Man Charged for Telling Casino Worker He was ‘Gambling to Avoid Ebola-Stricken Wife’
A 60-year-old Cleveland man has been charged for telling a Horseshoe Casino employee that he was there gambling to avoid his wife for whom he claimed had the deadly Ebola disease.
From the Cleveland Plains Dealer:
Hours after news broke Wednesday that a Dallas nurse diagnosed with Ebola had visited Cleveland, Emanuel Smith told a table games dealer that he was dodging a sick ex-wife who traveled to Cleveland from West Africa, according to the Ohio Casino Control Commission.
Local authorities have since determined that Smith and his wife did not have Ebola and that neither traveled to or from West Africa recently.
Defense attorney Kathleen DeMetza attempted to explain how the conversation had transpired, insisting things were blown way out of proportion.
"People were having a general discussion about the current situation," she said. "He made a comment regarding his former wife who had traveled to Africa sometime in the past and that he tries to stay away from her."
In addition to charges of inducing panic, Smith was also charged with criminal trespassing, accused of "entering a place of amusement to cause a disturbance," according to the casino commission.
Commission agents temporarily closed the casino pit where Smith gambled and reported the incident to Cleveland police, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and local health departments, the Plains Dealer reported.
- Jagajeet Chiba, Gambling911.com
