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TRENTON
– Attorney General Anne Milgram and
Criminal Justice Director Gregory A. Paw
announced that a high-level casino marketing
executive and two other casino marketers
who formerly worked with him at the Tropicana
Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City were indicted
today on charges they stole a list of more
than 20,000 rated players from the Tropicana.
According
to Director Paw, the Division of Criminal
Justice obtained a state grand jury indictment
charging John Conklin, 47, of Galloway ,
vice president of relationship marketing
at the Borgata Hotel and Casino, Justin
Litterelle, 26, of Las Vegas, Nevada, and
James DiMarco, 59, of Ocean City, with second-degree
counts of theft by unlawful taking, computer
theft, and conspiracy. In addition, Conklin
and Litterelle were charged with second-degree
receiving stolen property, and DiMarco was
charged with second-degree attempted receiving
stolen property. Conklin also was charged
with witness tampering, a third-degree offense.
The
charges stem from an investigation by the
New Jersey State Police Casino Gaming Bureau.
The list of top-level casino patrons –
including addresses, phone numbers and ratings
– was proprietary information of the
Tropicana that had an assessed value of
more than $108 million.
“We
charge that these marketers stole one of
the most valuable assets of the casino,
namely detailed contact information and
ratings for its top-level players,”
said Attorney General Milgram. “This
type of corporate espionage and theft involving
proprietary information is a very serious
crime.”
It
is alleged that in May 2005, the three defendants
were all working at the Tropicana, but were
talking about leaving for other casinos.
As a marketing vice president, Conklin supervised
Litterelle, who was a marketing analyst.
Conklin allegedly told Litterelle to download
a list of top-level player names from the
Tropicana computer database.
Litterelle
allegedly downloaded a list of more than
20,300 casino patrons onto three compact
discs that he labeled “Bette Midler.”
Conklin allegedly told Litterelle that the
list would be “future leverage”
that would enable them to bring potential
patrons with them when they sought employment
at other casinos.
It
is alleged that in March 2007, Conklin,
who had taken his current position at the
Borgata, telephoned Litterelle, who had
taken a job as a national marketing manager
at the Bellagio Hotel and Casino in Las
Vegas. Conklin allegedly asked Litterelle
to send DiMarco the player list because
DiMarco had lost his job at the Tropicana.
Litterelle
allegedly emailed the list to Conklin and
made arrangements with DiMarco to send him
a paper copy of the list. Litterelle attempted
to mail the list from the Bellagio mailroom,
but an employee there intercepted the list
and reported it to the Bellagio security
department. An in-house investigation was
conducted, and the Bellagio’s legal
counsel alerted both the Tropicana and the
Borgata. All three casinos cooperated in
the state’s investigation.
Conklin
is charged with witness tampering for allegedly
having his attorney get Litterelle to sign
a false affidavit stating that Conklin had
not asked him to download the player list.
The
investigation was conducted and coordinated
by Detective Sgt. 1st Class Paul Spirit
of the Financial Crimes Investigation Unit
of the New Jersey State Police Casino Gaming
Bureau and Deputy Attorney General Yvonne
Maher of the Casino Prosecution Unit of
the Division of Criminal Justice Major Crimes
Bureau. Deputy Attorney General Maher presented
the case to the state grand jury.
The
indictment was handed up to Superior Court
Judge Gerald J. Council in Mercer County,
who assigned the case to Atlantic County,
where the defendants will be ordered to
appear at a later date to answer the charges.
Second-degree
crimes carry a maximum sentence of 10 years
in state prison and a criminal fine of $150,000,
while third-degree crimes carry a maximum
sentence of five years in prison and a $15,000
fine.
The
indictment is merely an accusation and the
defendant is presumed innocent until proven
guilty.
A
copy of the indictment is available with
this press release at www.njpublicsafety.com.
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