Lakeside

Another defendant accused of rigging the Barona bingo games pleaded guilty Friday to two counts of grand theft in San Diego Municipal Court.

Joseph Richard Catania, 38, of Las Vegas told Judge H. Ronald Domnitz that he took part in the scheme to steal by fraud thousands of dollars from the Big Eight bingo games held at the Barona Indian Reservation.

Defense attorney Ron Frant said that Catania was less culpable than anyone in the bingo scam because his involvement was minimal.

However, Frant noted that there was sufficient evidence to indicate that Catania had been involved in rigging the games.

According to California Deputy Atty. Gen. Gary Schons, Catania was directed by Stewart Siegel, the former manager of the Barona bingo games and the kingpin of the scheme, to show the players how to rig the Big Eight tickets.

However, Frant noted that Catania received no more than $1,600 for his involvement in the two rigged games.

Catania could have received as much as three years and eight months in prison and a $20,000 fine if he was convicted at trial, but a sentencing agreement reduced the maximum sentence to a year in County Jail. Sentencing will be Sept. 4.

Siegel, 48, who pleaded guilty to four counts of grand theft, will be sentenced Aug. 15.

A third co-defendant, Louis Cordileone, 49, of Hollywood, will be arraigned July 29 on a charge of inducing a woman to commit perjury on his behalf during a grand jury investigation of the bingo games.