High court to consider $75k casino dealer fine
PITTSBURGH (AP) — The Pennsylvania Supreme Court is scheduled to hear arguments in the case of a former Pittsburgh casino blackjack dealer who was fined $75,000 for stealing $200 of chips.
The case is scheduled for argument Tuesday. Attorney Michael Santicola says Pittsburgh resident Matthew Eisenberg admitted stealing the gamblers’ chips in 2010 while working at the Rivers Casino. Eisenberg was sentenced to a year of probation but a new state law imposed a minimum $75,000 fine, and he’s the first to face that punishment.
Santicola says the huge fine is cruel and usual punishment for a young man like Eisenberg, who was 26 at the time of the theft.
District Attorney Stephen Zappala says the General Assembly wrote the statute to protect the integrity of the casino process.