stone-Spyglass to come up with the funds to pay what is expected to be restitution of up to $12,600.
The case has been adjourned to April 11, which would allow time for Stone-Spyglass to apply for a loan or obtain a tax refund to be able to pay restitution up front. Judge Meekma indicated that, if Stone-Spyglass were to do that, she might consider a conditional sentence order instead of an actual jail term.
Crown prosecutor Mitch Piche told the court the charge involved "theft (from an) employer and breach of trust where significant amounts are involved." He added that usually these cases result in jail sentences.
Piche had suggested a sentence of either 12 months of actual jail, or alternatively an 18-month conditional sentence order served in the community, a period of probation and $12,600 restitution.
Defence lawyer Randy Kirkham had suggested a 12-month conditional sentence order followed by probation and restitution, and had cited Stone-Spyglass's co-operation with investigators and police as well as a pre-sentence report stating he is a low risk to re-offend.
Kirkham noted his client had always been a hard worker and found employment. He also pointed to the recent case of a town administrator in Kindersley who was also sentenced to a conditional sentence order after pleading guilty to theft of $30,000.
Lawers for both sides agreed to an adjournment to see if the accused could come up with an up-front restitution payment.
Charges were laid against both Stone-Spyglass and six players. Five of the players have seen their matters resolved through the courts, however the Crown made clear they believed those other five were not as culpable as Stone-Spyglass in the cheating scam.
According to the facts spelled out in court by the prosecution, Stone-Spyglass was hired by Gold Eagle Casino to be a table dealer for blackjack and poker, particularly the poker games of Fill'er-up and Let'em Ride.
The Crown stated the accused used his position as a dealer to give an unfair advantage to players at the table, and also to cheat the casino out of money.
Piche told the judge Stone-Spyglass had colluded with at least six players and used numerous methods to give them an unfair advantage. These methods included false-shuffling of cards, dealing in a set order instead of randomly, dealing in a way where wins were virtually guaranteed, and flashing cards to players.
In blackjack, he would also verify the full value of a hole card and communicated that knowledge to players before the cards would be flipped over. On insurance plays in blackjack, the dealer would often use the hole card to indicate whether he had blackjack to the players, which signaled to players the right time to buy insurance. There were also times when he did not collect losing bets, said Piche.
The Crown also alleged Stone-Spyglass would pass along several $100 chips underneath a $5 chip to an individual player, totaling $6,000 in chips, with the player giving him back $3,000.
Sentences of conditional discharges and probation had been handed out to others charged in the case, with a couple seeing their charges stayed or dropped entirely. The sentence Stone-Spyglass faces is expected to be considerably tougher, as his activity is considered far more serious due to his greater involvement as a dealer involved in a series of offences. The Crown is alleging Stone-Spyglass was responsible for $12,600 of the $20,000 loss to the casino.
One more accused in the case, Ken Mark, is still seeing his case go through the courts. He is charged with theft and with cheating at play.
