Ohio Poker Bandit Convicted of Robbery, Kidnapping

Justice has prevailed in Ohio with the conviction of seven poker robbers.

Would-be poker robbers, take note: the police are still in the business of getting their man, and judges and juries are still in the habit of convicting the men police bring to them.

Solomon Berhane, 31, of Cleveland, Ohio, learned those lessons the hard way. Yesterday he was found guilty on 12 counts of aggravated robbery, 12 counts of kidnapping, and two other minor charges in connection with the robbery of a private poker game outside Cleveland last year.

According to the Cuyahoga County Prosecutor’s Office, Berhane and six other men robbed a private high-stakes poker game at Allied Lighting last year in Solon, a suburb of Cleveland. Around midnight on April 17, 2009, Berhane and his gang approached a player smoking a cigarette outside the game and used him to gain entry to the building. Once inside, Berhane and company brandished an AK-47 assault rifle, an SKS rifle, a pistol grip shotgun and an automatic pistol and told the players to give up everything they had.

The gang made off with $50,000 in cash and credit cards, as well as jewelry, a watch and other property worth a total of $25,000. They might have gotten away with it, but one of the crew - Dominic Berlingeri, 24, of Lorain, Ohio – was pulled over by police while driving a car bought with money stolen from the game and holding property that was taken from the game. Not too long afterward police also arrested Andres Arzola, 19, Jose Arzola-Torres, 20 and Randall Barnes, 25, of Euclid, Ohio; Wayne Bunkin, 31, of Novelty, Ohio; and William Masters, 28, of Pine Bluff, Ariz. 

All six men have since been convicted of various charges. They will be sentenced, along with Berhane, on April 14.