Poarch Band of Creek Indians cheated out of more than $500K in casino scam

Wednesday, August 30, 2017  

A former employee of the Poarch Band of Creek Indians and her mother admitted they cheated one of the tribe's casinos out of more than $500,000.

According to court documents, Jasmine Hansell was a game attendant at the Wind Creek Casino in Atmore, Alabama. She admitted she conspired with her mother, Gunilla Marshall, to access and use “free play” credits at the facility from August 2016 through October 2016.

"According to video surveillance and computer reports, Hansell and Marshall used and benefited from free play credits at the casino," the U.S. Attorney's Office said in a press release in April, when both entered guilty pleas in federal court.

Hansell was sentenced to a year and a day in prison, while Marshall was sentenced to five years of probation, The Atmore News reported. They were ordered to pay a combined total of $510,100 in restitution to the tribe, an indication of the amount the casino lost in the scam.

In a separate case reported by The Atmore News, a former tribal employee was sentenced to five years of probation and ordered to pay $502,173.35 in restitution for stealing funds from the tribe's senior citizens' program.

Read More on the Story:
Former casino worker, mother sentenced (The Atmore News August 30, 2017)
Trio embezzled $750K – Probation for former seniors director; casino employee, mother await sentencing (The Atmore News August 16, 2017)