Eight men have been convicted of 17 armed robberies of cyber gambling machines at truck stops across southwestern Louisiana, and sentenced to decades- long prison terms at federal court in Lake Charles.
The men acted like a classic gang, carrying out gun battles with police officers and threatening police detectives assigned to the case stop the investigation or risk losing their lives. They carried out 17 armed robberies at the cyber gambling machines found at truck stops along the Interstate 10 and U.S. Route 190 corridors from Lake Charles to Broussard, over the course of a full year- from July 2003 to July 2004.
“These crooks are no longer a menace to society. These sentences send a clear message that criminals who commit armed robberies can expect to spend many decades behind bars,” said U.S. Attorney Donald Washington of the cyber gambling machine robbers.
St. Landry Parish Chief Deputy Laura Balthazar said that she was relieved that the men had been caught, and predicted that they would have eventually killed someone.
The cyber gambling machine robbers were finally caught after a cooperative effort by state authorities and the FBI, and indicted in August of 2004.
Tags: online gambling