WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. (AP) -- The woman in charge of promotions at the casino at Yonkers Raceway was indicted Tuesday on charges she arranged for friends and relatives to win contests.
Donna Cronin, 44, and two co-defendants at Empire City Casino helped their acquaintances win money, flat-screen televisions, laptop computers and Broadway tickets, Westchester District Attorney Janet DiFiore said. Sometimes they demanded kickbacks, she said.
Cronin's lawyer, Peter Koulikourdis, said higher-ups at the casino ``are using her as a scapegoat'' but wouldn't elaborate. He predicted she would be vindicated.
The promotions were advertised, and other players at the casino thought they had a fair chance of winning. But DiFiore said the other players ``had no chance of winning those prizes because of this scheme.''
The district attorney said the defendants would tell their chosen ``winners'' the date and time to be at certain slot machines with their contest entry card inserted to win the contest. That person's name would then be publicly announced as the winner.
The slot machines themselves were not compromised, she said. Yonkers Raceway officials said horse races were not involved. New safeguards have been implemented, the raceway said in a statement.
``We want the perpetrators prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,'' it said. ``Both our patrons and our company were the victims of employees who scammed the system, cheated our patrons and cheated their employers.''
Besides the slot-machine scam, the defendants also rigged ordinary raffles in which winning paper entries were picked from a drum, DiFiore said.
The alleged scheme lasted from 2006 to 2008 and involved at least 75 larcenies, she said.
Cronin, of Yonkers, was charged with grand larceny and scheming to defraud and could be sentenced to five to 15 years in prison if convicted. She stole about $100,000 in the alleged scheme, the district attorney said.
Alicia Murray, 31, of the Bronx, and Terence Osborne, 24, of Yonkers were charged with lesser larceny counts and the fraud count. Their lawyers did not immediately return calls seeking comment.
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