New London Superior Court Judge Arthur C. Hadden ruled Tuesday that the state must return $21,500 in Mohegan Sun gaming chips to two New York City men who were acquitted last month of conspiracy and larceny in a cheating case involving marked cards.

State police had seized $7,502 in chips from Hung Lit Leung, 60, and $14,000 in chips from Leonard Hu, 53, when they were arrested at the casino in February 2011 for allegedly conspiring with dealers to beat the odds at mini-baccarat.

Former dealers Jeain Ng and Bong Gate Louie had testified at Leung’s and Hu’s trial that they pressed their thumbs into 7, 8 and 9 cards in exchange for money. State police had alleged that the two gamblers cheated the casino out of hundreds of thousands of dollars by increasing their bets when they knew a marked card was going to be played.

Defense attorneys Jeremiah Donovan and Conrad Seifert had requested the return of the seized chips after a jury last month found the men not guilty. Donovan said Hu had borrowed money from the casino, or taken a “marker” for about $1,000, and is required to repay the money. Both Hu and Leung are banned from the Uncasville casino.

Hu and Leung had initially been charged with cheating, conspiracy and larceny, but before the case went to the jury, Hadden granted the defense attorneys’ motion for judgment of acquittal with respect to the cheating charge, because the state law on cheating prohibits anyone from knowingly marking cards but does not clearly prohibit someone from participating in a game with marked cards.

Ng, the dealer, had testified that he was recruited to mark cards by a man named “Lee,” who was never identified by the state. None of the evidence showed that Hu or Leung marked the cards.

Prosecutor Stephen M. Carney said he would not be prosecuting the two dealers, who had cooperated with the state, “in the interest of justice.”

“These were not the main beneficiaries of the scheme,” Carney said.

k.florin@theday.com