Section 39: Cheating and swindling; penalty
606 words·~3 min read·
/ma/part-i/title-ii/chapter-23k/39·A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.
Section 39.
(a)Whoever, during a game in a gaming establishment, knowingly and by any trick or sleight of hand performance or by a fraud or fraudulent scheme, cards, dice or other gaming device, for himself, for another or for a representative of either:
(i)wins, or attempts to win, money or property; or
(ii)reduces, or attempts to reduce, a losing wager in a gaming establishment shall be guilty of cheating and swindling.
(b)Whoever knowingly uses a cheating and swindling device or game in a gaming establishment shall be guilty of cheating and swindling.
(c)Whoever commits the offense of cheating and swindling shall be punished as follows:
(i)if the value of the money, property or wager cheated and swindled is $75,000 or more, by imprisonment in the state prison for not more than 10 years or in the house of correction for not more than 21/2 years or by a fine not to exceed $1,000,000, or both, and in the case of a person other than a natural person, by a fine not to exceed $10,000,000;
(ii)if the value of the money, property or wager cheated and swindled is $10,000 or more but less than $75,000, by imprisonment in the state prison for not more than 5 years or in the house of correction for not more than 21/2 years or by a fine not to exceed $500,000, or both, and in the case of a person other than a natural person, by a fine not to exceed $5,000,000;
(iii)if the value of the money, property or wager cheated and swindled is $1,000 or more but less than $10,000, by imprisonment in the state prison for not more than 3 years or in the house of correction for not more than 21/2 years or by a fine not to exceed $100,000, or both, and in the case of a person other than a natural person, by a fine not to exceed $1,000,000;
(iv)if nothing of value was obtained in violation of this subsection or if the value of the money, property or wager cheated and swindled is less than $1,000, by imprisonment in the house of correction for not more than 21/2 years or by a fine not to exceed $10,000, or both, and in the case of a person other than a natural person, by a fine not to exceed $100,000.
(d)Each episode or transaction of swindling and cheating may be the subject of a separate prosecution and conviction. In the discretion of the commonwealth, multiple episodes or transactions of swindling and cheating committed as part of a single scheme or course of conduct may be treated as a single offense and the amounts involved in acts of swindling and cheating committed according to a scheme or course of conduct, whether by the same person or several persons, may be aggregated in determining the value of money, property or wager involved in the offense.
(e)A gaming licensee, or an employee of a gaming licensee, who, in a gaming establishment, knowingly:
(i)conducts or operates any game using a cheating and swindling device or game;
(ii)displays for play a cheating and swindling game; or
(iii)permits to be conducted, operated or displayed, any cheating and swindling device or game shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for not more than 5 years or imprisonment in the house of correction for not more than 21/2 years, or by a fine not to exceed $25,000, or both, and in the case of a person other than a natural person, by a fine not to exceed $100,000.