Ever Wonder What Happens When You Don’t Pay Your Casino Makers (part 2)
By Anonymous
This week we conclude the two-part article by “anonymous” about what happened after she defaulted on casino makers taken in Las Vegas. Part one can be found in my July 18 Newsletter.
Now, things were handed over to the District Attorney’s office. The court sent me paperwork saying that I owed money. At the time I called and asked if I could make arrangements to pay off a certain amount each month, month after month, and the court agreed and payment arrangements were set up. Unfortunately, I was not able to keep that commitment and a warrant was issued for my arrest.
Now, if I had been smart about this at the time, I would have taken the time to drive to Vegas, handed myself in, and seen the judge and gotten this over with in a timely manner. Instead, I let time pass and I guess I just tried to avoid the whole thing which doesn’t make sense to me now.
At this time, I had learned how to play No Limit Texas Hold ‘Em in L.A., and was out making the rounds at home games, playing mostly cash, and not winning. I fell behind in my bills and even let my vehicle registration lag - the thing that unfortunately got me nabbed.
One day, while driving home in the morning from a late night out partying and playing poker, I was pulled over by the cops due to my expired tags. After pulling up my information, they asked me if I knew I was wanted in Nevada. I said yes, and they told me they had to take me in. I remember thinking, “Ok, this won’t be so bad, it’ll take half a day to book me, it’s a four hour trip to Vegas from there and I can be done and out within just a few days.” Well, little did I know how the system works.
I was held in jail in Los Angeles for 19 days, the last part of the time on suicide watch. I was taking a college class at the time and was embarrassed that I was in jail instead of class. I got my cousin to try and help me with checking on my apartment and contacting my professor. I got in a fight with my boyfriend over the phone and was very depressed and told an officer that I was feeling suicidal. Not a smart thing to tell an officer. The good thing is they put you in a cell all by yourself with no bunkee, but they strip you of your clothes and make you wear a tarp-like smock that’s not even made out of cloth but held together with velcro and it’s absolutely freezing in there. Not only that but they don’t even give you a real spoon or fork, it’s a thick piece of paper that you have to fold and then use to shovel food into your mouth.
I was a fugitive and I had no idea when the fugitive extradition officers were coming to get me. You just literally wait every day hoping you get to leave. They tell you by law they have up to 30 days to come get you, and that if they can’t by then then they can ask the court for another 30-day extension. This was not what I wanted to hear. During this time on suicide watch I had a friend come to the jail to visit me and put money on my books, but they were told they could not see me due to me being on suicide watch. I was never even informed that they came by.
Well, 2:30am rolls around one evening and I’m brought out of my sleep and my cell and I was very happy that the fugitive extradition officers were finally there to pick me up. I got to change back into my clothes and they handcuffed me and ankle cuffed me and walked me out to the paddywagon. I said to the female officer, “Oh thank goodness we’re only four hours away from Vegas,” and she smirked and said, “No, you’re going to be with me for two days.” I kinda wasn’t sure if she was joking or not, and was definitely praying she was just trying to scare me. Nope, she wasn’t joking at all. The paddywagon had a side compartment that she sat me in. I was all by myself, handcuffed, ankle cuffed, just sitting on a bench in pitch black with no windows or anything. There was no seatbelt or anything to strap me in. I found out that she put me in the side compartment because I am a female and soon realized that there were a whole bunch of men in the main compartment in the back.
Basically, for two days, we drove almost non-stop up the coast into Oregon and over to Salt Lake City, and finally down to Vegas. There was no way to sleep, we didn’t stop anywhere to sleep, only to stop at the local jailhouses to use the bathroom. That’s when I was able to see the other fugitives - when they were de-boarding the paddywagon. Three times a day the vehicle stopped and a slit in my door opened and I was handed a couple fast food sandwiches and a bottle of water. And when I tell you there was no way to sleep, there just simply wasn’t. The vehicle was moving constantly, and at different speeds, and turning corners, and you couldn’t see anything, couldn’t get comfortable, couldn’t lie down. At one point I decided maybe I would be more comfortable if I sat sideways on the floor. Well, that was a mistake. It was not only more uncomfortable but I couldn’t get up - I was stuck. I had to yell for the officer’s attention and told them I was stuck on the floor. They told me they would help me up at the next stop. Well, sounds simple enough, but at the next stop they didn’t just open the door and help me up and back into my seat. They had a team of people with rifles and guns drawn all pointing at me when they opened the door. Remember, I was a fugitive and I guess they take all precautions so that you don’t try and run, which seemed impossible anyway since I was handcuffed and ankle cuffed.
Anyway, we finally get to Vegas and I am ecstatic, at least as much as I can be with having been awake for 42 hours straight. They take me in for booking and it was so long and drawn out and ended up being another 18 hours before they got me to a bed. I couldn’t believe all I went through. That was probably the most horrible experience I’ve ever gone through in my life.
