09281991 - News Article - Sisters get 12 months on gambling charges

Sisters get 12 months on gambling charges
NWI Times
Sep 28, 1991
nwitimes.com/uncategorized/sisters-get-months-on-gambling-charges/article_4b7e128d-6f61-590f-b730-9ca3eb85951b.html
HAMMOND - Two Merrillville sisters were sentenced Friday to 12 months in prison for their role in a family-controlled sports betting operation.

U.S. District Court Judge James Moody gave Jennifer Kaufman, 37, and Sandra Mynes, 44, the maximum prison terms and ordered them to perform 500 hours of community service.

The two women faced between six and 12 months in prison and between $2,000 and $20,000 in fines. Moody did not fine the women, ruling that they did not have the resources and that he would not anticipate them being able to pay.

Moody gave the maximum prison term and fine - 18 months and $30,000 - to their father, Sam Nuzzo Sr., 70, of Merrillville. Their brother Arthur Nuzzo, 33, also received 18 months and was required to pay $10,000. Both were charged under the same federal gambling law.

The judge showed no mercy on the family, which pleaded guilty July 16 shortly before they were scheduled to go to trial on a charge that they operated an illegal gambling business.

Neither the father, son nor two daughters agreed to cooperate or help the government in its prosecution of 11 other defendants named in a 30-count indictment.

Arthur Nuzzo, Mynes and Kaufman have been held at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Chicago since early May, when they were rearrested again and their bonds revoked because they allegedly continued to run their illegal gambling business.

Their older brother, Sam Nuzzo Jr., 45, was arrested with them and was detained as well. He chose to take his case to court, however.

A federal jury last month convicted Nuzzo Jr. and his five other co-defendants, who were accused of not only running an illegal gambling business, but of racketeering, conspiracy and extorting money from other gambling houses.

Martin Kinney, who represented Mynes and Kaufman, told Moody before the sentence was imposed that the two women have had a difficult experience at the correctional center that has helped them comprehend the seriousness of their actions.

Kaufman told Moody she is sorry for what she had done and that she has learned that "nothing and no one is worth your freedom."

"If you give me a change to go home," Kaufman said, "I won't disappoint you."

Mynes declined to speak on her own behalf before she was sentenced.

The government hailed the case as the largest organized crime indictment ever handled by the U.S. attorney's office for Northern District of Indiana.

All of the defendants who went to trial, including Dominick Palermo, 73, the southern territorial boss of the Chicago "Outfit" crime family, were convicted of 56 of the 57 federal charges they faced.

Ned Pujo of Portage pleaded guilty last week of running an illegal gambling business as part of a deal to have the gambling charges against his wife, Yolanda, dropped.

Anthony J. "Potatoes" Ottomanelli of Portage cooperated with the investigation and was given probation.

Another cooperating defendant, Anthony Leone of Valparaiso, will be sentenced Dec. 13. The government's chief witness against the six defendants who went to trial, Leone faced more serious charges than Ottomanelli's single gambling charge.

A remaining defendant, Steve Sfouris of Munster, is still a fugitive and is believed to have fled to his native Greece.

09281991 - News Article - Odds catch Nuzzo's 2 daughters - Each sentenced to one year in prison and 500 hours of community service

Odds catch Nuzzo's 2 daughters 
Each sentenced to one year in prison and 500 hours of community service
Post-Tribune (IN)
September 28, 1991
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Hundreds of Northwest Indiana gamblers have called Jennifer Kaufman and Sandra Mynes over the years to wager on football and basketball games.

Most of the gamblers lost. So did Kaufman and Mynes on Friday.

The two women, both daughters of Sam Nuzzo Sr., were sentenced to prison.

U.S. District Judge James T. Moody ordered each woman to serve one year in prison and perform 500 hours of community service upon release. He did not impose a fine. The one-year sentence was the maximum allowable.

Kaufman, 37, of Merrillville, told Moody, "After the last five months in prison ... nothing or no one ... it's not worth your freedom. If you give me a chance to go home, I won't disappoint you."

The judge rejected her appeal. He also denied defense attorney Martin H. Kinney's request that Kaufman be allowed to serve the rest of her time at a half-way house in Chicago.

Both women are being held at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Chicago.

Mynes, 43, of Merrillville, declined to address the judge before sentencing.

