The casinos denied any wrongdoing, maintaining in court papers that Taveras brought her problems on herself. Her lawsuit names Resorts Atlantic City, Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino, Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort, the Tropicana Casino Resort, the Showboat Casino Hotel, Bally's Atlantic City, as well as the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. She was disbarred last June and faces criminal charges stemming from those actions, but is trying to work out restitution agreements in order to avoid a prison term. In interviews with The Associated Press, Taveras admitted she dipped into her clients' escrow accounts to finance her gambling habit. She said she even considered swerving into oncoming traffic to kill herself. She lost her law practice, her apartment and her parents' home, and she owes the IRS $58,000. 'It's like crack, only gambling is worse than crack because it's mental,' said Taveras, 37, a New Yorker who now lives in Minnesota. Experts said her case will be difficult to prove, but it provides an unusually detailed window into the life of a problem gambler.
