Michael Joseph Balsamo 47-year-old has long history of cheating at gaming Derrick Bowman Transferred to Nevada State Prison on parole violation Lavonna Wallace Mother-in-law of Michael Balsamo Stephanie Balsamo Held in Clark County jail on $39,000 bail

In 1979, Michael Joseph Balsamo was arrested on charges of cheating at gambling. Since then, he has racked up 25 investigations and six convictions and has been listed in Nevada's Black Book of Excluded Persons.

Add another charge to the list.

Now 47, Balsamo has been indicted by a grand jury on several counts of manufacturing and possessing a cheating device.

This time, gaming enforcement officials allege, he had some help from his family, working with his wife, stepson and mother-in-law to cheat slot machines in Clark County

His wife, Stephanie, 45, mother-in-law, Lavonna Wallace, 68, and stepson, Derrick Bowman, 24, were booked into the Clark County Detention Center this month on the charges.

Jerry Markling, chief of enforcement for the Nevada Gaming Control Board, said gaming investigators, with Las Vegas police, have been investigating Michael Balsamo and his group for more than a year.

Investigators think the suspects used a "light optic" device to trick slot machines into paying more coins than they should when players win.

Markling said the handheld device works through a wire with a light on the end, which is placed into the output slot of the machine to confuse the counting mechanism. Light optic devices work only on slot machines that pay out coins to winners, Markling said.

Most casino slots use credits and vouchers these days, and authorities said the suspects had to seek out casinos that had not yet upgraded their technology.

On April 28, Stephanie Balsamo and Wallace were caught cheating with the light optic devices at two casinos, Whiskey Pete's in Primm and Nevada Landing in Jean, arrest reports said.

Police said security cameras at Whiskey Pete's recorded Stephanie Balsamo using the device while Wallace acted as a "blocker" to obscure the view of the cheating. Police said the suspects cheated again at Nevada Landing later that night.

On April 30, Bowman, his mother and an unidentified woman were caught cheating with the light optic device at Fitzgeralds in downtown Las Vegas, authorities said. Stephanie Balsamo used the device as the others served as lookouts, arrest reports said.

Markling said Michael Balsamo's family never had been suspected of cheating at slots before. He said he thinks Michael Balsamo recruited his family members to join his operation.

"It's not every day we catch three generations working together," he said.

All four suspects were arrested June 5 at their home in Las Vegas. Police said they never caught Michael Balsamo using the cheating device but found several such devices in his possession. He also was a fugitive on warrants for cheating at gambling in Texas and Missouri, police said.

The suspects were rebooked Aug. 18 after a grand jury indictment July 28, which means the cases can go straight to trial, Markling said.

Thanks to technological advances, Markling said, slot cheating is on the decline, but crime statistics show no trend. The Nevada Gaming Control Board investigates an average of slightly more than 20 cheating device cases a year. The board investigated 761 criminal gambling cases last year.

Markling said slot cheaters can steal about $1,000 an hour and usually hit different casinos to avoid suspicion.

Dave Schwartz, director of the Center for Gambling Research at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, said slot cheating has advanced from the days when cheaters, known as "sluggers," would use yo-yo coins with a string on them to keep playing.

Schwartz said many cheaters buy slot machines or attend gaming conventions for research. He said slot cheaters respond to new technology by being more creative. He said that even if every casino puts in the newest technology, criminals still will try to use counterfeit money or tickets to cheat the machines.

"Until they develop slot machines that work purely in mental thought -- telepathy -- they won't be able to stop all of the cheating," he said. "Even then, I'm sure (criminals would) find a way to cheat."

Michael Balsamo has been convicted of gaming cheating felonies dating to 1980. Four of those were in Clark County, one was in Douglas County, and one was in Atlantic City.

He has been in the Nevada Gaming Commission's Black Book as a person forbidden from entering any of the state's casinos since 1999.

He moved to Las Vegas after New Jersey officials put him in their Black Book in 1984.

After learning that he was indicted by a Las Vegas grand jury on several charges in July 1999, he fled. The FBI arrested him in Tempe, Ariz., in September 1999.

Most recently, in 2001, Michael Balsamo pleaded guilty to engaging in an illegal gambling business. He was released from federal prison in 2002.

Tommy Carmichael, 56, whom Markling describes as a legend in slot cheating circles, was sentenced in 2001 with Michael Balsamo for his role in the cheating ring.

Since his release, Carmichael has taken a different path from that of his co-defendant. He now is developing anti-cheating devices to sell to casinos.

Michael Balsamo remains in custody in the Clark County jail on $34,000 bail, as does his wife on $39,000 bail.

It was not clear where Wallace was being held. Bowman was transferred to the Nevada State Prison on a parole violation.

Review-Journal writer Francis McCabe and The Associated Press contributed to this report.