Kinney said, "She and her sister got involved because it was kind of a family business."

The women were among 15 charged last December in what federal authorities described as the most significant crime syndicate indictment ever in northern Indiana.

Each pleaded guilty to one count of illegal gambling under terms of a plea agreement. Neither was required to testify against co-defendants.

In May, Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael A. Thill petitioned to have Mynes' and Kaufman's bonds revoked when the FBI turned up evidence they continued to take sports bets by telephone. U.S. Magistrate Andrew P. Rodovich approved the request.

Because they will receive credit for the five months served, they likely will be released in April 1992.

Kinney, after sentencing, said, "It (one year) is certainly longer than I expected."

Mynes, along with other members of the Nuzzo family, owns and operates Hydad's lounge in Merrillville.

Anthony "Potatoes" Ottomanelli of Portage was sentenced Thursday to six months in a work-release center and fined $2,000. He, too, had pleaded guilty to illegal gambling. Ottomanelli played a role in the printing and distribution of football parlay cards - another Nuzzo operation.

Sam Nuzzo Sr., 70, and his son, Arthur A. Nuzzo, 33, both of Merrillville, were each sentenced to 18 months in prison on Wednesday. Arthur has been incarcerated since May. Sam Nuzzo Sr. reports to prison Nov. 1.

Additionally, Sam Nuzzo Sr. was fined $30,000 and Arthur Nuzzo $10,000.

Another son, Sam Nuzzo Jr., 45, of Merrillville, will be sentenced Oct. 15.

Sam Nuzzo Jr. was tried in August with five other defendants and was convicted on racketeering and gambling charges. He was considered head of the Nuzzo sports-betting and parlay card operation.

The crime syndicate skimmed part of his profits.

09261991 - News Article - Two Nuzzo family members sentenced to 18 months in prison

Two Nuzzo family members sentenced to 18 months in prison
NWI Times
Sep 26, 1991
nwitimes.com/uncategorized/two-nuzzo-family-members-setnenced-to-months-in/article_078b1e6c-faf1-57f9-86b6-12105796f610.html
HAMMOND - Two members of the Nuzzo family who pleaded guilty to running an illegal sports betting operation in Lake County were sentenced Wednesday to 18 months in prison.

Sam Nuzzo Sr., 70 and his son Arthur, 33, were given the maximum prison time provided for under federal sentencing guidelines. U.S. District Court Judge James T. Moody also gave the elder Nuzzo the maximum fine allowed - $30,000 - due Oct. 15. Arthur Nuzzo was fined $10,000 due during the first year of his supervised release from prison.

The two men are among 15 people indicted last year for gambling, racketeering and extortion, and the first to be sentenced for their role in the illegal activity. The indictment was hailed as the largest organized crime case ever handled by the U.S. attorney's office for the northern district of Indiana.

The four members of the Merrillville Nuzzo family pleaded guilty July 16 to running an illegal gambling business, shortly before their case was scheduled to go to trial. Sam Nuzzo Sr.'s two daughters Jennifer Kaufman and Sandra Mynes, will be sentenced Friday. The two could receive similar prison terms. Nuzzo Sr. will begin serving his prison term Nov. 1. Both he and Arthur Nuzzo were sentenced under new guidelines that require them to serve the majority of the prison time they received.

The fifth member of the family and the head of the gambling enterprise, Sam Nuzzo Jr., was found guilty by a federal jury in August along with five others of running an illegal gambling business, extortion, racketeering and conspiracy. He could receive more than 40 years in prison when he is sentenced with his five co-defendants Oct. 15.

Nuzzo Sr. and Arthur Nuzzo's lawyer, Thomas Vanes, argued unsuccessfully Wednesday that the two men were workers, rather than managers of the family-controlled gambling business. Their possible prison time increased from six to 12 months to 12 to 18 months because of the classification.

The government has also labeled Mynes and Kaufman as "managers."

Vanes said he thought the sentence was "out of proportion to this kind of offense." Other defendants like "Outfit" crime family south territory boss Dominick Palermo, who sanctioned the gambling and took in profits, could get a similar sentence for the same crime, he said. Palermo, 73, of Orland Park, faces additional charges as well.

"It hurts me to see a family hurt as much as they're hurting by what happened today (Tuesday)," Vanes said.

