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<p>PLAINS TWP. &#8212; Three former employees at the Mohegan Sun Pocono casino are facing charges they rigged a $10,000 Easter sweepstakes in 2014, including one executive already serving federal prison time.</p><p>Robert Joseph Pellegrini, 52, a former vice president of player development, Colin Ray Boecker, 32, and Kenneth Rowlands, 32, conspired with Mark Heltzel, 53, to rig the selection of plastic eggs that contained cash prizes and free slot credits, according to criminal complaints filed Tuesday.</p><p>Heltzel was aware that a certain plastic egg contained the grand prize of $10,000, which he selected on April 27, 2014, and provided some of the cash to Pellegrini, Boecker and Rowlands, the complaints say.</p><p>Pellegrini, of Fairview Township, is currently serving a 32-month federal prison sentence for his guilty plea to conspiracy to commit money laundering in connection to an unrelated scheme at the casino.</p><p>Pellegrini, Heltzel, of Dallas, and former casino waitress Rochelle Poszeluznyj, 40, of Kingston, were charged in 2016 in the scheme that ran from May 2014 to April 2015 and involved the theft of personal identification numbers from gamblers. The numbers were then used to create duplicate rewards cards with $478,000 in free play credits.</p><p>Heltzel gambled with the cards and split the winnings with Pellegrini and Poszeluznyj who stole the PINs.</p><p>Heltzel was sentenced in August 2017 to 18 months in federal prison for his guilty plea to conspiracy to commit money laundering. Poszeluznyj was sentenced to six months on house arrest and two years on probation for her role.</p><p>For the Easter sweepstakes case, Boecker, of Tonawanda, New York; Rowlands, of Kingston; and Pellegrini are each charged with theft by deception, receiving stolen property and criminal conspiracy. The charges by the State Police Gaming Enforcement Bureau were filed with District Judge Joseph Spagnuolo Jr. in Plains Township.</p><style>
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<div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/web1_casinopellegriniCMYK-2.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Pellegrini </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/web1_casinopellegriniCMYK-2.jpg</photo0><caption0>Pellegrini </caption0><photoCredit0>Times Leader file photo </photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Ed Lewis</p><p>elewis@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div>

Ex-casino employees charged in Easter promotion scheme