STATELINE, Nev. – A man who was convicted of multiple felony charges in Iowa has been extradited to Lake Tahoe to face more of the same. Shaun Joseph Benward is in the Douglas County Jail facing gambling charges from incidents at Harrah’s, Harveys (currently Caesars Republic), and Bally’s over a few days in June 2023.
According to the Douglas County District Attorney’s Office, Benward allegedly tried to scam the casinos at their roulette wheels. They said he’d team up with someone else at the table, and try and switch his bet after the dealer ended betting. The DA’s office said Benward would make a scene if the casino told him he did not bet in time before the ball dropped, and refuse to pay him out, and the planted coconspriator would collaborate the suspect’s story. Sometimes the casino would pay him out to not cause a scene, sometimes not. The DA’s office said the scheme wasn’t a sophisticated one, but one the suspect perfected with his acting skills.
Benward was placed on the Nevada Gaming Control Board’s Black Book on December 21, 2023. This book contains people a list of people who are unwelcome in casinos. The name is due to the people listed being blacklisted.
Benward was found guilty of a series of fraudulent activities that occured at the Grand Falls Casino in Larchwood, Iowa in December 2018. According to the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation’s Special Enforcement Operations Bureau they initiated an investigation in 2018 after Benward manipulated casino staff to secure over $10,000 in improper payouts and avoided IRS reporting requirements by breaking up over $12,000 in transactions, changing his outfit multiple times, and using different tellers to stay undetected. Benward has been arrested for similar scams throughout the country.
After the 2018 investigation warrants were issued for his arrest. Benward was later located in Mississippi in April 2025 and arrested for the following:
- Five counts of Money Laundering, a class C felony
- Five counts of Cheating at Gambling Games, a class D felony
- One count of Conspiracy to Commit a Felony, a class D felony
On November 6, 2025, a Lyon County jury found Shaun Joseph Benward, 38, guilty of the charges and in February 2026 he was sentenced to 10 years in prison.
This week Benward was temporarily released to travel first to Lake Tahoe, and next to Las Vegas as a suspect in illegal gaming activities. He was in Tahoe Justice Court on June 9 and returns June 16 at 1 p.m. His bail is set at $100,000 cash, but that is a formality. Since the suspect is out of prison temporarily, the court proceedings in Tahoe are on time limits.