A Yonkers plumber who likes to gamble is suing to stop a Pennsylvania district attorney from collecting a casino debt.
Richard L. Solano sued the Luzerne County district attorney on May 23 in U.S. Bankruptcy Court, White Plains, accusing the D.A., Stefanie J. Salvantis, of unconstitutionally using a criminal law to enforce a civil debt.
Criminal prosecution of gambling debts creates a “debtors’ prison” for gamblers, the complaint states, and interferes with the role of bankruptcy court in providing debtors with a fresh start.
Solano, 55, owns Complete Plumbing & Heating Services, Yonkers, and lives in Carmel, Putnam County.
He depicts himself in the complaint as a gambler for many years who has played in numerous tournaments and won several. But it is his losing streaks that are at issue.
He filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy liquidation on May 20, declaring $12,350 in assets and more than $2.8 million in liabilities. More than half of the liabilities, $1.75 million, are for casino debts ranging from $150,000 to $640,000.
He owes money to Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa, Atlantic City; MGM National Harbor, Maryland; Mohegan Sun, Connecticut; Resorts World Bimini Casino, Miami; Seminole Casino, Okeechobee, Florida. He also lists unknown amounts owed to Masantucket Pequot Gaming Enterprise, Connecticut and Seminole Hard Rock, Rockledge, Florida.
In February 2017 he was gambling at Mohegan Sun Pocono casino resort near Wilkes-Barre, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania.
The casino approved $250,000 in gambling markers — essentially, a line of credit or a short-term loan — for buying casino chips for gambling. Seven hours later, the casino approved another $50,000 in markers.
When it came time to pay for the markers, Solano had insufficient funds.
The complaint states that the markers were issued at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, shortly before Gov. Andrew Cuomo issued orders restricting business, and thus decreased his ability to generate revenue.
(Cuomo declared a state of emergency and closed schools and some businesses in March 2020, more than three years after Mohegan Sun approved Solano’s markers.)
Salvantis, the D.A., filed a “private criminal complaint” in May 2018, charging Solano with issuing a $250,000 check to pay for the markers knowing that his Bank of America account would not honor it.
“This case challenges the legality of utilizing a criminal statute to collect gambling debts from a casino,” the complaint states.
Using a criminal action to collect a civil debt is an abuse of process, Solano’s attorney, H. Bruce Bronson, argues.
He says the prosecution is trying to get a conviction on the presumption that Solano intended to defraud the casino, without proving each element of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt, in violation of the due process clause of the U.S. Constitution.
The complaint also claims that the district attorney office is not a neutral party because it receives commissions on the revenue it collects from prosecutions of unpaid casino markers, thus interjecting a profit motive into the prosecution.
“The Pennsylvania statutes are a mere subterfuge for debt collection by the district attorney,” the complaint states, “who is in the pocket of the casinos.”
Solano has no criminal record, does not habitually pass bad checks and poses no danger to society, the complaint states.
“The district attorney is merely acting as a debt collector for the casino and using criminal prosecution as the hammer.”
Samuel Sanguedolce, who has replaced Salvantis as the Luzerne D.A., called the complaint off-base.
He said the purpose of the criminal statute is to protect commercial transactions. Solano wrote a check, didn’t have the money, was notified to pay it back and didn’t.
Others have challenged the bad check law, he said, without success.
Solano is asking the court to stop the criminal case and he requested an immediate “emergency” temporary restraining order. U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Sean H. Lane denied the restraining order on May 27.
