Ex-cop outlines role in gambling scheme
NWI Times
Jul 27, 1991
nwitimes.com/uncategorized/ex-cop-outlines-role-in-gambling-scheme/article_0f5c963b-e6d8-5b5b-8b62-668d71ac808a.html
HAMMOND - A former Gary policeman testified Friday that he was partners in an illegal gambling establishment with Sam Nuzzo Jr. and helped distribute betting cards for the Nuzzo family.
Testifying under a grant of immunity, John Pantinas told the jury that he was involved in illegal gambling, from poker games to parley cards to barbooth, for much of the 1980s, and much of it was done in association with the Nuzzo family of Merrillville.
Sam Nuzzo Jr. is one of five defendants charged with running an illegal gambling business, extortion and racketeering. The federal government maintains that Nuzzo controlled much of the gambling in Lake County and he, along with the other defendants, conspired to extort money for the Chicago "Outfit" from other illegal gambling operations.
Also on trial are: Dominick "Tootsie" Palermo, 73, the reputed boss of the group's Chicago South Side territory; his alleged lieutenant, Nicholas "Jumbo" Guzzino of Chicago Heights; Bernard "Snooky" Morgano of Valparaiso, the alleged boss of Northwest Indiana; Peter "Cadillac Pete" Petros of Chicago and Sam "Frog" Glorioso of Gary, who both allegedly collected the "street tax."
Pantinas and other witnesses who testified Friday told of widespread illegal gambling in Northwest Indiana, of barbooth games that lasted 24 hours, netting as much as $15,000 for the sponsor, of thousands of parley cards distributed each week so bets could be solicited on football and basketball games and of Las Vegas nights complete with poker, black jack and slot machines.
Defense lawyer Scott King got Pantinas to admit that some of that illegal gambling is still going on today, showing him a horse betting slip with Monday's date, the day the jury was picked for the trial.
Under questioning by King, Pantinas said Frank Burton, one of the government's witnesses expected to testify in the case, is today operating an illegal gambling business in Gary.
Pantinas said he resigned from the Gary Police Department in 1977 after serving eight years on the force because "it didn't mix with what I like to do." What Pantinas liked to do was gamble.
Besides the parley cards, bets could also be placed on horses, football and basketball games by calling two phone numbers manned by Nuzzo's sisters Sandy and Jennifer. Brother Arthur, or "Artie," settled bets with gamblers by meeting them at area restaurants, taverns or their place of business, witnesses testified. Artie also picked up parley cards used for sports betting from a LaPorte printer, Pantinas said.
Pantinas began his association with Sam Nuzzo Jr. in the early 1980s, when he said he was asked by Nuzzo to continue distributing parley cards that Nuzzo was taking over from another bookmaker.
In addition to the parley cards, Pantinas said he jointly ran a Greek coffeehouse at 4577 Broadway in Gary. Although he didn't put any money in the illegal gambling operation, Pantinas said he given a 25 percent cut by Nuzzo.
Pantinas said he was a dealer for the illegal card games held at the coffeehouse.
From the poker and other card games played at the coffeehouse, Nuzzo and Pantinas shared a "juice" of about $5 or $6 out of every $100 in the pot, Pantinas testified. A typical evening could net between $500 and $1,000.
Pantinas said he also helped run a Greek dice game known as barbooth for Steve Sfouris at the Old Robert Hall building on State Street in downtown Hammond. The games later were moved to the Indiana Restaurant in the Indiana Harbor section of East Chicago.
The barbooth games, which are won and lost by different combinations on the dice, would sometimes last 24 hours and were played seven days a week, Pantinas said. The house kept 2.5 percent of the bets and would average $5,000 to $10,000 a night.
Nuzzo and Morgano were among some of the gamblers who played cards at the Greek coffee houses Pantinas said he worked.
Before Pantinas testified before a grand jury, he said he talked to Morgano. "He didn't tell me anything, but he thought he could be going to jail over this entire situation," Pantinas told the jury.
Morgano's lawyer, Richard James, asked Pantinas if Morgano could have referred to the gambling Morgano did. Pantinas said "yes."
Another barbooth dealer for Sfouris, Dan Georgopoulos, testified Friday that his cousin Gus Proimos owned a Greek coffeehouse at 38th and Broadway in Gary where illegal card games were held. Georgopoulos recalled that sometime after 1984 a man who called himself "Cadillac Pete" told him that his cousin was going to have to pay about $400 or $500 a month.
Georgopoulos said he asked if he was paying for protection and, if so, who they could call if the police raided the coffeehouse. He said "Cadillac Pete" told him a police raid was not his problem, and repeated the demand for money.
Georgopoulos said he refused to pay, and to his knowledge nothing happened to his cousin as a result.
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