When things go bad in a casino marker case, they can get really ugly. A recent case that I handled illustrates how disregarding an overdue casino marker can result in detention, arrest and the end of a long planned family vacation.

My office received a call from a gentleman who said that he was calling from New York City As he was about to get on a cruise ship with his sister and the rest of the family for two-week vacation. When the Port Authority detained his sister and told her that she had an outstanding warrant out of the State of Nevada for a felony bad check. Everyone sort of knew what was going on because the sister had spoken to people about having owed money to a casino in Nevada, but no one could believe what was happening. She was detained and taken to Ryker’s Island Jail. She was told she would have to await extradition to Nevada, which could take weeks. They called my office to see if anything could be done. They hired me and as a result I was able to get her released that day and eventually settle the marker for less than what was owed. Most importantly, she was able to avoid extradition. 

Extradition is not what some people have seen on TV where someone is booked a seat on ConAir and travels in comfort to Las Vegas on a plane. Real life extradition does not work this way.  Every state in the country has a contract with private companies that operate fleets of prisoner transport vans. In the real world people are placed in a windowless panel vans shackled to the floor and sitting on a bench for hours every day as the van makes its way from county jail to county jail. Every night is spent at a different county jail usually sleeping on a bare floor or thin mattress.  The result of this process is having to suffer days of travel in the most roundabout way imaginable. It’s a torture session for anyone put in this situation.