Judge and Father of "Bellagio Bandit" Appointed to Nevada Gaming Control Board

(Clockwise from upper left corner) Some of the intensive local news coverage of the Bellagio Bandit once it was learned the robber’s father was a Las Vegas Municipal Court judge; security footage of the Bellagio robbery; Nevada Governor Joe Lombardo, who appointed former judge George Assad to the Nevada Gaming Control Board; Judge Assad; First page of findings against Judge Assad for improperly jailing a woman in his court. (Las Vegas-Clark County Library District/LVRJ/NV Governor’s Office/Nevada Courts/NV Gaming Control Board).

Former Las Vegas judge George Assad was appointed to the powerful Gaming Control Board by newly-elected Nevada Governor Joe Lombardo.  However, Assad’s appointment has renewed interest in a notorious Las Vegas crime involving his son, Anthony Carleo a.k.a. “The Bellagio Bandit.”

A man clad in a motorcycle helmet and leather jacket parked his Suzuki motorcycle in the valet area in front of the Bellagio Hotel and Casino on the Strip on December 14, 2010.  The driver left his bike running as he entered the casino and made his way to a craps table. He produced a handgun and demanded the chips at the table.  The dealer quickly complied, and the robber ran through the casino and burst out the front entrance of the Bellagio. 

The disguised man then hopped on his motorcycle and sped off into the traffic of the Las Vegas Strip.  The brazen heist netted a haul of $1.5 million in Bellagio chips – but that would prove to be the downfall of the “Bellagio Bandit” (sometimes also referred to as the “Biker Bandit”) as the thief was quickly dubbed by the press.

The chips would either have to be turned in at the casino or sold to a third party. The first clue emerged a few weeks after the robbery when a Salvation Army bell-ringer tried to cash in a $25,000 chip given to him by a stranger. Shortly thereafter, a person calling himself the Bellagio Bandit appeared online offering to sell more of the $25,000 chips. Undercover Las Vegas police officers made contact with the Bellagio Bandit and arranged a meeting at the Bellagio to buy the chips. Police nabbed 29-year-old Anthony Carleo and charged him with the robbery.

The full brazenness of the Bellagio Bandit’s actions only became apparent after his arrest. It turned out that Carleo had been staying at the Bellagio as a guest when he committed the robbery, and he even returned to the casino afterwards to drink and gamble. He had also carried out another robbery of a different casino three weeks before the Bellagio heist, making off with $18,000. Carleo was convicted and received a sentence of 3–11 years for the Bellagio Bandit crimes.

Carleo’s arrest brought unwanted attention to his father, Las Vegas Municipal Court Judge George Assad.  In the election held the same year Carleo was arrested, Assad failed to win reelection.  Assad speculated his son’s arrest could have played into his election defeat.  Though the fact Assad was sanctioned by the Nevada Commission for Judicial Discipline due to the judge ordering a nurse imprisoned for two hours when she showed up at court to explain why her boyfriend wasn’t present for a hearing on his unpaid traffic tickets could have also played a part in his failure to win reelection.