SAN DIEGO -- The leader of a San Diego-based card-cheating scheme that bilked 27 casinos across the United States out of $7 million was sentenced Monday to nearly six years in federal prison.

Phuong Quoc Truong pleaded guilty on April 2, 2008, to conspiracy to participate in the affairs of a racketeering enterprise. He and 13 others were indicted in May 2007.

Of the 27 casinos targeted by the ring, three were Indian casinos in San Diego County -- Sycuan, Pechanga and Barona Valley Ranch, according to the Department of Justice.

Today, U.S. District Judge John Houston in San Diego also sentenced Truong on a separate indictment to which he pleaded guilty after agreeing to transfer the charges to San Diego from the Western District of Washington.

That indictment related to card-cheating activity at Emerald Queen Casino, which is an Indian gaming establishment in Washington state, according to the Justice Department.

In his plea agreement, Truong admitted that in about August 2002, he, with his co-conspirators, created a criminal enterprise known as the "Tran Organization," based in San Diego and elsewhere, for the purpose of participating in gambling cheats at casinos across the United States.

Houston ordered Truong to serve 70 months in custody and forfeit nearly $2.8 million, according to the Justice Department.

The defendant was also ordered to pay $5.7 million in restitution to several casinos and to forfeit two houses in San Diego, two properties in Vietnam, a 2001 Porsche Carrera, a Rolex presidential watch and a diamond- encrusted pendant, according to the Justice Department.

Authorities said there have been two subsequent indictments in connection with the Tran Organization's alleged casino-cheating conspiracy, issued in 2008 and last year, charging 19 additional defendants.

According to the three indictments, the defendants and others executed a "false shuffle" cheating scheme at casinos in the United States and Canada during blackjack and mini-baccarat games.

The indictments allege that members of the criminal organization bribed casino card dealers and supervisors to perform false shuffles during card games, thereby creating "slugs" or groups of unshuffled cards.

The indictments also allege that after tracking the order of cards dealt in a card game, a member of the organization would signal the card dealer to perform a "false shuffle," and members of the group would then bet on the known order of cards when the slug appeared on the table.

By doing so, members of the conspiracy repeatedly won thousands of dollars during card games, including several hundred thousand dollars on one occasion, according to the indictments.

The government also alleges that the members of the organization used sophisticated mechanisms for tracking the order of cards during games, including hidden transmitter devices and specially created software that would predict the order in which the cards would reappear during blackjack games.

To date, 37 defendants have pleaded guilty to charges relating to the casino-cheating conspiracy, according to the Department of Justice.