A person who was paid to obtain packing containers of stolen money in a $500,000 theft from Monarch On line casino Resort and Spa in Black Hawk pleaded responsible Friday to his function within the largest Colorado on line casino theft in a minimum of three a long time.
Juan Ivan Gutierrez Zambrano, 32, pleaded responsible to 2 counts of legal mischief — one rely a low-level felony and the opposite a misdemeanor cost — in Gilpin County District Court docket. Prosecutors allege he was paid to obtain packing containers of stolen money from then-casino worker Sabrina Eddy, 45, who’s scheduled for a jury trial in August over the March 12, 2023, heist.
Zambrano, a citizen of Mexico, initially was charged with two counts of felony theft of between $100,000 and $1 million. Each theft prices had been dismissed as a part of the plea settlement.
Prosecutors provided to let him plead responsible to legal mischief “for the aim of fairness from an immigration standpoint,” Chief Deputy District Legal professional Brenna Zortman stated in court docket Friday. Zambrano might be deported due to the convictions, however won’t be, his legal professional, Damon Brune, stated in the course of the listening to.
Neither legal professional detailed Zambrano’s function within the theft throughout Friday’s court docket listening to, as a substitute ready to make a factual document concerning the crime till Zambrano’s April sentencing. However Zortman stated he acquired “compensation” for his function within the heist.
She stated Zambrano accepted the stolen money from Eddy after Eddy loaded bricks of $50,000 in money into packing containers in the course of the night time whereas working as a cage cashier on the on line casino. Eddy then drove the cash to an trade with Zambrano in a hospital parking zone, prosecutors say.
Eddy at first claimed she had been scammed and stated she thought was following her bosses’ instructions when she took the cash.
She initially stated she acquired a name from a person who claimed to be the on line casino’s head of operations and texts from a person she believed to be the cage supervisor instructing her to deliver $300,000 in money to St. Anthony Hospital in Lakewood. She took the money, drove to the hospital’s emergency room and handed the money to a person within the parking zone. As she returned, she claimed she acquired one other textual content that instructed her to deliver a further $200,000, so she repeated the method.
Her story modified inside days, nevertheless, when she agreed to take a polygraph check on March 16, court docket data present. After the machine indicated she was mendacity, she “lastly broke down and commenced crying and offered a wholly completely different account of what occurred,” investigators wrote in an affidavit. She then claimed that associates of her lifeless ex-husband “pressured her to interact within the theft after levying threats in opposition to her relations,” the affidavit reads.
Eddy provided the brand new account as Colorado Bureau of Investigation brokers labored to determine the opposite individuals concerned within the theft. On April 25, they charged Zambrano with felony theft. Investigators linked Zambrano to the autos that had been used when the cash was exchanged on the hospital by way of license plate readers, surveillance and upkeep data, in keeping with an affidavit filed in opposition to him.
Zambrano lived in a cell residence park on Colfax Avenue in Aurora, in keeping with the affidavit. When authorities searched his residence, they found photographs on his cellphone of a field that matched one of many packing containers Eddy loaded with cash and a screenshot of the hospital’s parking zone with the actual assembly spot marked.
Zambrano claimed he loaned his autos to 2 males who had been visiting from Mexico in the course of the time of the heist, however investigators imagine he’s the person who acquired the money from Eddy, in keeping with the affidavit.
An arrest warrant for a 3rd suspect has been issued however is sealed, stated Brionna Boatright, a spokeswoman for the First Judicial District Legal professional’s Workplace.
She and different officers declined to say whether or not any of the stolen cash has been recovered.
Eddy is charged with two felony counts of theft. Her jury trial is predicted to final 5 days.
Monarch On line casino Resort and Spa operates in Black Hawk, a mountain city about 40 miles west of Denver. The on line casino is owned by Reno, Nevada-based Monarch On line casino and Resort Inc., which in February reported 2022 fourth quarter revenues of $120.5 million.
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