Rande Thorpe.
(Photo provided by Stan Maddux, WSBT Correspondent)

Nearly 10 years after retiring as finance manager for Warsaw Community Schools, Rande Thorpe, 57, and his wife, Virginia, 59, currently face charges associated with the burglary and fraud of an Illinois casino.

WSBT reports Thorpe was arrested for the same type of crime at a casino in Mississippi just before he suddenly resigned from LaPorte Community Schools at the end of January. According to WSBT Correspondent Stan Maddux, Thorpe was involved in a more than $66,000 loss to Harris Casino in Robinsonville, Miss.

According to Maddux, Thorpe submitted his resignation from his position as superintendent from LaPorte Schools. On Jan. 22, just two days after the acceptance of his resignation, Thorpe was arrested in Tunica, Miss., for allegedly manipulating a slot machine from April 17-19.

Maddux reports Thorpe revealed to LaPorte School Board President Mike Kellems that a warrant was out for his arrest on a “gambling related matter.” The board reportedly accepted Thorpe’s retirement request less than a week later during a public meeting. Maddux noted Thorpe had served as interim superintendent since July after spending 5 years as the school district’s chief financial officer.

Thorpe and his wife are also accused of being a part of a ring that reportedly manipulated video Keno machines at a casino in Joliet, Ill. The couple is currently residing in Corpus Christi, Texas, and are charged with computer fraud, burglary, cheating at a gambling game and computer tampering.

The couple has been released after paying their bonds and were permitted to return to Texas to await further developments in the case.