The admiral fired last year as the US nuclear forces’ No. 2 in command might have made his own US$500 poker chips with paint and stickers to feed a gambling habit that eventually saw him banned from an entire network of casinos, according to a criminal investigative report obtained by The Associated Press.
Although Rear Admiral Timothy Giardina’s removal as deputy head of US Strategic Command was announced last year, evidence of his possible role in manufacturing the counterfeit chips has not previously been revealed. Investigators said they found his DNA on the underside of an adhesive sticker used to alter genuine US$1 poker chips to make them look like US$500 chips.
Nor had the navy disclosed how extensively he gambled.
The records, obtained by the The Associated Press under the Freedom of Information Act, show Giardina was a habitual poker player, spending a total of 1,096 hours — an average of 15 hours per week — at the Horseshoe casino in Council Bluffs, Iowa, in the 18 months before being caught using three phony chips in June last year.
Such was Giardina’s affection for poker that even after he was caught he “continued to come in and gamble on a regular basis” at Harrah’s casino, also located in Council Bluffs, according to an account by an Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation agent that was turned over to the Naval Criminal Investigative Service after it took over the case in August last year.
Giardina, who remains on the navy payroll as a staff officer in Washington, was never charged with counterfeiting. Instead he was found guilty in May of two counts of conduct unbecoming an officer — lying to an investigator and passing fake gambling chips. He was given a written reprimand and ordered to forfeit US$4,000 in pay.
The navy chose not to pursue a court martial because they were uncertain they could get a conviction with the evidence they had, officials said.
In early September last year Giardina was suspended from his post at Strategic Command, which he had assumed in December 2011. One month later he was fired and reduced in rank from three-star to two-star admiral.
The Naval Criminal Investigative Service denied The Associated Press’ original request for the investigation records but released them this month after granting an appeal.
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