GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Six people have been indicted for stealing nearly $10,000 while playing video poker at Kewadin Casino Hotel & Resort in Sault Ste. Marie.
Joseph Michael Koster was the man at the machines, according to the indictment. He allegedly used a “light wand” device to increase payouts from the video poker machines.
“By using this device, defendant Koster tricked the video poker machine into paying out winnings well in excess of those to which Koster was entitled,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul Lochner wrote in the indictment.
According to the government document, the scheme went on for almost two years from July 2009 to June 2011.
Five other people allegedly helped Koster by acting as lookouts or “blockers” to prevent casino security and patrons from seeing him use the light wand. Those people were identified in the indictment as Michael Leo Patterson, Cheryl Rose Steinsiek, Vannessa Dale Robb, Bruce Kirby Robb and Jeffrey Paul Neighbors.
