RISPOLI: GAMBLING CHEAT WHO USED PENSIONER MOTHER AS CASINO DECOY IS SPARED JAIL
An international gambling cheat who used his elderly mother as a decoy to place a late bet in a game of roulette walked free from court today (Weds).
Robert Rispoli, 48, employed his 73-year-old mum to act as his stooge as he slipped £10 worth of chips onto the table and pocket £350 at the Golden Nugget Casino in central London.
Paloa Rispoli had deliberately placed a series of late bets of her own to distract the dealer just as the ball stopped allowing her son to place his chips and win.
Southwark Crown Court heard Rispoli has been banned from casinos across the world for cheating and was serving a two year ban from all UK gambling houses at the time of his latest offence.
Prosecutor Nick Mather said: ‘The offence in question was committed on November 26, 2010, at the Golden Nugget Casino, in Shaftesbury Avenue, central London.
‘The defendant was present in the casino with his mother.
‘She was sitting at one end of the table nearest to the dealer and was quite obviously placing bets that were late.
‘The effect was that the dealer stopped what was going on and told her to take the bet away.
‘The effect of that was to distract the dealer to enable this defendant to place a late bet after the ball had dropped.
‘He place two chips to the value of £10 on number 31, which paid out at 35 to 1, and he therefore obtained £350 pounds as a result.’
The court heard Rispoli and his mother cashed out and left the casino but suspicious staff reviewed CCTV footage of the incident and police were called.
Rispoli was arrested but refused to answer any questions in interview.
He was said to have a series of convictions for casino fraud in the UK and Italy.
Judge David Higgins said: ‘As far as I can tell you are in effect a professional gambler and I also understand that you accept that you cheat regularly.
‘There is in relation to this sort of offence no express guidance, but in effect you are a thief.
‘The custody threshold has clearly been passed, however, in the light of the mitigation with some hesitation and anxiety, and really as no more than an act of mercy, I have decided that a suspended sentence would merit the justice of this case.’
Rispoli was sentenced to 12 months in jail suspended for two years.
He was also banned from all UK casinos for the next two years.
Rispoli, of (Flat 3), Roas Parks House, Munton Road, Southwark, southeast London, pleaded guilty to one count of cheating at gambling.
A similar charge brought against his mother has been dropped.
ENDS
