Blackjack Player Imprisoned for Cheating and Witness Tampering

A notorious blackjack cheater lied and threatened a witness to try to get out of prison. Fortunately, his fraud was uncovered, adding to his prison sentence instead.

The cheater, Jordan Anthony Rondell, is a 36-years-old man from Aberdeen, South Dakota, who tried to scam a tribal casino in the state. Together with a number of teammates, he tried to scam the Dakota Sioux Casino out of roughly $10,000.

Rondell, who was a regular at the property, conspired with two local dealers, namely Fem Gill and Jeremy Brown. The trio agreed to have Rondell play at tables where one of his two accomplice dealers was dealing and have them pay him for losing and pushed hands. Court documents show that Rondell would sometimes play three hands at a time, gambling $100 per hand.

The pit boss Lito Bolocon was also an accomplice and did not raise an alarm during the cheating attempts. He was promised a share of the winnings if he turns a blind eye to what was taking place.

The fraud took place on New Year’s Eve of 2015 but did not end very well for the cheaters. Rondell and his accomplices were sentenced to six months in prison for conspiracy involving theft and had to pay $8,700 in restitution to the tribal property. Their plea deal saved them from a potential sentence of up to 20 years.

However, this is not where Rondell’s story of crime ends.

Rondell Tampered with a Witness

At the beginning of 2023, Rondell harassed his wife to prevent her from assisting in a federal court proceeding. He had threatened her to lie about a pre-existing medical condition with his back to get him released to the custody of his wife.

However, he did not suffer from any such condition as investigators later found out. Prosecutors eventually found evidence that Rondell had violated the conditions of his release and coached his wife to provide a false testimony to a federal magistrate judge.

Instead of succeeding in getting freed from custody, he Rondell got three more years and a year of supervised release added to his sentence.