POCATELLO - Cory Hugues, 44, of Pocatello, Idaho, pleaded guilty today in United States District Court to theft of funds by an employee from a gaming establishment on Indian lands, U.S. Attorney Wendy J. Olson announced. Hugues was indicted by a federal grand jury on March 24, 2015.
According to the plea agreement, Hugues was employed at the Fort Hall Sage Hill Casino as a uniformed security guard. On Jan. 27, 2015, he was in the cash room at the casino with another employee. The other employee, a banker, counted the money in the safe. It was then Hugues’ duty to spin the dial on the safe to ensure it was locked. Hugues did a partial spin, which appeared to lock the safe, but did not actually do so.
Surveillance video showed Hugues returning to the cash room later, opening the safe and reaching into it. He made a movement toward his left pocket area, then shut the safe, spun the dial and left the cash room.
A cash count the following day showed $2,600 missing from the safe. Hugues was interviewed on a later date by law enforcement and he ultimately confessed to taking the $2,600 from the casino safe and using it to pay bills.
The charge of theft by an employee of a gaming establishment on Indian lands is punishable by up to 10 years in prison, up to three years of supervised release, and a fine of up to $250,000.
Hugues is scheduled to be sentenced on Dec. 1, 2015, before Senior U.S. District Judge Edward J. Lodge at the federal courthouse in Pocatello.
The case was investigated by the Fort Hall Police Department and the Pocatello Police Department.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
