Resorts World Las Vegas President Scott Sibella speaks during the opening of Resorts World Las Vegas on June 24, 2021 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Ethan Miller | Getty Images
The former president of the MGM Grand casino in Las Vegas was sentenced to one year of probation Wednesday on a federal criminal charge related to his failure to report millions of dollars in wagers by an illegal bookmaker at his casino.
Scott Sibella, the ex-MGM executive, also was ordered to pay a $9,500 and another $100 special assessment by U.S. District Court Judge Dolly Gee in Los Angeles, according to the Associated Press.
Sibella’s probationary sentence was in line with the sentence recommended by prosecutors and his defense lawyers.
“You will never see me in your court again,” the 61-year-old Nevada resident told Gee, as he also apologized to family, friends and former employers, the AP reported.
Sibella pleaded guilty in January to one count of failure to file reports of suspicious transactions required to be made by casinos under the Bank Secrecy Act. MGM Resorts owns MGM Grand, and more than a dozen other Las Vegas properties, including The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas.
The sentencing comes more than a week after the Nevada Gaming Control Board filed a complaint against Sibella with the state Gaming Commission for conduct underlying the federal criminal case. The new civil complaint is seeking a a fine and action against Sibella’s gaming license.
Sibella, who was president of MGM Grand from August 2017 through February 2019, admitted knowing that a patron of his casino, former minor league baseball player Wayne Nix, ran an illegal bookmaking business, according to the Department of Justice.
“Despite this knowledge, Sibella allowed Nix to gamble at MGM Grand and affiliated properties with illicit proceeds generated from the illegal gambling business without notifying the casino’s compliance department,” the DOJ said in a press release in January.
“Not only did Sibella allow Nix to gamble at the casino, he also authorized Nix to receive complimentary benefits at the casino, including meals, room, board and golf trips with senior executives and other high net-worth customers of the casinos to further encourage Nix to patronize the casino and/or other affiliated properties,” the DOJ added in the statement.
By 2020, MGM Grand had accepted more than $4 million in cash that was illicit proceeds from Nix’s bookmaking business, the department said.
Nix pleaded guilty in April 2022 Los Angeles…
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