Man sentenced for stealing casino rewards cards

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WLNE) — A man who was previously convicted of child molestation was sentenced to eight years in the ACI for stealing player rewards cards at Bally’s Twin River Casino.

Richard Gardner, 57, entered a plea of nolo contendere to three counts of accessing a computer for fraudulent purposes, two counts of obtaining property by false pretenses and one count of receiving stolen goods.

Gardner was sentenced to 10 years in the ACI with eight years to serve and ten years probation and was also ordered to pay $2,465 in restitution.

The investigation was initiated in February 2023 when a surveillance review tied an involved card to a male matching the defendant’s description.

Rhode Island State Police then matched the casino surveillance footage of the activity, as well as a vehicle the suspect parked at the casino to Gardner.

The RISP Gaming Enforcement Unit also linked the defendant to two other victims.

Gardner also pleaded nolo contendere to first-degree child molestation, kidnapping, burglary and other felonies in 1993.

He was sentenced to 50 years in the ACI with 30 to serve.

The sentence was modified in 2004 to 50 years with 20 years to serve the balance with probation.