More details have emerged in the case of Ex-StratCom Deputy Commander Tim Giardina (pictured), who admitted to using counterfeit poker chips at an Iowa casino last year. Through the officer’s own statements and interviews with law enforcement, the Omaha World-Herald was able to piece together a better picture of the bizarre incident, which could cost Giardina his career. Read more about the case.

Authorities say that while playing at the Horseshoe Casino’s poker room in Council Bluffs, Giardina returned from the restroom and told a casino employee that he had found some property on the men’s room floor. If anyone could describe it, he said, he would return it to them.

That property, according to Giardina, turned out to be three $500 poker chips, some gaming vouchers, coupons, and a money clip. When no one came to claim the chips, he decided to use them as his own, losing them to another player at the poker table by the end of the night. But when that player went to cash out his winnings, an employee at the cage immediately noticed that the chips did not feel right.

When the cashier took a closer look, he found that someone had used purple paint to turn a $1 chip into a $500 chip. After an exhaustive review of security camera footage, casino security determined that the phony chips had originated with Giardina.

“The people that work at the casinos – especially those that are cashing out the chips – they can tell right away if one of them is different,” said David Dales, a Special Agent involved in the case.

At this point, Giardina decided to change his story. When taken in for questioning, the decorated naval officer told investigators that he had bought the chips from a man in the bathroom and was unaware that they were counterfeit. Yet when authorities checked security camera footage, they didn’t see anyone besides Giardina going in or out of the bathroom.

The incident has cost Giardina his job as the #2 officer in charge of all of US nuclear forces and possibly his retirement benefits. In October, he was relieved of his post by President Barack Obama due to a “loss of confidence” in the ability to carry out his duties. He was later reassigned to a two-star position at Navy headquarters in the Pentagon and is currently waiting to hear his fate upon the conclusion of an NCIS investigation. “I expect resolution fairly soon,” he said. “I’ve been frustrated that a case I thought was very straightforward has taken months of investigation.”

Even so, Giardina claims that he is not a gambling addict; he simply enjoys playing low-stakes poker. “To me, poker is a sport,” he said. “I grew up playing it. It’s part of the Navy culture.”

He also feels frustrated by the fact that he hasn’t been able to tell, what he says, is his side of the story. “I basically thought… I’d be treated fairly,” Giardina said. “I was totally ignored, even though I made those requests to the commander of StratCom and the Secretary of Defense.”

But apart from his current life in limbo, he declined to offer any details in his defense. “I think you can appreciate, the last thing I want to do is get out in front of a case with specifics and anger the people who make judgments about my future,” he told the World-Herald.

I’ve got a hell of a lot to say,” he said.

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