Las Vegas man pleads guilty after allegedly posing as casino owner to steal $1M
Erik Gutierrez-Martinez is accused of posing as the owner of the Circa Resort and Casino in downtown Las Vegas and convincing employees to give him more than $1 million in cash. Gutierrez-Martinez has agreed to a plea agreement.
By C.C. McCandless
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LAS VEGAS, Nevada (KVVU) — A man accused of posing as the owner of the Circa Resort and Casino in downtown Las Vegas and convincing employees to give him more than $1 million in cash has agreed to a plea agreement.
On September 18, Erik Gutierrez-Martinez, 23, agreed to plead guilty to theft and will pay restitution to Circa and the Eureka Casino Resort in Mesquite. Other charges against him were dismissed.
According to the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, on June 17 an employee was contacted by an unknown person who claimed to be the owner of the hotel and told the cashier cage supervisor to take out $320,000 for “an emergency payment to the fire department for fire safety devices,” according to court documents. The supervisor took the money and gave it to an unknown person in a van at a gas station, then did it two more times—totaling $1,170,000.
Police tracked the driver of the van, later identified as Gutierrez-Martinez, after he met with the employee and took the cash. A search of his home turned up $849,000 in cash with the name “Circa” written on the bundles.
Gutierrez-Martinez faces a minimum sentence of one year and up to ten years in the Nevada Department of Corrections. He is also subject to a fine of up to $10,000.
He has a sentencing hearing scheduled for October 30.
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