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Described as a "serial scammer", an Iowa man convicted of tricking casino staff into giving him more than $10,000 in unwarranted payouts has been sentenced to 10 years behind bars.
On Nov. 6, 2025, a Lyon County jury found Shaun Joseph Benward (pictured below), 38, guilty of multiple felony charges. The verdict followed a 2018 investigation by the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation’s Special Enforcement Operations Bureau.
Benward described himself - perhaps quite accurately - as an "illusionist". He apparently honed his techniques by "misleading the workers" of the Grand Falls Casino in Larchwood, iowa, "including multiple outfit changes and using different tellers to remain undetected".
After evading authorities for seven years, Benward was located and arrested in Mississippi in April 2025, according to the Iowa Department of Public Safety.
Benward was charged in Lyon County with money laundering, cheating at gambling and conspiracy, although he was not returned to Iowa to stand trial until he was arrested in Mississippi in April 2025. He was convicted of 13 separate felonies at trial in November.
He will receive credit for nearly a year already spent in custody, and has no minimum to serve before he will be eligible for parole.
- Jagajeet Chiba, Gambling911.com
