NC man hit $1.5M in jackpots at Indian casino. He did it on taxpayers’ dime, feds say.

Russel Hester loved playing the slot machines at the Catawba Indians’ Two Kings Casino in Kings Mountain. He hit $1.5 million in jackpot s.

Hester lost it all in a federal courtroom in Asheville this week.

The former North Carolina ABC store manager pleaded guilty to embezzling $374,807 by using his state debit card to withdraw the money at the casino to gamble, U.S. Attorney Dena King said in a statement.

Hester, 72, managed the ABC store in Rutherfordton for 10 years, prosecutors said. He admitted using the debit card 192 times at the casino over nearly two years, once hitting an $18,350 jackpot, according to his written guilty plea and a federal indictment that charged him with wire fraud and money laundering.

Hester deposited the winnings into his personal bank account, prosecutors said.

Plea documents show how he tried to cover up his theft. During his ABC board’s 2023 annual independent audit, for example, Hester submitted multiple fake bank statements to the auditor, according to court records.

Hester is free pending a sentencing hearing that has not been scheduled.

Wire fraud carries up to 20 years in prison and money laundering a maximum 10 years.

Hester didn’t reply to phone and email messages from The Charlotte Observer.

In a news release announcing Hester’s guilty plea, King thanked IRS and postal service investigators and the Rutherfordton Police Department for investigating the embezzlement and the Rutherford County District Attorney’s Office for its assistance.

The Catawba Nation , based in Rock Hill, S.C., has operated a single-level, temporary casino in Kings Mountain since 2021, off Interstate 85 about 35 miles west of Charlotte. Tribal officials said they plan to open their permanent, $700-million Catawba Two Kings Casino Resort in early 2026.