Secret to Nevada Woman's Gambling Habit: 12 Husbands

A Nevada woman who cycled through husbands to bankroll casino trips will be serving her probation behind bars. Jiaying Chen, 34, was sentenced Tuesday after pleading guilty in July to bigamy and obtaining money under false pretenses, reports the Las Vegas Review-Journal. Prosecutors said she used fake IDs and aliases to marry at least a dozen men, including five in a months-long stretch this year. The China-born permanent resident allegedly met men online, pushed for quick marriages, then asked for cash to help a supposedly ill relative in China—money police say instead fueled more than $300,000 in losses at a Las Vegas casino over the last year.

Judge Crystal Eller ordered Chen to two years of probation, with a year in the Clark County Detention Center and credit for 125 days served, per KSNV. Chen must also attend mandatory Gamblers Anonymous meetings and counseling and pay $280,000 in restitution. Calling Chen "the quintessential runaway bride," prosecutors worried she would be deported or otherwise disappear, undermining victims' restitution cases, if she did not remain in custody. She had vanished after posting bail following a 2024 arrest and was using an alias when she was arrested once again in June. One victim told the court Chen's schemes left him unable to pay his factory workers and in debt to friends.