LOS ANGELES — A previous leading executive for significant Las Vegas gamblingestablishments was set to appear before a federal judge on Wednesday after confessing he permitted an prohibited bookie to gamble millions of dollars at the MGM Grand and pay off financialobligations in money.
Scott Sibella pleaded guilty in January to breaking federal anti-money laundering guidelines that need gamblingestablishments to file reports of suspicious deals. He dealswith up to 5 years in jail and a $250,000 fine.
Following Sibella’s guilty plea, the MGM Grand and neighboring Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas settled a related U.S. Justice Department cash laundering probe. The resorts concurred to pay a integrated $7.45 million, send to an external evaluation and action up their compliance programs.
Sibella’s lawyers, Jeffrey Rutherford in Los Angeles and John Spilotro in Las Vegas, were lookingfor leniency and a sentence of probation from U.S. District Judge Dolly Gee in Los Angeles. They sent testimonial letters of assistance to the judge on Friday, consistingof one from Clark County Sheriff Kevin McMahill, the chosen head of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department.
Rutherford and Spilotro did not respond Tuesday to e-mail messages from The Associated Press.
The bookie main to Sibella’s case, Wayne Nix, is a forme