Gambler Banned From Isle Casino Bettendorf Arrested for Exchanging Phony $100 Bill

Police say a adult male banned from Iowa’s Isle Casino Hotel Bettendorf wrongly gained get at to the holding lowest Fri and tried to interchange a forgery greenback with the cashier cage.

Police say 37-year-old Mark Hampton, a local Bettendorf resident, entered Isle Casino shortly before 6:30 pm CDT on Sept 2. Hampton, law contend, proceeded to the casino’s cage where he attempted to obtain approximately $100 inward change for a strange currency peak he claimed was worth that amount.

The affidavit says the suspect “attempted to interchange the counterfeit invoice for currency at the change within the casino.” After casino cashiers denied the dealings and confiscated the phony bill, Lionel Hampton tried to exit the prop but was detained past police.

Hampton admitted he was aware that his privileges to risk indoors the casino had been revoked. But, in want of cash, he claimed he entered the cassino only to change the strange currency, which he maintained to authorities was legitimate.

2021 Ban

Hampton has a lengthy malefactor register inward Iowa. An online court look turned upwards 30 cases with him named as a defendant.

In 2021, the Isle Casino, fed up with Hampton’s shenanigans, excluded him from further access to the gaming floor. His forbidding went into effect inwards July 2021.

Hampton’s explanation for seeking to change his claimed logical foreign visor for $100 at the Isle Casino raised eyebrows among gambling casino security and local practice of law enforcement. Most banks and credit entry unions extend foreign currency exchange services based on current change rates. Casino cashier cages make too, but typically for a hefty fee.

The Isle Casino is operated past Caesars Entertainment. The 35K square-foot former riverboat has 935 slot machines, 19 tabulate games, and a Caesars Sportsbook. The resort features to a greater extent than 500 hotel rooms, tierce restaurants, and a 1,700-seat theater.

Earlier this year, the cassino became I of the beneficiaries of a of late passed two-year moratorium on young casinos in the state. The bill, signed by Ioway Gov. Kim Sir Joshua Reynolds (R) inward June, plugged a gaming developing in Cedar Rapids some 70 miles north-west of Isle Casino.

Supporters of the moratorium argued that the hold inward unexampled gaming licenses will reserve the electric current operators to receive a controlled and horse barn gaming marketplace inward backwash of the pandemic and unexampled commercial casinos opening night inward neighboring Nebraska.

Felony Charge Filed

After reviewing the affidavit against Hampton, say prosecutors representing Dred Scott County filed a felony forgery bill inwards connexion with his currency interchange scheme. Additional charges, including trespassing, could be filed later.

Hampton was released from the Dred Scott County Jail on his have recognizance and is due inward tribunal for a preliminary hearing on September 23.

A mortal found shamed of a Class D felony, such as the single facing Hampton, put up live punished with up to 5 years in prison and a amercement upwards of $10K plus involvement and royal court costs.