Couple in slot-cheat ring draw prison time

Eugene and Joan Bulgarino, members of a slot-cheat ring that federal authorities say bilked Las Vegas casinos out of more than $6 million, have been sentenced to prison.

U.S. District Judge Lloyd George on Friday gave Eugene Bulgarino, 66, three years and 10 months in prison. Joan Bulgarino, 66, was ordered to spend four months in prison and four months under house arrest.

Dennis Nikrasch, 57, the purported mastermind of the ring that federal authorities say used computer devices to win 10 jackpots between September 1996 and November 1997, was sentenced to 7 1/2 years in prison in December.

Ronnie McElveen, 60, was sentenced in April to two years, nine months in prison.

All of the convictions were the result of plea bargains, bringing to a close a case that included the $3.7 million ripoff of a jackpot at Harrah's in July 1997. A $1.7 million jackpot was hit at the Luxor in November 1997.

The charges for the four included conspiracy, interstate travel in aid of racketeering, money laundering and interstate transportation of stolen property.

Nikrasch, also known as Dennis McAndrew, was previously convicted in a $10 million slot-cheating scam in 1986 and served five years in prison before being released in 1991 on parole.

Court documents described Nikrasch as "a computer expert who actually opens the slot machines and uses a hand-held concealed computer or device to program the slot machine to win."

The federal complaint says the group selected vulnerable machines and shielded the manipulations from security cameras and guards.

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