Men guilty of targeting casino winners

Men guilty of following, robbing casino winners
Written by Kimball Perry

Kenyatta Erkins and Ugbe Ojile woke up each day and went to work, toiling to do the best job they could.

They were so good, impressed Hamilton County prosecutors said Tuesday, that they stole tens of thousands of dollars – maybe more – from dozens of victims returning from Southeast Indiana’s riverboat casinos.

“This was their job. They went to work each day at the same time. These guys treated this as a profession. They truly were professional robbers,” Assistant Prosecutor Mark Piepmeier said.

Erkins, 36, of College Hill, and Ojile, 34, of New York, were convicted Tuesday of a combined 23 felonies in a string of robberies that ended with an undercover sting.

The convictions came two months after Common Pleas Court Judge Nadine Allen heard the case without a jury at the request of Erkins and Ojile.

Erkins went in the casinos alone to look for prey, largely because Ojile had been banned from Hollywood Casino after he was accused of robbing a patron there.

If Erkins saw someone win a big jackpot or count large amounts of money, he tailed them and called Ojile, sitting in a car in the casino parking lot. The men then often followed their victims – sometimes together and sometimes in separate cars – to their homes and robbed them.

Prosecutors say Erkins and Ojile targeted women, older and smaller victims or those whose first language isn’t English. Several of the victims, Assistant Prosecutor Rick Gibson said, are professional poker players.

“The robberies were getting progressively more violent,” Gibson said.

“It was only a matter of time before they shot somebody,” Piepmeier said.

That was a reason police decided to send the undercover officer inside Hollywood Casino in Lawrenceburg, where he acted feebly and flashed a wad of cash.

Casino videos clearly show Erkins targeting the undercover officer and calling Ojile to follow him.

It worked. Shortly after the undercover officer left the casino, the pair followed him and soon was arrested.

Prosecutors said the complicated verdict – they also were found not guilty on a combined 13 charges – means Erkins faces a maximum prison term of 90 years in prison and Ojile faces 116 yeas [sic]. They are to be sentenced Sept. 29.

Erkins and Ojile were convicted in part by Amy Hoover, who was indicted with the men. She is Erkins’ girlfriend and gave birth to his baby while in jail on the charges.

Hoover, 26, of Colerain Township, pleaded guilty in April to her role in five of the robberies. She faces 50 years in prison when she is sentenced Aug. 10 but because she testified against Erkins and Ojile, prosecutors expect her sentence to be far less.