Mississippi illusionist sentenced to decade in Iowa prison after years of cheating casinos
A self-proclaimed illusionist from Mississippi, who spent years working casino floors under false names, including the alias “Shaun Mistery,” will now spend the next decade behind bars.
On Tuesday (February 10), Judge Carl Petersen ordered 38-year-old Shaun Joseph Benward to serve concurrent prison terms that add up to 10 years. The Lyon County sentence comes with credit for nearly one year he has already spent in custody while waiting for the case to wrap up.
A jury found Benward guilty in November 2025 on a series of felony gaming charges tied to activity at Grand Falls Casino in Larchwood. Prosecutors said the case centered on a calculated effort to exploit casino procedures for personal gain.
He manipulated casino staff to secure over $10,000 in improper payouts and avoided IRS reporting requirements by breaking up over $12,000 in transactions, changing his outfit multiple times, and using different tellers to stay undetected. Benward has been arrested for similar scams throughout the country.
Iowa Department of Public Safety
According to the Iowa Department of Public Safety, jurors convicted him of “five counts of Money Laundering, five counts of Cheating at Gambling Games, and one count of Conspiracy to Commit a Felony.”
State investigators began digging into Benward’s actions after agents saw him cheating at the Larchwood casino in December 2018. What they uncovered, officials said, was a deliberate effort to outmaneuver both casino staff and federal reporting rules.
“He manipulated casino staff to secure over $10,000 in improper payouts and avoided IRS reporting requirements by breaking up over $12,000 in transactions, changing his outfit multiple times, and using different tellers to stay undetected,” the department stated in its press release.
Mississippi self-proclaimed illusionist had history of casino bans and allegations
The Iowa conviction did not mark Benward’s first clash with gambling regulators. Records from other states paint a picture of similar conduct stretching back more than a decade.
In October 2015, the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board placed him on its involuntary exclusion list after determining that he and another person had carried out a cheating scheme. That same month, he pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct in Monroe County, Pennsylvania.
Missouri regulators later compiled their own findings. A 2019 resolution from the Missouri Gaming Commission details incidents at several Kansas City-area casinos. Surveillance footage at the Isle of Capri Casino Kansas City allegedly showed Benward changing his wager after the outcome of a game was already known. In another episode, investigators concluded he pulled a $500 chip off the table while a cashier was distracted, then walked away with $2,750 in cash despite presenting only $2,250 in chips.
Those incidents led to his removal from multiple properties, including Lumière Place, Isle of Capri locations, Harrah’s North Kansas City, and several Boyd Gaming casinos. Ultimately, Missouri regulators permanently barred him from all riverboat gaming facilities in the state.
After the 2018 incident in Iowa, Benward remained out of custody for several years. Authorities arrested him in Mississippi in April 2025 on outstanding warrants tied to the Iowa case.
The Iowa Department of Public Safety said the investigation showcases the work of the Division of Criminal Investigation’s Special Enforcement Operations Bureau, calling it “the primary criminal investigative and enforcement agency for the Iowa gaming industry.”
Featured image: Iowa Department of Public Safety
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