International Courant
LAS VEGAS — A federal jury on Friday convicted a Las Vegas police officer of stealing almost $165,000 throughout a trio of on line casino robberies, together with one during which he was armed with a department-issued weapon that was loaded.
Caleb Rogers, 35, faces life in jail after his conviction for brandishing a revolver through the third on line casino theft he dedicated in February 2022. U.S. District Choose Andrew Gordon set his sentence in October.
The jury reached a verdict after simply over three hours of deliberation.
Jurors used widespread sense to resolve the case, Lloyd Dickerson, certainly one of 12, instructed The Related Press.
“All the pieces made sense,” Dickerson stated outdoors the courthouse. “It took all of the proof and all of the testimony from everybody to come back to this conclusion.”
A person later recognized as Caleb Rogers is seen on safety cameras throughout a theft on the Aliante hotel-casino in North Las Vegas on January 6, 2022.Las Vegas Metropolitan Police through AP
Rogers sat subsequent to his lawyer and confirmed no emotion as the decision was learn in court docket. Richard Pocker instructed AP they plan to attraction the conviction.
Rogers, who was an energetic obligation patrol officer on the time of the robberies, has been on unpaid go away with no police powers since his arrest.
A spokesman for the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Division stated after the decision Rogers’ future with the division “will likely be decided on the conclusion” of an inside investigation. The division stated it had no touch upon Rogers’ conviction.
The case went to the jury on Thursday shortly after Rogers’ youthful brother testified towards him for greater than three hours, portray a transparent image for the jurors of how the 2 efficiently pulled off the primary theft within the collection. Josiah Rogers stated he solely took half in that theft. Caleb Rogers carried out the opposite two robberies alone, prosecutors stated.
All through the week-long trial, prosecutors had portrayed Rogers as a gambler who had grown more and more determined underneath a debt burden because the robberies concentrating on casinos of the Las Vegas Strip started. They stated that as a legislation enforcement officer, he had distinctive abilities and data about robberies and used them to his benefit.
Jurors additionally heard from on line casino staff saying to be quiet haunted by their encounters with the robber. Throughout one of many robberies, a safety guard struggled with the suspect for his loaded weapon. He stated he could not cease fascinated by how he won’t have arrived along with his household that day. And a 63-year-old cashier stated she nonetheless appears to be like over her shoulder when dealing with money at work.
Assistant U.S. lawyer David Kiebler stated in his closing argument Thursday that the proof in all three robberies pointed to the identical man: Caleb Rogers.
However Pocker, the officer’s lawyer, referred to as many of the authorities’s proof circumstantial and handy for a police division that had been making an attempt — unsuccessfully — for months to unravel the opposite robberies when Rogers was arrested.
“They tried too onerous right here,” Pocker stated in his closing argument. “It is simply too coincidental.”
Rogers’ trial got here to a head on Thursday when his brother took the stand.
Josiah Rogers was granted immunity from prosecution in change for his testimony. Judges scribbled notes and glanced between the brothers as Josiah Rogers recounted the main points.
He stated that they had been practising for his or her November 2021 on line casino theft. They used code phrases in an encrypted messaging app to speak, he stated. They returned to their shared condominium after efficiently robbing the Pink Rock On line casino cashier cage and spreading the cash throughout their eating room desk, counting $73,810.
Josiah Rogers stated he took his share of $30,000 and returned to their hometown of Columbus, Ohio, per week after the theft.
Earlier than taking the stand, the federal government’s proof targeted primarily on the third theft in February 2022, when Caleb Rogers was arrested outdoors the Rio All-Suite Lodge & On line casino.
Prosecutors stated Caleb Rogers stormed that on line casino’s sportsbook, shoved a cashier in his 60s out of the best way, and threatened to make use of a gun whereas hiding $79,000 in a drawstring bag inside his jacket.
Inside minutes, prosecutors stated, the robber was tackled outdoors the on line casino by a gaggle of safety guards, inflicting a wig he was sporting to fly off his head.
Police lapel video performed through the trial confirmed Caleb Rogers figuring out himself as a police officer as he was folded into the again of a patrol automobile outdoors the on line casino.
On line casino robberies are tough to tug off, stated Mehmet Erdem, a professor on the College of Nevada, Las Vegas, whose experience consists of lodge and on line casino operations.
“The possibilities of you being caught and recognized are very excessive,” he stated, resulting from a mixture of strong on line casino safety groups with uniformed guards and plainclothes officers and advances in safety expertise, together with facial recognition software program and high-definition cameras.
A Las Vegas police officer convicted of brutal on line casino robberies might face life in jail
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