Man accused of cheating by “manipulating a coin pusher slot machine”

Police have accused a 33-year-old man of cheating by claiming he manipulated a coin pusher slot machine at Northern Quest Resort & Casino using a "vibrating device."

According to court documents, Jeremiah K. Villegas is charged with one count of second-degree cheating and one count of second-degree burglary. The latter accusation relates to Villegas's presence inside the Airway Heights casino last summer despite having already gotten a 99-year trespass from the establishment.

In the state of Washington, the accusation of cheating focuses on gambling-related cheating. First-degree cheating carries a maximum sentence of five years in state prison. Cheating in the second degree is a serious misdemeanor that carries a maximum one-year jail sentence.

It doesn't appear that defendants in Spokane County are often accused of cheating. According to the office's spokesperson, the Spokane County Prosecuting Attorney's Office has dealt with three examples of cheating during the past six years.

According to the commission's spokesperson, the Washington State Gambling Commission looks into 20 to 30 cheating instances annually around the state. Fifty-two cases of cheating were looked upon by gambling commission investigators between January 2025 and April 2026; there were none in Spokane County. Only seven of the 52 led to criminal prosecution.

Tim Note has represented only two people accused of cheating in his twenty-two years as a defense lawyer in Spokane. According to him, both cases were subsequently dropped, more than ten years ago. He had two clients: a woman playing a card game and a card dealer. He said that the state gambling commission looked into the instances in great detail and that the dealer's case file was more comprehensive than a homicide report.

Regarding casino cameras, Note remarked, "I know these cases are very thoroughly investigated because there’s cameras from all angles."

According to court records, a defendant entered a guilty plea in October to first-degree cheating and a firearm allegation related to a shooting event in 2024. He entered the guilty plea to the charge as part of a plea agreement, despite the fact that the case had nothing to do with cheating.

In 2016, a man admitted to second-degree cheating and was given a one-day jail term along with a $75 restitution order. The man, a then-licensed card room employee at the now-closed Aces Casino in Spokane Valley, saw the dealer’s “set” hands in a poker game and then illegally reset his hands to beat the dealer’s hands, according to court documents.

According to court records, Villegas was confronted on September 3 by a Kalispel Tribal Police officer for trespassing at the casino. Villegas may be stealing funds from slot machines by employing a vibrating gadget, according to a Kalispel Tribal Gaming Agency agent. Villegas exhibited strange conduct in the casino from August 26 to September 3, according to two other gaming agents.

Villegas was seen placing money into the coin pusher slot machines and pressing on their sides with his hands in his sweatshirt pocket during that nine-day period, according to camera footage taken both inside the casino and inside the machines, according to court documents. During this period, the machine and its contents vibrated.

Then, with his hands still in his hoodie pocket, he cashed out from the machines and kept pushing against their sides. The dispenser would "trigger bonuses" when coins dropped into it. According to court filings, the video also showed Villegas kicking the edges of the machines while he was seated and playing the game.

Villegas was forbidden from all Kalispel Tribal properties for 99 years in June by the Kalispel Tribal Gaming Agency due to alleged assaults, threats, and "pushing and kicking" coin slot machines since 2024. According to court records, Villegas threatened the agency via phone calls and emails after a slot shift manager contacted him about his suspicious actions at the coin slot machines. During those interactions, security either removed him from the casino or kicked him off the machines. The Kalispel Tribe declined to comment.

Villegas was charged with 14 charges of first-degree cheating and 14 counts of second-degree burglary after his arrest on October 12. According to court documents, Villegas was charged with 14 counts for allegedly entering the casino 14 times over the course of nine days in August and September after being trespassed from the property, and possibly using the vibrating device to control the coin machines.

The next day, he appeared in Spokane County Superior Court for the first time and was set free on his own recognizance. Villegas was charged with one count of second-degree cheating and one count of second-degree burglary after the prosecution eventually dropped the other allegations.

Villegas attacked a man near downtown Spokane, according to police, and was taken into custody on March 31 on suspicion of fourth-degree assault. A warrant for his arrest was issued since the assault accusation violated the terms of his release, pending resolution of the cheating and burglary charges,

Villegas' bond was set at $5,000 by the judge during a subsequent appearance in Superior Court for his burglary and cheating charges. His trial is scheduled for May.

Source:

“Man accused of using ‘vibrating device’ to cheat at Northern Quest Casino” , Garrett Cabeza, spokesman.com, April 23, 2026.