TLDR
- Amanda Czarny, 36, of Valparaiso, Indiana, faces a Level 6 felony charge of cheating at gaming.
- She allegedly tried to cash a $1,393 sportsbook ticket at Blue Chip Casino in Michigan City on September 18.
- The ticket’s owner had already been paid through the casino’s lost-ticket process.
- Surveillance video showed Czarny with the ticket holder before she returned alone to redeem it.
- A glass pipe fell from her vehicle, and she was arrested Tuesday before posting bond.
A 36-year-old Indiana woman faces a felony charge after investigators say she tried to cash a winning sports betting ticket that had already been paid out. The incident happened on September 18 at Blue Chip Casino in Michigan City, Indiana.
Amanda Czarny of Valparaiso, Indiana, is charged with Level 6 felony cheating at gaming. She also faces a misdemeanor charge of possession of paraphernalia.
The ticket was worth $1,393, according to court records.
How the Ticket Case Unfolded
An Indiana Gaming Commission agent was alerted after Czarny tried to redeem the sportsbook ticket. Investigators found that the ticket belonged to another man.
That man had reported the ticket missing. He had already received his winnings through the sportsbook’s lost-ticket process, investigators said.
Czarny allegedly told the gaming agent that the man gave her the ticket to cash. The man denied this.
Casino surveillance video also appears to contradict her account. Footage reportedly showed Czarny entering the sportsbook with the ticket holder at around 1:27 p.m.
After the man was paid, the two went to the casino hotel lobby. They stayed there until about 2:11 p.m., according to the charging document.
Czarny was then allegedly recorded walking back to the sportsbook alone. She then tried to redeem the same ticket.
Pipe Found in Parking Garage
Investigators later confronted Czarny in the Blue Chip parking garage. They said a glass smoking pipe fell from her vehicle.
Czarny allegedly admitted using the pipe to smoke methamphetamine. She has not been reported as charged with methamphetamine possession.
Under Indiana law, it is a Level 6 felony to knowingly try to claim money from a gambling game with intent to defraud. A conviction can bring six months to 2½ years in prison, with an advisory sentence of one year.
Czarny also has an online presence unrelated to the case. A profile on the Maxim Models website shows she once entered one of the magazine brand’s modeling contests.
“Hello, my name is Amanda. I am registered nurse out of Indiana,” she wrote in her contestant biography. She added that she enjoyed time with family and “taking care of others.”
Blue Chip Casino is operated by Boyd Gaming.
Czarny was arrested Tuesday and later posted bond, according to local media reports.
