07261991 - News Article - Poker vendors say they were forced to pay for protection

Poker vendors say they were forced to pay for protection
NWI Times
Jul 26, 1991
nwitimes.com/uncategorized/poker-vendors-say-they-were-forced-to-pay-for-protection/article_d0e33696-8866-5e3d-8583-3815cdb65167.html
HAMMOND - Video poker machine vendor Charles Hescher said he was "dumbfounded" when a man came into his business and told him "it was time to pay the piper."

Hescher, owner of Star Amusement of Gary, testified Thursday that the man who demanded he pay $1,000 a month for the privilege to distribute video poker machines called himself "Cadillac Pete."

Tavern owner Gus Iatrides testified that "Cadillac Pete" also demanded money from him. The owner of Cassidy's Bar in Hammond said Pete wanted $50 a month for each machine he had in his own bar and for machines in other locations.

Pete said he was sent in to collect by "the boys," said Iatrides, who told the jury he didn't know who "the boys" were, but believed they were the syndicate.

Neither men paid and nothing happened to them, a point defense lawyers trumpeted Thursday in the trial of Peter "Cadillac Pete" Petros and five other alleged members of the "Outfit" organized crime family.

Accused of extortion, racketeering and gambling are: Dominick "Tootsie" Palermo, 73, the reputed boss of the Chicago South Side territory for the "Outfit;" his alleged lieutenant, Nicholas "Jumbo" Guzzino of Chicago Heights; Bernard "Snooky" Morgano of Valparaiso, the alleged boss of Northwest Indiana; Sam Nuzzo Jr. of Merrillville, who allegedly controlled much of Lake County's illegal gambling; Petros of Chicago; and Sam "Frog" Glorioso of Gary, who both allegedly collected protection money.

Also testifying Thursday were some of the gamblers who said they placed bets with the Nuzzo family.

The bulk of the day, however, was devoted to the introduction of more than 200 tapes obtained from hidden microphones placed in the Taste of Italy restaurant in Calumet City and wiretaps placed on the phone of Morgano and Anthony Leone, a defendant who has pleaded guilty and will testify for the government at the conclusion of the trial.

U.S. District Court Judge James T. Moody allowed the tapes to be entered as evidence over the objection of defense lawyers, who tried to discredit their authenticity and grilled FBI agents over how they could identity speakers and how they could take bits and pieces of conversations and construe meaning from them.

Under the court order obtained for bugging the restaurant and taping the private phones, agents were not allowed to record any conversations that did not indicate criminal activity or did not involve the targeted people. Agents testified that they would stop and start the recordings according to the types of conversations.

The tapes were not played for the jury on Thursday, but are expected to be heard later in the trial.

The jury heard the first testimony Thursday from gamblers who, testifying under a grant of immunity, said they placed bets on football and basketball games by calling a couple of telephone numbers.

They said they used a number in place of their names, and each time they called they were given an accounting of their wins and losses and the odds for the upcoming games. The average bet ranged from $25 to $100 a game and a "juice" of 10 percent was payed on all losing wagers.

Mike Stolarz, owner of Mike's Sporting Goods, said he began placing bets on the two telephone numbers sometime in the mid-1980s with "Jennifer" and "Sandy," who he said were related to the Nuzzos.

Winning as much as $400 to $500 a week and losing as much as $500 to $600, Stolarz said he would settle his account when "Artie" Nuzzo would visit his Gary sporting goods store. He said he also was visited for a number of years by a man named "Frog" who would drop off parley cards used for betting on sporting events.

Merrillville doctor Charles Yast also testified he placed bets on the phone lines, giving his wager to Sandy and Jennifer Nuzzo - their maiden names - with Artie settling the account with a visit to his office. Yast said he had no dealings with Sam Nuzzo Jr. concerning gambling.

Sam Jr.'s brother Arthur Nuzzo, his sisters Jennifer Kaufman and Sandra Mynes and his father Sam Nuzzo Sr., all of Merrillville, pleaded guilty last week to running an illegal gambling operation. All of them were charged in the same 30-count indictment. In addition to the gambling charges, Sam Nuzzo Jr. is accused of extortion and racketeering.