I do believe I was only there for 2 days or so, when they finally got me up one morning and I was able to finally go before a judge. I was assigned a public defender and she told me that there were four felony counts against me, two for passing a check with insufficient funds with intent to defraud and two for theft. She told me they were willing to let me go and release me now if I pled guilty or no contest to two misdemeanor charges, one for passing a check with insufficient funds with intent to defraud and one for theft. I pleaded no contest.
After court, I went back to my bed and was happy they were letting me go. I called my boyfriend and was so happy that the officer threatened to make me stay if I didn’t calm down. He somehow got me a Greyhound ticket and I was off on a 5-hour trip to L.A. I had to Uber it home from there but didn’t mind the time it took for the entire trip back cause it was much less than the suffering I had to go through just before then.
I was not sentenced to any jail time. I was ordered to pay restitution and not given any specific amount I had to pay each month. To this day I still have an outstanding balance. I have regular court dates where the public defender shows up to court for me, I have personally not appeared in court since the day I was convicted.
The terrible mistake I made still hurts me to this day. I have been given job offers only to have them rescinded once my background check comes through. I have been hired at jobs and started working only to have them fire me, even pulling me out of training in front of everyone. I must live with these consequences, and they do hurt. I take responsibility for the very poor decisions I made and I am now paying for them. Once my restitution is paid off, I have to wait at least 1 year before I can petition the court to seal my record. It’s been over 6 years since my disposition, but because my restitution is still not paid off, my case remains open.
Even after all I’ve been through, I still love Vegas, and even moved here. I am struggling to get by, but I live in a city that I love and enjoy playing poker at the casinos. Any other gambling I do is infrequent and to a minimum. I met and fell in love with someone here, which is icing on the cake, and I hope to make something out of my life here (and vow to never make the same mistake again).
Puzzle Section!
Here is the puzzle asked in last week’s newsletter:
Five pirates have a treasure of 1000 gold coins. According to pirate etiquette, the highest-ranking pirate must make a suggestion on how to divide it. The suggestion should indicate exactly how many coins each pirate receives. After the suggestion is made, it is put to a vote. If a majority agree to the suggestion, that is what is done. If the vote doesn’t get a majority, then the pirate who made the suggestion is forced to walk the plank. Afterward, the new highest-ranking pirate will make the next suggestion. This process will continue until a suggestion is accepted. If there is an even number of pirates left, then an exact split vote will result in the suggested pirate walking the pirate, as there is no majority.
The pirates have their priorities in the following order:
- 1. Get as many gold coins as they can.
- 2. Make other pirates walk the plank.
- 3. Save their own life.
The pirates are all perfect logicians and know this of each other. What should the highest-ranking pirate suggest as the way to divide the coins?
Answer
In rank order, from lowest to highest, the suggestion should be 2-0-1-0-997 coins.
Solution
Let’s call the pirates 1,2,3,4,5 according to their rank, with the higher the number the higher the rank.
Puzzles like this can often be solved by starting with the simplest case and moving back from there. So, let’s look at what would happen with one pirate left and move back towards five:
One pirate: He leaves himself all 1,000 coins and it passes by a 1-0 vote.
Two pirates: Pirate 2 is in a hopeless situation. Even if he suggested 1000-0, pirate 1 would vote no, getting the pleasure to see pirate 2 walk the plank and then getting all 1,000 coins as the last one left. So, the higher-ranking pirate may as well walk the plank without bothering to make a suggestion.
Three pirates: Pirate 3 will be able to see the desperation of pirate 2. It will take only one coin to get his vote. So, he should suggest 0-1-999, which will get 2 out of 3 votes. By the way, if he suggested 0-0-1000, pirate 2 would vote “no,” for the pleasure of seeing pirate 3 walk the plank even though it cost him his own life, per the list of priorities stated in the original question.
Four pirates: Pirate 4 will be able see what will happen if he walks the plank. He will need to buy two more votes to live. The cheapest votes to buy will be those of pirates 1 and 2. So, he should suggest 1-2-0-997. Every pirate except 3 will vote “yes.”
Five pirates: Using the same kind of recursive logic, pirate 5 will see he needs to buy two more votes, paying them enough so they make out better by voting “yes” than “no.” The cheapest will be those of pirates 1 and 3. So, he should suggest 2-0-1-0-997. Pirates 1, 3, and 5 will vote “yes.”
Puzzle for August 1
You have a Jeep that can travel 100 miles per gallon. The Jeep may carry up to four one-gallon containers. You are tasked with delivering a letter to an outpost 400 miles away in the desert. There is no supply of gas in the desert. However, there is an unlimited supply of gas and canisters at your starting point, which you may return to as many times as you wish.
How can you deliver the letter and return with only 14 gallons of gas? Leaving caches of gas in the desert is allowed, but only full canisters.