Slot cheat off to prison

Monday, March 8, 1999 | 11:28 a.m.

The mastermind of two slot cheating schemes that netted $16 million is headed back to prison after reneging on a deal to show Nevada authorities how he conducted his latest scam.

Dennis McAndrew, formerly known as Dennis Nikrasch, was sentenced Friday to 7 1/2 years in prison for masterminding a $6 million slot machine cheating scheme.

He also led a slot cheating ring that illegally won $10 million in the late 1970s. The cases are considered two of the biggest slot cheating schemes in Nevada history.

U.S. Attorney Gregory Damm told Senior U.S. District Judge Lloyd George in Las Vegas that authorities consider the defendant "at best a congenital liar and a megalomaniac."

McAndrew, 57, pleaded guilty in December to conspiracy, interstate travel in aid of racketeering, money laundering and interstate transportation of stolen property in connection with the recent slot cheating case. He had agreed to show authorities how he committed the crimes.

Defense attorney Stephen Stein said McAndrew backed out of that part of the deal after FBI agent Gerald McIntosh showed up at the North Las Vegas Detention Center to interview him and began asking questions about criminal activity in other states.

Stein said the plea agreement does not protect McAndrew from prosecution anywhere outside of Nevada, so he refused to continue the interview.