The “biker bandit” Anthony Carleo is to serve nine to 27 years in prison. He was caught for robbing the Suncoast and Bellagio casinos in December last year.
“I’m completely ashamed of myself. I’m not a lost cause, though,” Carleo stated before his sentencing. “I know I can turn my life around.”
The Sentences
For the Suncoast robbery, District Judge Michael Villani sentenced Carleo to six to 16 years. Carleo was also sentenced to three to 11 years for the Bellagio robbery. Although William Terry, Carleo’s attorney, asked that the sentences run concurrently, these appeals were disregarded by Villani.
In addition, for the money stolen from a cashier cage at the Suncoast Casino, Carleo will need to pay $18,945. Financial restitution for the Bellagio robbery is yet to be determined. In this robbery, Carleo stole about $1.5 million in casino chips from a craps table at gunpoint. He then escaped through the casino, wearing a full-faced motorcycle helmet and drove off on a motorcycle.
The police have still not managed to recover all the stolen chips that amount to about $793,000. However, as Terry put forward in his case, these were no longer of any value because as soon as they were stolen, the casino created a network to monitor any stolen chips.
Terry stated, “That was one of the major problems that Mr. Carleo had, which was, it’s one thing to take something, it’s another thing to get rid.”
Drug Addiction
Before sentencing Carleo, Villani told him that he had received a number of character references from advocates of Carleo, including his mother, his father, who was former Las Vegas Municipal Judge George Assad, teachers, principals, and a former Colorado sheriff.
Terry, who blames Carleo’s actions on his need to take the pain medication Oxycodone after a car accident, said, “You’ve got the All-American boy here. So what goes wrong?”
Terry explained that Carleo became addicted to the drug and blames this and his addiction to gambling as leading him to commit these crimes.
Terry said, “This was a downward spiral that occurred within a short period of time.”
Since being held in Clark County Detention Center, Carleo no longer has any drug issues.
No Excuses
Despite the letters which, Villani said, made Carleo sound like “someone you might want as your neighbor,” the judge still saw the robberies as planned and not simply an impulsive decision. Villani was confused that the parole and probation department recommended Carleo be granted a minimum two-year sentence.
He said, “This isn’t the same as grabbing a purse from someone in a parking lot. I can imagine how the cashier felt and the manager felt when he pointed a gun at them.”
Villani sentenced Carleo to a minimum of 54 months and a maximum of 144 months for the Suncoast Casino robbery. For using a weapon, a consecutive term of 18 to 48 months was added. This equates the term to that of six to 16 years. The 18 to 60-month term for his second felony charge will run concurrently.