Cokeburg man charged in Xpressbet theft

A Cokeburg man was charged last week for his role in the theft of almost $30,000 from bogus Xpressbet accounts at The Meadows Casino that reportedly had been set up by his girlfriend.
Curtis Anthony Gardner, 47, of 121 Lincoln St., is the eighth person charged in the scheme by township police. He is being held in Washington County jail on an assault charge for allegedly assaulting that girlfriend, Kari Watson, 32, on Thanksgiving Day inside their home and then fleeing from state police when they tried to take him into custody several days later.
Watson had been an employee of Xpressbet.
North Strabane Township police investigator Nathan Terling, who filed charges against all eight, was notified in July by racetrack officials. A financial officer at the track told Terling it was Watson’s job to place bets taken over the telephone by customers who had qualified accounts with Xpressbet.
When an account is opened, it goes through a credit and personal information check before being activated. An Xpressbet official told Terling last year that Watson reportedly had the authority to override the check as well as the authority to credit accounts with funds.
Watson reportedly opened the accounts July 10, logging into the system using her own name.
She then allegedly logged out and logged back in using the name of a fellow Xpressbet employee to put money in four accounts, court records indicate.
Terling said Watson was the mastermind behind the scheme and Watson recruited the others involved to get money out of the accounts.
Jawanna Raines, 39, Monica Brookins, 28, and Ashley M. Webb, 26, all of Pittsburgh, and Tammy Lynn Smith, 42, of Carnegie, are accused of withdrawing the money from the accounts.
“He would wait outside while they went in and got the money,” Terling said of Gardner. “He then dispersed the money to the others involved, keeping a large portion of the money.”
Watson, Raines, Brookins, Webb and Smith all waived hearing on the theft and related charges filed against them last summer.
Shawnell C. Wade, 30, and Dontae Posey, 40, both of Pittsburgh, were charged in November. Wade is accused of giving Smith’s and Webb’s driver’s license information to Watson so accounts could be set up. Gardner then reportedly gave Wade a portion of the money, after asking Posey if the amount was OK. They are awaiting a Feb. 23 hearing before District Judge Jay Weller.
Charges of conspiracy, theft by deception, theft, and receiving stolen property filed against Gardner were sent by summons Tuesday from Weller’s office. He is scheduled for a Feb. 9 hearing before Weller.