Mayor's son indicted

Jacob Nickels, the son of Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels, did well for himself during his three years working at the Nooksack River Casino in Whatcom County. He started out as a dealer and rose to the position of pit boss, where he supervised table games.

Thursday, though, Nickels, 25, was accused by federal officials of accepting $5,000 as part of a multistate casino-cheating ring that allegedly stole millions of dollars by bribing casino employees to falsely shuffle decks.

Nickels was the most prominent name among the 24 people indicted in the alleged scheme.

A spokeswoman for the Nooksack Tribe said Nickels worked at the casino from Oct. 29, 2003 until Oct. 17, 2006.

The spokeswoman declined to say why he left, citing confidentiality of employee records.

Nickels grew up in Seattle and attended Garfield High School.

His friends knew him as a funny, low-key guy with an impressive knowledge about Seattle sports — not as the son of a prominent politician.

"He was a friend to me at school, and he kept to himself and never boasted about his dad running for mayor," said Santino Mabalay, who last saw Nickels about six months ago.

"He wasn't very outgoing. He was quiet."

Nickels graduated in 1999 and headed to Western Washington University in Bellingham, where he studied philosophy, economics and political science.

University officials say the mayor's oldest child and only son didn't graduate. He last attended classes in the summer of 2006.

Before working at the casino, Nickels worked part-time at a Bellingham collection agency from 2001 to 2003.

Jeremy Wiltse, a supervisor at the agency, said Nickels had access to confidential information. "I never, ever had a problem with him," Wiltse said. "He was somebody I trusted."

Nickels was engaging, funny and had an "almost encyclopedialike knowledge of sports, to the extent that I've never ever seen in anybody," Wiltse said. "I always thought I was pretty smart about it, and he put me in my place."

The two hung out after work together and went to college parties, but Nickels wasn't a big partier, he said.

A longtime Nooksack Casino employee who requested anonymity because she's not authorized to talk to the media said Nickels often worked coveted day shifts as a pit boss. There are customarily two pit bosses overseeing the 13 tables, one on each end of the "pit."

In an April interview, Greg Nickels said his son had recently moved back to the family home in West Seattle.

Seattle Times staff reporters Roxanna Popescu and Jonathan Martin and researcher Miyoko Wolf contributed to this report.

Sharon Pian Chan: 206-464-2958 or schan@seattletimes.com

Jennifer Sullivan: 206-464-8294 or jensullivan@seattletimes.com