Four indicted in A.C. gambling scam

Four men have been indicted in what New Jersey authorities say was a high-tech poker scam in Atlantic City.

The four - James Harrison of Duluth, Minn., and Las Vegas residents Joseph Ingargiola, Stephen Phillips and Steven Forte - each face a charge of second-degree attempted theft by deception. The indictment was handed up yesterday by a grand jury in Atlantic County.

Forte is a well-known gambling consultant who once hosted his own television show.

Authorities said the four rigged two hotel rooms at the Borgata Hotel Casino and Spa with surveillance cameras and computers, then invited another man to play in high-stakes games of Chinese poker, backgammon and chess.

Before the intended target of the scam arrived, New Jersey State Police seized the equipment and arrested the four men. They remain free on bail.

A person answering the phone at a Las Vegas number listed in Forte's name would not take a message for him. Listings for the others could not be located.

- AP