Illinois Gambling Businessman Faces Civil Lawsuit Over Alleged Sexual Assault

An Illinois entrepreneur with investments in gambling and cannabis now has to deal with a civil lawsuit. A woman claims he raped her two decades ago when they were both teenagers.

Court Filing Alleges Illinois Business Owner Assaulted 15-Year-Old 

Court records reveal that lawyers for the woman known as “Jane Doe,” submitted the lawsuit to Cook County Circuit Court on October 21. The lawsuit accuses Jeff Rehberger Jr., now 38, of assaulting the plaintiff in July 2005 at a friend’s house. At that time, he was 17 and she was 15.

The lawsuit claims the reported attack had a long-lasting impact on Doe’s mental and emotional state. She wants over $50,000 for each of five charges, including assault, battery, and breaking the Illinois Gender Violence Act, reported the Belleville News-Democrat. In Illinois, there is no time limit to file civil cases about child sex abuse.

The legal document talks about abuse starting when they met in 2004, while Doe was a high school freshman. It says Rehberger subjected her to physical and emotional abuse before they split up the next year. The file states that the July 2005 event happened after she ran into him by chance at a party. It claims he later attacked her after threatening to hurt her.

A Cook County judge allowed Doe to keep her name private. The judge based this decision on proof that making her identity public could make her mental health worse. The court decided that protecting her privacy was more important than letting the public know who she is.

Illinois Businessman Rejects Assault Claims 

Rehberger has denied all allegations through his spokesperson, Randy Samborn. Samborn called the claims false and unreliable. He said the businessman took the issue seriously and planned to fight the accusations in court. 

Rehberger started Lucky Lincoln Gaming, which runs close to 1,500 slot and poker machines in Illinois. He is also the owner of Cloud9 Cannabis, with several weed shops across the state, including one in Edwardsville. On top of that, he is in charge of Vast, a private equity company based in Puerto Rico that handles projects in real estate, green energy, and cryptocurrencies.

Rehberger’s gambling businesses have been under the microscope for a while now. The Illinois Gaming Board has tried to take away his company’s license, claiming they broke rules about money incentives and conflicts of interest. However, in May 2025, an administrative law judge seemed to side with Lucky Lincoln on almost everything, leaving just one small problem unsettled. The board plans to talk about this at their December meeting.