Burger King, Bellagio team up to give offenders a chance at jobs

Angie Wagner

Monday, July 3, 2000 | 11:32 a.m.

Darrell Hankins knew he was wasting his life. He was dealing drugs, belonged to a gang and had fathered four children by four different mothers.

He never thought anyone would take a chance on a 10th-grade dropout and a deadbeat dad. But an unlikely combination -- a burger joint and an upscale casino -- proved him wrong.

Flipping burgers for eight months changed his life.

"I learned that working is the key," Hankins, 27, said.

Hankins is the first graduate of the Burger King to Bellagio, or Work First, program set up by several Las Vegas-area Burger King franchises and the Bellagio hotel-casino. Offenders are eased into the community by getting a chance to work at the resort -- if they flip burgers for eight months.

"I'm sure Darrell and others said, 'My chances of working at Bellagio are nil.' You really have to convince a kid like Darrell that this is not a joke," said Arthur Nathan, a vice president for Bellagio and one of the program's founders.

Potential Bellagio workers are referred to Nathan by several different agencies, including the police gang unit, a prison and the state parole and probation department. Program co-founder John Pucci, owner of several Burger King franchises in Las Vegas, visits the women's prison in North Las Vegas, handing out business cards to inmates about to be released.

"We tell them that there's life after prison. You don't have to just go back to what you're doing," said Pucci.

The program does not accept workers jailed for a violent crime and offenders must be willing to make a new start and pass a drug test.

Hankins was recruited for the program after he failed to pay child support and wasn't showing up for court appearances. He also faced drug charges.

"We had to explain life to him," said Matt Osa, who oversees the program at the Bellagio. That meant telling Hankins that he was headed nowhere and needed to make a change.

"It starts with a change in the mindset. He's got to want to do this," Nathan said.

Hankins began his job at Burger King in September, making $5.25 an hour. Now he makes $11.47 cleaning floors in the ritzy halls of Bellagio. It's not a glamorous job, but Hankins has health insurance, a pension plan, meals on the job and a chance to get his high school equivalency degree for free.

"It changed my life," Hankins said. "I was a deadbeat dad. Now I'm a good father."