A businesswoman in rural Texas received an 18-month prison sentence for her role in a $21m illegal gambling scheme. Despite pleading guilty, Dominga “Penny” Ledesma claims she only did so because she felt pressured into it by prosecutors.
Ledesma admitted to using the identity of a dead man to file tax forms for cash transactions totaling at least $10,000.
exchange silver pellets that people won playing slots in a store next door for cash
The 53-year-old owned an establishment called Brittany’s Boutique, and she would exchange silver pellets that people won playing slots in a store next door for cash. She would then sell the pellets back to the operator of the gambling den. Texas law is very strict when it comes to gambling, with one loophole being the “fuzzy animal exception” that allows for the award of novelty prizes worth less than $5.
Ledesma was earning sizable money for her role in the scheme, making $700,000 alone in 2017, according to testimony from her brother-in-law, who acted as her bookkeeper.
