Sands Bethlehem fails to keep patron safe

Sands robber apologizes, victim accepts
By Riley Yates, Of The Morning Call
April 19, 2012

Unlike most robbers, Nevillon Y. Fung was an apologetic one, helping his 74-year-old victim to her feet and telling her he was sorry.

Unlike most victims, Barbetta E. Charles was willing to accept that apology.

In a letter to Northampton County Court, Charles asked for leniency for the 22-year-old man who tried to snatch her purse Oct. 13 at the Sands Casino Resort Bethlehem after he lost hundreds at the blackjack tables.

And leniency is what Fung got Thursday from Judge Michael Koury Jr., who sentenced him to four months to two years in county prison, plus two years of probation, after he pleaded guilty to a felony robbery charge.

Charles, who asked for no jail time, wrote that she was attacked from behind by Fung, dragged backward as she clutched her purse.

But when she screamed, Fung returned to her, asked if she was OK, and "was very concerned," said Charles, of Moore Township.

"He proceeded to help me up and stayed with me until I got my composure," Charles said. "I think he realized what he done was wrong."

She added: "I don't think he is a bad person. I forgive him."

Fung, of Hanover Township, Northampton County, wasn't arrested until January, when he was identified after police released a Sands surveillance image to the media.

Defense attorney Anthony Rybak said Fung has children, is married and holds two full-time jobs. The purse-snatching attempt was a "crime of opportunity" and was not planned, Rybak said.

"He immediately felt bad and was sorry for what he did," Rybak said.

Fung told police he has a gambling addiction and has lost a lot of money at the Sands since it opened. That day, he was down $900, he said, when Charles walked by in the parking garage.

"I don't know what I was thinking, but I reached for her purse," he wrote police, according to court records. "She held her purse which made me realize what I was doing [was] totally wrong."

After Charles fell, "I helped her up and I said, 'Ma'am, I am totally sorry,' and I left," Fung said.

Koury allowed him to delay reporting to prison until April 28.