Card dealer gets 60-day term

A former card dealer at the Nooksack River Casino was sentenced to 60 days in prison and ordered to pay $90,000 in restitution for his role in a conspiracy to cheat the casino.

Levi Mayfield, 24, of Bellingham, was recruited into the conspiracy by Jacob Nickels, the son of Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels. Jacob Nickels is serving a three-month sentence after pleading guilty.

Mayfield received the lightest sentence of the three casino employees indicted in the scheme. Another dealer, Kasey McIllup, also received a three-month sentence. The trio plotted to cheat on a game called Mini-Baccarat. The dealers learned to perform a "false shuffle" that allowed a co-conspirator playing at the table to know what cards were going to come up next.

The instigator of the scheme at the Nooksack tribal casino, George Lee, is among 24 people indicted in Seattle and San Diego in a multistate casino-cheating scheme. Eighteen casinos were targeted, and federal prosecutors say more than $1 million was stolen.