A Texas businesswoman has been sentenced to 18 months in federal prison for her role in a massive illegal gambling operation involving “8-liner” slot machines that raked in more than $21 million.
On Tuesday (July 15), District Judge Drew B. Tipton handed down the sentence after Dominga “Penny” Ledesma pleaded guilty to charges related to operating illegal gambling establishments across South Texas, alongside game room owner Rene Gamez.
The woman said she was forced to plead guilty. https://t.co/u10QkOjVD8
— MySA (@mySA) July 20, 2025
Texas woman used ‘identities of deceased individuals’ in illegal gambling scheme
According to court documents, the 53-year-old from Raymondville was a central figure in the scheme, which used front companies to conceal profits from dozens of 8-liner establishments.
The federal criminal complaint filed in 2019 revealed investigators had tied her to the El Toro Game Room near Lyford, Texas, where “customers would travel… to specifically play the eight liner machines.”
When players won, employees “would then provide small pieces of ‘silver’ equaling the amount of the winnings to the customer,” according to court documents. Those “silver” pieces were exchanged for cash at Brittany’s Boutique, which Ledesma owned and operated.
The complaint detailed that “between May 31, 2017, and October 30, 2018, approximately twenty-one million ($21,000,000) USD in cash transactions tied to the El Toro Game Room were filed by Ledesma.”
Federal agents from Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) began monitoring the scheme in mid-2018 after state and local authorities flagged suspicious activity. Surveillance operations documented customers leaving the El Toro Game Room with bags of “silver” and traveling a short distance to Brittany’s Boutique to exchange the pieces for US currency.
Investigators later uncovered that Ledesma filed false federal reports, using the identities of deceased individuals and others without their consent.
“Your affiant knows that it is a violation of Title 18 U.S.C. §1028A to knowingly possess or use without lawful authority, a means of identification, namely the social security number of another person, during and in relation to a felony violation,” the complaint stated.
One confidential informant told agents, “silver exchanged for United States currency at Brittany’s Boutique by customers of the El Toro Game Room was then sold back to the employees of the El Toro Game Room by employees of Brittany’s Boutique.”
Prosecutors accused Ledesma of structuring cash deposits and filings to avoid detection. The complaint alleges she caused or attempted to cause “a nonfinancial trade or business to file a report… that contains a material omission or misstatement of fact” in violation of federal law.
In February 2023, Ledesma pleaded guilty, but the judge let her stay out on bond for a few more months. She now has until August 15 to turn herself in to the US Marshals and start serving her sentence.
Featured image: Canva
