Missouri Man Sentenced For Stealing $70,000 From Grove Area Casino

NewsOn6.com 

TULSA, OK -- A Joplin, Missouri man has been sentenced for stealing $70,000 from a northeastern Oklahoma casino, according to a news release from U.S. Attorney Thomas Scott Woodward.

William Reece Lancaster, 50, was sentenced to five years probation with the first six months on home detention. He was also ordered to repay the $70,000.

12/16/2009 Related Story: Guilty Plea Entered In Oklahoma Casino Theft

Lancaster pleaded guilty of bleaching poker chips worth a quarter and dying them to match the casino's $500 chips. He then introduced the chips at blackjack tables or exchanged them for cash with the casino cashiers Seneca Cayuga Grand Lake Casino near Grove.

Lancaster was arrested in October of 2009.

The crime was investigated by the Bureau of Indian Affairs Office, and the trial took place in federal court because the crime occurred on Indian land.