Following a preliminary hearing held on Thursday, April 7, at the Regional Justice Center in Las Vegas, Robert Cipriani, also known as Robin Hood 702, will be sent to prison for failing to comply with bail conditions and tweeting about a dispute he had with another gambler at Resorts World.
Justice of the Peace Suzan Baucum stated that per the court records from previous hearings before another judge, Cipriani was ordered to abstain from using Twitter at all. However, Baucum said that he had not taken seriously that requirement.
Dan Hill, a defense attorney, commented that his client’s actions did not deserve the revocation of his bond, as Cipriani was “a man with absolutely no record”.
Cipriani’s Volatile Temper Gets Him in the Oddest Trouble
According to Cipriani’s arrest report, Robert Alexander and Cipriani were gambling together at Resorts World on November 19, 2021, when Cipriani grabbed Alexander’s cellular phone from his hand. Alexander, who was accompanied by his son, went after Cipriani in the casino until Cipriani handed the cellphone to a security guard. Then, Metropolitan Police Department officers were called and Cipriani was arrested. He was released later after posting bail.
During the preliminary hearing on April 7, Alexander testified that he was recording Cipriani because the pro gambler was making threats against him and his son. Then, Cipriani took Alexander’s cellphone and deleted the recorded videos. He also told Alexander that the FBI was going to catch him, and in case they did not, Cipriani threatened Alexander to kill him. Cipriani did not appear in court on Thursday due to health reasons.
As per the Cipriani’s arrest records, Cipriani reported to the police officers that Alexander had been recording videos of him “three days straight” prior to their altercation on Nov 19. During the preliminary hearing, Hill stated that Cipriani tried to give the cellphone to various casino employees. The defense attorney further said that Alexander’s phone was returned to him less than 10 minutes after the dispute.
Cipriani, who spent nearly 482 hours gambling at Resorts World in four months in 2021, was initially charged by prosecutors with a felony count of larceny from a person. Robin Hood 702 was ordered not to contact Alexander, “anyone at Resorts World, and any third-party vendors” as a condition for his bail. Another requirement included “no social media or tweeting”. However, Cipriani tweeted photos of surveillance footage of him and Alexander in Resorts World and accused Alexander of harassing him.
Allen Lichtenstein, First Amendment lawyer, commented that the annulment of Cipriani’s bail due to the tweets in question appeared to be “punitive”. In addition, prosecutors changed Cipriani’s initial charge to a “felony of larceny of property less than $3,500 against a victim who is an older or vulnerable person and robbery against a victim who is an older or vulnerable person”.
Cipriani Also Charged with Improperly Changing Bets in Blackjack
Cipriani was also accused of trying to change a bet while a blackjack hand was in play on the same day. Allegedly, the high roller bet two hands of $500 and the dealer told him to increase the bet to reach the $1,000 minimum. However, Cipriani changed again his bets to $500.
Prosecutor Bernard Zadrowski stated that the district attorney’s office had offered a deal to Cipriani, according to which the gambler would plead guilty to disorderly conduct and his gambling count would be dismissed. As part of the agreement, Cipriani would have been required to continue abstaining from contact with “Alexander, anyone at Resorts World, and any third-party vendors”, going to Resorts World and posting harassing, intimidating, and threatening communications. The agreement though was canceled.
Previously, Alexander, who was the founder and president of a Nevada-based online gaming entity named Kizzang, was accused of lying to the entity’s investors and asking for approximately $1.3 million for personal use. According to the court records, in January 2020, he pleaded guilty to charges of securities fraud and wire fraud in the U.S. District Court of Southern New York.