FAYETTEVILLE -- Robert E. Rogers, 72, of Rogers is charged with one count of illegal gambling and one count of money laundering in connection with a gambling operation in his house, his arraignment in federal court revealed Friday.
Rogers was freed on a $10,000 bond. He faces a maximum possible sentence of five years imprisonment on the gambling charge and also a possible fine of up to $250,000, according to his defense attorney, Kimberly R. Weber.
The money laundering charge would carry a maximum sentence of 10 years and fine of either $250,000 or up to two times as much money as laundered.
He also faces a forfeiture civil lawsuit brought by the government that could seize his family's home, lake house in Oklahoma and other assets. That suit was merged Friday with the criminal case, Weber said, which was set for trial on Oct. 2.
A search warrant issued Feb. 3 and related court documents show Rogers and four others who weren't named were targets of a 10-month investigation of a gambling operation. The warrant allowed the search and seizure of evidence and property at Rogers' home, three bank safety deposit boxes and of a vehicle owned by Rogers. The U.S. attorney has also filed two civil suits to seize Rogers' home and a lake house in Oklahoma, along with other property.
The U.S. Justice Department's Financial Crimes Task Force received information a person who was a financial adviser was structuring withdrawals from his personal accounts at two local banks, court documents say. Structuring is the purposeful evasion of currency reporting laws and includes the breaking down of a single sum of currency exceeding $10,000 in to smaller amounts, the warrant affidavit says. Transactions of more than $10,000 must be reported by banks to federal regulators.
"The total in structured funds, since 2012, exceeds $560,000," the affidavit says. Court documents identify the financial adviser as a bettor of Rogers' establishment, not a participant in the enterprise.
Bank records also show at least two wire transfers from the adviser's account to an account of Rogers', each of at least $20,000, with one each in 2015 and 2016, the affidavit says.
On Oct. 28, 2016, investigators "seized four bags of trash from inside the trash can and found the following items which confirm a gambling operation is being conducted from the residence," the affidavit says, listing both printed and hand-written documents detailing sports betting and "numerous hand-written notes detailing names, phone numbers, dollar amounts and sport teams."
Rogers listed his house for sale, and investigators found photographs of a metal building on Rogers' property with what appears to be seven cherry master style slot machines, the affidavit says. The photographs also show "10 leather chairs, a poker table with several ornate wood boxes lying on top of it, which would appear to contain chips."
Posing as an interested buyer, an FBI investigator toured the house Nov. 14, 2016. The investigator saw slot machines in the property's metal building along with two safes about five feet tall each, according to the affidavit. Another safe about three feet tall with poker chips next to it was found in a bedroom closet.
Seizures of trash on Dec. 8 and 15, 2016, found more notes describing gambling transactions. Betting averaged about $1 million a year from 2012 through 2015, the civil forfeiture cases claim.
NW News on 08/19/2017