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Nevada Grandma Arrested on Bookmaking Charges

LAS VEGAS--A 73-year-old grandmother, her grandson and two others were arrested late Monday and booked in the Clark County Detention Center on felony bookmaking charges, Gaming Control Board officials said Tuesday.

In a bizarre twist, Sylvia White, the arrested grandmother, is the mother of murdered bookmaker Bruce Weinstein, killed in 1996 by his live-in girlfriend Amy DeChant.

DeChant's first conviction and sentence were overturned on appeal in 2000, but DeChant was convicted again last year after pleading guilty to second-degree murder.

DeChant is currently serving a 25-year sentence at the Southern Nevada Womens Correctional Facility in North Las Vegas.

Gaming control board agents raided a suburban house in northwest Las Vegas just before the kickoff of the Monday Night Football game, said Keith Copher, control board enforcement division chief.

The agents had a search warrant for the house, at 11243 Tribiani Ave., in the Portofino subdivision in northwest Las Vegas near Alta Drive and the Las Vegas Beltway.

"There was a bookmaking operation in progress," Copher said.

The arresting agents found at least six telephones at the location along with bookmaking paraphernalia, including computers, betting slips and game boards, he said.

No cash was seized.

"This was a pretty big operation," Copher said. "We're talking about several hundred thousand a week in wagers."

Most of the bookmakers' bets came from Southern California, he said.

Bookmaking arrests are fairly unusual in Nevada, Copher said, with the last one coming a couple of years ago.

Former Gaming Control Board Chairman Steve DuCharme said the control board's agents specialize in gambling crimes, and that's why the control board handles major bookmaking arrests.

"When bookmaking operations are cutting into tax revenue and disadvantaging licensed bookmakers, the control board does take an interest," DuCharme said. Bookmaking is illegal in Nevada and other U.S. states, although Nevada allows licensed sports books to take bets.

Control board agents also obtained warrants for the arrest of two other people connected to the bookmaking operation, he said, declining to name them while the investigation continues.

The raid was part of a broader investigation into illegal bookmaking operations in Southern California being conducted by the Los Angeles Police Department, Copher said.

One LAPD officer accompanied the control board agents on Monday's raid.

White and her grandson, Marc Weinstein, 22, were charged with operating a sports book without a license, charges that could earn each a 10-year prison sentence and a $50,000 fine. Marc Weinstein is Bruce Weinstein's nephew.

Phillip Lorcher, 58, and Brian Todd Foster, 41, were charged with operating a sports book without a license and with racketeering. Racketeering convictions prison terms range between five and 20 years.

Foster rented the house from a noninvolved landlord, and both Foster and Lorcher were involved in the bookmaking operation, Copher said.

White, Weinstein, Lorcher and Foster remained in jail Tuesday afternoon, said the detention center's Sgt. Jim Morganti. White's husband, Fred White, reached by telephone, declined to answer questions about his family's reported long-standing bookmaking business.

Bruce Weinstein was a gambler and bookmaker with connections to California bookmaking operations when he was killed, and his relatives are part of the illegal business, Copher said.

"The mother and the nephew are part of this family operation," Copher said.

"This was a pretty big operation," Copher said. "We're talking about several hundred thousand a week in wagers," Copher said.

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