A person who was paid to obtain 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 many years.
Juan Ivan Gutierrez Zambrano, 32, pleaded responsible to 2 counts of felony mischief — one depend a low-level felony and the opposite a misdemeanor cost — in Gilpin County District Court docket. Prosecutors allege he was paid to obtain 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 have been dismissed as a part of the plea settlement.
Prosecutors provided to let him plead responsible to felony 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 lawyer, Damon Brune, stated in the course of the listening to.
Neither lawyer 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 obtained “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 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 obtained 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 carry $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 obtained one other textual content that instructed her to carry a further $200,000, so she repeated the method.
Her story modified inside days, nonetheless, 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 started crying and offered a wholly completely different account of what occurred,” investigators wrote in an affidavit. She then claimed that associates of her useless ex-husband “compelled her to have interaction 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 folks concerned within the theft. On April 25, they charged Zambrano with felony theft. Investigators related Zambrano to the autos that have been used when the cash was exchanged on the hospital via license plate readers, surveillance and upkeep data, based on an affidavit filed in opposition to him.
Zambrano lived in a cellular residence park on Colfax Avenue in Aurora, based on the affidavit. When authorities searched his residence, they found photographs on his cellphone of a field that matched one of many 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 have been visiting from Mexico in the course of the time of the heist, however investigators imagine he’s the person who obtained the money from Eddy, based on 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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