Indebted gambler placed on probation

Erica D. Johnson

Wednesday, March 12, 2003 | 10:58 a.m.

A Las Vegas man who failed to pay back millions of dollars in markers to Strip casinos was sentenced Tuesday in District Court.

Robert Ben pleaded guilty in January to two counts of drawing and passing a check without sufficient funds as a result of a plea agreement.

Prosecutors claim Ben in 2001 and 2002 obtained lines of credit from area casinos that often topped $600,000 at a time.

District Judge Donald Mosley sentenced Ben to eight years in prison, but suspended the sentence and placed Ben on probation for five years.

Ben, 60, was also ordered to pay $3 million in restitution to casinos including the Las Vegas Hilton, Caesars Palace, Bally's and Mandalay Bay.

The terms of Ben's probation prohibit gambling of any kind. Mosley also ordered Ben to attend Gambler's Anonymous, a support group for gambling addicts.

Ben's attorney, Robert Tabor, said this morning his client did not wish to comment while he negotiates repayment with the casinos.

Though Ben once owned a high-tech business worth more than $40 million, by this year he couldn't come up with $100,000 in cash to post bail, Deputy District Attorney Bernie Zadrowski said.

"This is a sad case," he said. "In every other aspect (Ben) was a law-abiding citizen. He got into gambling and now he's a felon."