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Cocktail waitress in casino embezzlement scheme gets house arrest, probation

WILKES-BARRE - The former cocktail waitress who swiped player's card information as part of an inside job to defraud Mohegan Sun Pocono out of more than $420,000 was sentenced Thursday to two years of probation. She was ordered to serve the first six months on house arrest.

Rochelle Poszeluznyj, 39, of Kingston, previously pleaded guilty to a federal money-laundering conspiracy charge in the case. U.S. District Judge A. Richard Caputo imposed the sentence Thursday.

According to prosecutors, Poszeluznyj collected players' information and passed it along to the casino's former vice president of player development, Robert Joseph Pellegrini, who used his executive casino access to make copies of the cards and put free play on them. Gambler Mark Joseph Heltzel, 53, of Dallas, then used the cards to gamble at video poker machines, raking in $422,147 between May 2014 and April 2015, according to prosecutors.

While about 160 high-end customers had t heir card information stolen, they had no knowledge their cards had been copied and suffered no loss as a result of the scheme.

Although Poszeluznyj was central to the scheme by collecting player's card information, prosecutors say she got mostly gifts or comps for her role in the conspiracy. She has only a $2,000 share of the restitution.

Heltzel and Pellegrini, 51, of Fairview Twp., previously pleaded guilty to money-laundering conspiracy charges and were ordered to jointly pay $420,147 in restitution.

Heltzel was sentenced earlier this month to serve 18 months in federal prison. He is due to report to the federal Bureau of Prisons on Sept. 5.

Pellegrini, who Caputo described as "most responsible" for the crime because of his executive position, was sentenced in June to serve 32 months in prison. He is currently serving his time at Federal Correctional Institution, Schuylkill.