Defendant cooperating in Meadows theft
Washington County prosecutors on Thursday dropped most criminal charges against a Brookline man after he agreed to cooperate with an investigation into the theft of nearly $430,000 from The Meadows casino.
Patrick Loushil, 42, who waived a preliminary hearing yesterday in a North Strabane courtroom, still faces 41 counts of theft, receiving stolen property, computer crimes and false swearing.
But District Attorney Steven Toprani said he agreed to drop more than 300 counts after Loushil handed over a written statement detailing his involvement.
"We feel the charges now are an appropriate reflection of Mr. Loushil's involvement," Toprani said.
"His involvement was lesser than the others."
State police arrested Loushil and two other men Oct. 6 on charges they manipulated a slot machine at Meadows Racetrack & Casino to collect $429,945 in fraudulent payouts.
Andre Nestor, 37, and former Swissvale police officer Kerry Laverde, 49, both of Swissvale, waived their hearings Oct. 15. Prosecutors did not reduce charges against them. Toprani declined to say whether Nestor and Laverde were cooperating.
The men manipulated a draw poker machine in the high-limit section of the casino, causing it to display inflated jackpots, according to a presentment from the grand jury outlining the case.
Loushil's attorney, Chris Blackwell of Washington, said Nestor would win a legitimate jackpot on the machine, then add money and increase the stakes through a series of button presses and screen changes. Then, instead of hitting the "deal" button for a new hand, he would choose the "cash-out" option, causing the machine to display a bogus jackpot at the higher stakes, he said.
Loushil's only involvement in the scheme was to sign IRS forms when Nestor or Laverde won jackpots, Blackwell said. Loushil did not speak to reporters yesterday.
"He never once sat at the machine," Blackwell said. "When his buddies said, 'Hey, sign this slip,' he signed the slip. In that sense, he probably committed a crime."
Besides that, though, Blackwell is not sure Loushil committed a crime.
"It's interesting that you have a machine designed to take money off us, and when it doesn't work that way, suddenly someone must have committed a crime," he said.
