Chicago man gets 17 years for stealing over $50,000 from professional gambler

A Chicago man was sentenced to 17 years in prison for stealing more than $50,000 from a professional gambler in 2015.

Robert Chencinski, 48, pleaded guilty Wednesday to a felony count of robbery, according to the DuPage County state’s attorney’s office. Chencinski was subject to Class X sentencing guidelines based on his criminal background.

On the morning of Aug. 10, 2015, the professional gambler was stopped at an intersection while driving from Rivers Casino Des Plaines to his home in Naperville, prosecutors said. As the victim drove through the intersection, Chencinski rear-ended his vehicle.

Chencinski then got out of his vehicle, walked up to the gambler and put him into a chokehold before opening his driver’s side door and pulling him out of his vehicle, prosecutors said. After overpowering the gambler, Chencinski made off with $51,500 in cash.

A witness called 911 and officers in Naperville soon located Chencinski’s vehicle, prosecutors said. Following a brief chase, Chencinski abandoned his vehicle in a residential area in Naperville and hid in a backyard, where he was found about an hour later.

“Mr. Chencinski’s decision to ambush, assault and rob an innocent man of more than $50,000 has indeed earned him every minute of the seventeen-year sentence handed down by Judge Miller,” DuPage County State’s Attorney Robert B. Berlin said in a statement.

Chencinski will have to serve half of his sentence before being eligible for parole.