A lawyer for a former Cantor Gaming executive charged with four felonies in connection with an illegal bookmaking ring said Thursday he will plead not guilty later this month at his initial court hearing in New York.

Michael Cristalli, a Las Vegas-based lawyer, declined to comment on the charges against his client, Mike Colbert. Colbert was arrested with seven other people in Southern Nevada on Oct. 24 on warrants stemming from an 18-month investigation into illegal bookmaking and money laundering.

He is scheduled to make a court appearance in New York on Nov. 29.

Colbert on Thursday did not speak during a procedural hearing in Las Vegas Justice Court. He is charged with enterprise corruption, conspiracy to operate an illegal gaming enterprise and three counts of money laundering.

Cristalli said Colbert’s next court appearance in Las Vegas is scheduled for Dec. 3. He remains free on $50,000 bail.

Colbert appeared at the hearing with Jerry Branca, Steven Diano [GPI Profile], Joseph Paulk, Paul Sexton and Ian Mandell. Brandt England and Kelly Barsel were in New York for their initial hearings and did not appear in court Thursday.

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A Nevada gaming regulator said Thursday that the state’s probe into illegal bookmaking and money laundering that led to the arrest of a Cantor Gaming vice president and seven others in Las Vegas includes the sports book operator itself, focusing on possible regulatory violations.

Jerry Markling, chief of enforcement for the Gaming Control Board, said Thursday that investigators in Nevada have been working with the New York City Police Department’s Organized Crime Investigation Division for the past 15 months to unravel a “large-scale bookmaking operation.”

Gaming and legal sources on Wednesday had said the matter did not involve Cantor Gaming and was unrelated to its business in Las Vegas. The company declined comment Thursday on Markling’s statement.

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