Gambling News by Gambling Headquarters

One of nine men indicted for running a gambling ring that took bets on football and basketball games pleaded guilty Wednesday in federal court afternoon. And Joesph Saladino's plea may be the first of several guilty pleas from men whom prosecutors allege were connected to a conspiracy that runs as far back as the 1980s. "There's a total of five" guilty pleas in the works, including Saladino, said Assistant U.S. Attorney John Scully as he left Judge Philip Reinhard's courtroom. The other possible guilty pleas are John P. "Tiger" Frisella, Joseph F. "Pep" Fiorenza, and Joesph's two sons, Nicholas and Rick. Wednesday, Reinhard set Friday afternoon hearing dates for the four. Their trial was initially scheduled to start Dec. 11.It's still not clear what will happen with the other men who were indicted in the case. They are Charles A. Purin, Frank C. Giardono, Nick Provenzano and John F. Salamone. A tentative trial date for them has been set for Feb. 12.All of the men, except Saladino, were indicted and arrested in early February, just days before the Super Bowl, on gambling charges.Federal prosecutors have been characteristically tight-lipped about details of the alleged conspiracy, but court papers filed this week list some of the evidence the Justice Department plans to present if the case goes to trial.The documents say that Frisella and Saladino had, at least by 2001, set up a "wireroom" in a Rockford apartment building at 1912 17th Ave. where they would take bookmaking calls from bettors over two telephones that were listed under the name of a woman known to Saladino. The feds also obtained phone records that show hundreds of calls made from the men to 800 and 888 numbers. A government wiretap that was placed on one of the phones in the wireroom was activated Nov. 26, 2001, according to court documents.

"It was immediately apparent that Joseph Saladino was involved in a sports betting business and there were ultimately several thousand conversations intercepted on this phone," the documents read. "Some of the calls were with the defendants and other conspirators, but the majority were with bettors."

The Justice Department is also apparently prepared to present witnesses that placed bets with the members of the alleged ring or could identify some members as people who picked up or delivered gambling payments.

Among these witnesses is a person identified only as "a family member of Charles Purin" who would testify that they helped drum up business for the bookmaking operation run by Saladino and Frisella.

Saladino, who did not file an official plea deal with the court, faces up to five years in prison and the government is seeking to seize $500,000 in assets.