Back in February 2011, two men were accused of being part of a robbery at the Rio Casino. The two men were supposed to go to trial this year but now the court date has been moved to August. The trail was reset due to the request of the defendant’s attorney.

Both Hiroyuki Yamaguchi and Edward Land will head to trial this august to face the robbery charges. Yamaguchi has been said to be the getaway driver and he apparently dropped off another man who robbed the casino.

Both men have been charged with conspiracy to commit robbery as well as burglary while in possession of a deadly weapon and robbery with a deadly weapon in a theft. The men got away with $33,200 in chips which were taken from a pai gow table at the Rio Casino.

Both men remain in custody and have bail set at $125,000. Yamaguchi was in court when the trial was reset and had to have an interpreter as well as his attorney present. Land was not in court but his attorney asked for his presence to be waived as he did not feel his client needed to be present.

Officials are also looking for Steven Gao who they believe is the man who went inside the casino and robbed the casino at the pai gow poker table. Land admitted that he dropped off Gao at the Rio. Gao reportedly was wearing a wig, fake mustache and sunglasses to disguise his appearance. He stole the money and then disappeared in Yamaguchi’s taxi. Land told police that Gao owed him $15,000 and robbed the casino to pay back the debt he owed.


- 2012-01-18