Atlantic City – A Crumbling Gambling Empire With High Crime Rates
In Atlantic City, New Jersey, the Showboat Hotel and Casino, home of Atlantic City’s House of Blues, has closed its doors. The Revel Casino has also closed only two years after opening – and having never earned a profit.
Revel, which was losing approximately $1 million dollars per week received another financial blow in August when an armored car company employee left a bag containing $20,000+ on top of its truck. Surveillance video showed the bag was still on top of the truck when it drove away from the casino. It is unknown exactly where the bag fell off the vehicle, and who collected and is holding onto the cash.
Atlantic City – Crime Rates and Corruption
Atlantic City’s gambling revenue has plummeted since Pennsylvania casinos opened in 2006; down from $5.2 billion to $2.86 billion in 2013. With the Revel closing, four Atlantic City casinos total have shut down in 2014.
The initial arrival of casinos into the city did serve as a boon for both employment and tourism. Unfortunately, gang-related crime is still prevalent in lower income neighborhoods, and about 30% of Atlantic City residents live below poverty. The crime rate in 2011 in Atlantic City was nearly triple the rate in Atlantic County.
Atlantic City also has a long history of corruption with five out of the most recent nine mayors pleading guilty to various crimes, including corruption and veteran benefit fraud.
Casino Crimes Defense – the Law Office of Matthew V. Portella, LLC
Our law practice focuses almost exclusively on criminal defense with more than 20 years of combined legal experience including defending those accused of committing crimes within the Atlantic City casinos. We handle all types of criminal matters arising in Atlantic City and Atlantic County, including:
- Felony crimes, such as drug crimes, violent offenses, weapons violations, computer crimes, robbery, and burglary.
- Casino crimes such as bad checks, counterfeit currency, theft, robbery, ‘past posting’, dealer or player conspiracy to commit crimes, money laundering, and suspension of casino licenses.
- Disorderly persons offenses such as possession of under 50 grams of marijuana, shoplifting, criminal mischief, harassment, simple assault and disorderly conduct.
- Traffic violations such as driving while intoxicated (drunk driving), speeding, reckless driving, careless driving, operating a vehicle with a suspended or revoked license or without proper insurance, and leaving the scene of an accident.
- DUI/DWI defense in Atlantic City, a severe traffic offense in New Jersey which for a first offense is punishable by up to 12 months of license suspension, participation in the Intoxicated Drivers Resource Center, the installation and maintenance of an ignition interlock device and potentially thousands of dollars in fines/surcharges.
We also serve Camden County, Gloucester County, Burlington County, Cape May County and Cumberland County.