Taking the witness stand in his behalf, Nuzzo Sr. said he just "pitched in. It was never my business." He said his older son Sam controlled the profits, giving him money occasionally.

"What this man did he did not do for the purpose of profit, he did as a father of a family," Vanes said. "A father helping his children when they need help." Moody interrupted, saying: "Wouldn't it have been better to say to his children, 'Get out of this business, it's illegal'? That's what should have
happened here."

Arthur Nuzzo told the court that he accepted responsibility for his crimes. "I'm sorry for the crimes I committed, " he said before he was sentenced.

Also entering guilty pleas were Anthony J. Ottomanelli of Portage, who will be sentenced today; and Anthony Leone of Valparaiso, who will be sentenced Dec. 13.

Last week, Ned Pujo pleaded guilty to operating an illegal gambling business in exchange for dropping the charges against his wife, Yolanda Pujo of Portage.

A remaining defendant, Steve Sfouris of Munster, is still a fugitive and is believed to have fled to his native Greece.

09261991 - News Article - Bookie receives 1 1/2 years - Judge criticizes Nuzzo for way he raised kids

Bookie receives 1 1/2 years 
Judge criticizes Nuzzo for way he raised kids
Post-Tribune (IN)
September 26, 1991
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U.S. District Judge James T. Moody sentenced Sam Nuzzo Sr. to 1 1/2 years in prison Wednesday, but not before criticizing the longtime bookie for the way he raised his children.

Moody also sentenced one of Nuzzo's sons, Arthur A. Nuzzo, 33, to 18 months for committing the same offense. Two daughters will be sentenced Friday and another son on Oct. 15.

Nuzzo, 70, of Merrillville, attempted to diminish his culpability by shifting the responsibility for the illegal sports betting operation to his sons, Arthur and Sam Jr.

"I was helping my kids," Nuzzo said, adding that he was nothing more than a gofer for the football parlay card business operated by Arthur and Sam Jr.

Defense attorney Thomas Vanes added, "What this man did, he didn't do for personal profit. The motivation was a father helping his children whenever they needed help."

Moody, irritated by the comment, interrupted, saying, "Wouldn't it have been better to say, 'Get out of this business. It's illegal.' "

Prior to sentencing, Moody agreed with Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael A. Thill's contention that Sam Nuzzo should be considered a manager or supervisor of the operation. That determination increased Nuzzo's possible maximum sentence by six months.

Nuzzo took the witness stand to explain that he was just a runner for his sons.

Moody, moments later, said, "I find the defendant's testimony here today to be incredible, not believable. Whatever he said, I didn't believe him."

Nuzzo countered, "You said you didn't believe me, but I'm telling the truth. I was helping my kids. I was doing wrong. I understand it."

During a November 1987 raid at Sam Nuzzo Sr.'s apartment, the telephone rang and FBI agent Phillip Hultgen took the call, Thill said. Nuzzo was in the apartment at the time. Hultgen accepted a wager from one of Nuzzo's customers.

The 18-month sentence is the maximum Moody could have imposed. Because of the new federal sentencing guidelines, Nuzzo will have to serve virtually all of the time.

Moody also fined Nuzzo $30,000, payable by Oct. 15. Nuzzo is to report to prison Nov. 1.

The 18 months given Arthur Nuzzo also was the maximum sentence. Moody fined Arthur $10,000, payable within the first two years upon release from prison.

Arthur has been held at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Chicago since May and will be credited for time served.

Arthur, with his pre-school daughter looking on, told Moody, "I accept my responsibility and I am sorry for the crime I have committed."

Both Nuzzos had pleaded guilty to one count of illegal gambling under terms of a plea agreement with the U.S. attorney's office.

Sam Nuzzo's daughters, Jennifer Kaufman, 37, and Sandra Mynes, 43, will be sentenced Friday after pleading guilty to illegal gambling. They took sports bets by telephone. They, too, are incarcerated.

Another son, Sam Nuzzo Jr., 45, will be sentenced Oct. 15.

Bond for Arthur and the two women was revoked in May after the FBI showed they continued the family sports betting operation after being indicted in December.

Sam Nuzzo Jr. went to trial in August with five other defendants and was convicted on racketeering and gambling charges.

After sentencing, Vanes said, "It hurts me to see a family hurt. It is out of proportion to this kind of an offense.

"One day you may see these football parlay cards with the state of Indiana stamped on them."