Casino Dealer Fined $75K For Stealing $200

A former blackjack dealer at the Rivers Casino Pittsburgh has received a whopping $75,000 fine after stealing $200 of chips from patrons.
In 2010, Mathew Eisenberg, 26, was convicted and given a year’s probation for the theft but, unfortunately for him, in the process became the first casino employee to be ordered to pay that sum under the new State Gaming Act. However, the $75,000 fine was the minimum the judge was required to impose and he could have set a maximum penalty of $150,000.
Nevertheless, Eisenberg’s attorney Michael Santicola, said the judge’s decision was cruel and usual punishment, and stated: “I think it’s going to follow him around for the rest of his life. There are people who don’t have $75,000 dollars in student loans and it takes them 20 years to pay that off.”
Consequently, attorney Michael Santicola said he would now be fighting the decision all the way to the state’s Supreme Court, despite the only slim chance of the top court striking down the law passed by the legislature.
On the other hand, District Attorney Stephen Zappala has claimed the judgement to be a fair one, explaining: “We believe that the crime fits the statute as written and we believe that the General Assembly wrote the statute to protect the integrity of the casino process. We also believe that it’s important for patrons of the casino to know that there is a process in place to keep them from being ripped off and to deter the type of behavior.”