VEGAS INC coverage
Roderick William Dee II has been placed on the state Gaming Control Board's Excluded Person List — the so-called Black Book with the names of people not allowed to set foot in a casino.
The Nevada Gaming Commission today unanimously approved the Control Board's nomination of Dee, a convicted slot machine cheat. The listing is a lifetime ban from Nevada casinos. When an individual is listed in Nevada's Black Book, other states with casinos often follow with their own bans.
Dee was not present and had no representation at the meeting. Control Board officials made efforts to contact him by mail and telephone.
Dee became the 34th person added to the list, but minutes after the vote, commissioners also approved removing Stephen Anthony Cino from the list because officials determined that he had died.
Dee was nominated to the list in May by the state Gaming Control Board. It was the first hearing for a listing since 2009.
On Aug. 20, 2009, the commission added Michael James McNeive, 72, whose last known address was in Hollywood, Fla.
Deputy Attorney General Edward Magaw said Dee has four felony convictions, including three in Nevada. Two involve incidents in Nevada casinos, and the third occurred in a Las Vegas convenience store with slot machines.
Dee also was convicted of slot machine cheating in Missouri and is banned from casinos there.
Magaw told the board Dee pleaded guilty to each incident after he was found using a "kickstand" and other devices used to trick slot machines into producing jackpots or adding play credits. Burnett said Dee is believed to have illegally received tens of thousands of dollars using the devices.
Dee also is a known associate of McNeive.
The commission established the Black Book with the passage of Regulation 28 in 1972. It includes the names of individuals who are considered a detriment to the state through their "unsavory and notorious reputation," according to the regulation, and includes individuals identified as far back as 1960.
Louis Tom Dragna, the reputed leader of a Los Angeles organized crime family, was identified for the list on June 13, 1960. The Control Board said Dragna lives in Covina, Calif., and is 92.
Over the years, regulators have placed names on the list, with most added in the 1990s. Since 2001, only six people have been added. There are 32 men and one woman on the list.