NC ABC Manager Pleads Guilty to Using Store’s Card to Gamble

A 72-year-old former ABC store manager from Rutherfordon, North Carolina who hit $1.5 million in jackpots at the Kings Mountain‘s Catawba Two Kings Casino has pleaded guilty to charges of wire fraud and money laundering in federal court.  

According to prosecutors, Russel Hester made use of embezzled taxpayer money to keep his passion for gambling going. 

The man used a state-issued debit card on no less than 192 different occasions to cash out money at the said casino over the course of almost two years. 

He used the money to gamble and, according to court documents, won $1,469,368 in total jackpots. 

Hester celebrated the Fourth of July of last year with a whopping $18,350 jackpot that he won at the same casino after he initially cashed out $3,000 using the same card and placed it in a slot machine, according to the US Attorney’s Office. 

He then decided to deposit his winnings into his personal bank account. 

His fraudulent activities that began in late 2021 were eventually revealed during the annual independent audit of the store’s board in 2023.

In an attempt to cover up his deeds, the senior, who had managed the store for 10 years, sent altered and falsified bank statements to the auditor. 

In the respective statements, he added made-up transactions and removed all casino transactions, trying to cover his traces at the venue.

Maximum Sentence of up to 30 Years

For the wire fraud charge, he could spend up to two decades behind bars. The money laundering charge could bring him a sentence of up to 10 years.

At the moment, the suspect who embezzled nearly $375,000 from the Alcohol Beverage Control Board of Rutherfordton which is responsible for managing the ABC Store is free, waiting for his sentencing. 

A hearing date is yet to be established.

US Attorney Dena King thanked investigators involved in the case, including IRS and postal service officials, the Rutherfordton Police Department, and the Rutherford County District Attorney’s Office.

The Catawba Two Kings Casino, where Hester enjoyed gambling away taxpayer money on slots, has been in operation since 2021 as a temporary facility off Interstate 85, roughly 35 miles west of Charlotte. 

Tribal officials from the Rock Hill-based Catawba Nation in South Carolina, have announced their intention to open a permanent casino resort valued at $700 million at the start of 2026.

In February, a former BaltCap manager was accused of having allegedly embezzled between €16 million and €30 million and using the money to gamble online.

In May, a 43-year-old bookkeeper from Melbourne was sentenced to a four-year community correction order after embezzling over AU$700,000 ($463,000) from her former partner’s transport company to fund her online gambling addiction. 

In April, a Houston couple gambled with stolen money from clients of their own construction company, coming up with excuses for never finishing the work they were hired to do.