A Texas businesswoman has been sentenced to 18 months in federal prison for her part in a major illegal gambling operation involving “8-liner” slot machines that raked in more than $21 million.
On Tuesday (July 15), District Judge Drew B. Tipton imposed the sentence after Dominga “Penny” Ledesma and gaming room owner Rene Gamez pleaded guilty to crimes linked to operating illegal gambling enterprises throughout South Texas.
Texas woman used ‘identities of dead individuals’ in illegal gambling scheme
According to court documents, the 53-year-old Raymondville resident played a key role in the conspiracy, which employed front companies to conceal revenues from dozens of 8-liner establishments.
In a federal criminal complaint filed in 2019, authorities linked her to the El Toro Game Room in Lyford, Texas, where clients would travel to play the eight-liner machines.
When players won, workers “would then provide small pieces of silver’ equaling the amount of the winnings to the customer,” according to court records. Those “silver” pieces were converted into cash at Brittany’s Boutique, which Ledesma owned and controlled.
According to the lawsuit, “Between May 31, 2017, and October 30, 2018, approximately twenty-one million ($21,000,000) USD in cash transactions tied to the El Toro Game Room were filed by Ledesma.”
In mid-2018, federal investigators from Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) began monitoring the scheme after state and local authorities reported suspicious activities. Exiting the El Toro Game Room with bags of “silver,” customers headed to Brittany’s Boutique to exchange the pieces for US cash.
Investigators then discovered that Ledesma filed fake federal filings under the names of deceased people and others without their permission.
“Your affiant knows that it is a violation of Title 18 U.S.C. §1028A to knowingly possess or use without lawful authority, a means of identification, namely the social security number of another person, during and in relation to a felony violation,” the complaint stated.
One confidential informant told agents, “silver exchanged for United States currency at Brittany’s Boutique by customers of the El Toro Game Room was then sold back to the employees of the El Toro Game Room by employees of Brittany’s Boutique.”
Prosecutors charged Ledesma with arranging cash deposits and documents to escape detection. The complaint charges she violated federal law by causing or attempting to cause “a nonfinancial trade or business to file a report…that contains a material omission or misstatement of fact.”
Ledesma pleaded guilty in February 2023, but the judge allowed her to remain free on bond for a few months. She now has until August 15 to turn herself in to the US Marshals and begin serving her sentence.
