Bellagio Robber Was... a Judge's Son?

Anthony Michael Carleo arrested after trying to sell stolen chips
By Kevin Spak,  Newser Staff
Posted Feb 3, 2011 11:56 AM CST
Bellagio Robber Was... a Judge's Son?
This surveillance video frame grab shows bandit wearing a motorcycle helmet during an armed robbery, Dec. 9, 2010 at the Las Vegas Suncoast Casino.   (AP Photo/Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department)

Police have arrested the son of a Las Vegas judge in connection with December’s infamous $1.5 million Bellagio heist. Police arrested Anthony Michael Carleo, 29, late yesterday, after he reportedly tried to sell the chips he’d made off with in the robbery to undercover police officers, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reports. He had been staying in the very hotel he allegedly robbed. Police searched both that hotel room, and the home of his father, Municipal Court Judge George Assad.

Police believe Carleo moved in with his father after declaring bankruptcy in 2009. Before that, he was a real estate broker and small business owner in Colorado. His dad, interestingly enough, is a former blackjack dealer, and has had a spotty record on the bench. The Nevada Supreme Court ordered him to attend a judicial ethics class and apologize to a woman he'd locked up over a traffic violation. Respondents in the Review-Journal’s 2010 “Judging the Judges” survey described him as a "nut case" and a "ruthless dictator." (Click here for more on the heist.)

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