Illusionist ‘Shaun Mistery’ Gets 10 Years After Multi-State Casino Scam Rampage
Posted on: February 12, 2026, 07:31h.
Last updated on: February 12, 2026, 07:31h.
- Magician used misdirection to manipulate dealers and payouts
- Convicted of 13 felonies tied to Iowa casino case
- Prior convictions spanned seven states before final arrest
A felonious magician who goes by “Shaun Mistery” has been sentenced to a decade behind bars after embarking on a casino cheating rampage across the US.
Shaun Joseph Benward, 38, employed the misdirection techniques from his magic act to manipulate dealers into paying out winnings he wasn’t entitled to. In November 2025, he was convicted of scamming the Grand Falls Casino in Larchwood, Iowa, out of $10,000 in unwarranted payouts during a visit in December 2018. After that visit, he performed a disappearing act.
The slippery illusionist was able to evade Iowa authorities for seven years before he was arrested in Mississippi last April, according to the Iowa Department of Public Safety.
In the interim, he was busy, with convictions in Pennsylvania, Delaware, Michigan, Missouri, Ohio, Indiana, Rhode Island, and Nevada for offenses involving casino cheating, money laundering, and fraud.
In 2022, he and an accomplice were arrested in Pittsburgh for attempting to relieve the Rivers Casino of more than $10K. In that case, Benward pleaded guilty to casino cheating, was sentenced to probation, and ordered to pay $10,500 in restitution.
He later violated his parole and had an active bench warrant as of late 2025, according to Allegheny County court documents.
Master of Chaos
Benward’s M.O. typically involved social manipulation and creating confusion, according to multiple law enforcement accounts. He would engage dealers in conversation to blur the timing of “no more bets,” then dispute where his chip had “really” been placed once he saw the result.
Sometimes an accomplice would be stationed nearby to back up Benward’s claim and add pressure, reinforcing the narrative that a dealer error had occurred.
Investigators say he also changed outfits during his sessions and altered his appearance to avoid detection across multiple visits, allowing him to return repeatedly without being recognized by staff or surveillance teams.
He also attempted to conceal the scale of his winnings, breaking up transactions and using different tellers when cashing out to keep individual cash-outs below federal currency transaction reporting thresholds.
Thirteen Felonies
In 2018, Benward was charged in absentia in Lyon County, Iowa, with money laundering, cheating at gambling, and conspiracy. He was convicted of 13 separate felonies at his November trial.
On Tuesday, Judge Carl Petersen sentenced Benward to concurrent terms totaling 10 years. He will receive credit for nearly a year already spent in custody.
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