Probe tests Pa. casino oversight

Rendell aides never sought the opinions, saying they were unnecessary.

State police won't say what negative information, if any, they had on DeNaples at the time the board granted him a license. One thing is for sure: If they had anything damaging, they didn't share it.

Finally, the board gave the license to DeNaples. Before it voted, its enforcement lawyer said the inquiry hadn't turned up any reason to bar DeNaples.

The state Supreme Court upheld that decision last year, rejecting an appeal from a rival casino operator.

After reviewing confidential reports and hearing transcripts, the court said DeNaples had responded to all issues "in a coherent and thoughtful manner."

Periandi still blames the gaming board. He said it should have taken time to dig deeper, given the "consistent insinuation" that DeNaples is linked to D'Elia.

"Doesn't it seem like you have some concerns out there?" he asked. "Then why press for a decision?"

Thomas "Tad" Decker, who was chairman of the gaming board, said that the state police's privacy excuse was bogus, and that it would be a "disgrace" if the agency had sat on any damaging information about DeNaples.

Decker quit the gaming board last month. He returned to his old Philadelphia law firm, Cozen & O'Connor – a firm that represents DeNaples. Though his move has sparked some criticism, Decker has said he won't do any legal work that involves DeNaples or anyone else who had dealings with the gaming board.

A new investigation

A number of figures linked to D'Elia have been taken to the grand jury and asked whether they had any dealings with DeNaples.

One of them is Ali, 69, who in August started a seven-year sentence for siphoning money from no-work city contracts.

The link between Ali and D'Elia surfaced publicly during the City Hall corruption scandal. In 2001, the two met in a South Philadelphia tavern to talk about landing city demolition contracts. The deal never got off the ground, and there is no suggestion that DeNaples was involved.

Ali's former lawyer, James Binns, said last week that Ali knew DeNaples. According to Binns, Ali told the grand jury that DeNaples had once called Ali to ask a small favor, help in getting a friend a reserved parking space at a facility where Ali had pull. Binns said he could provide no more details.

Dauphin County Prosecutor Edward Marsico, a Republican, declined to comment.

Republican Attorney General Tom Corbett had authority to investigate DeNaples, but chose to permit Marsico to pursue the matter because the county prosecutor had already begun delving into other gambling-related matters.

Once he applied for a casino license, DeNaples was barred from making campaign donations. Before that, his real estate partnership had given $55,000 to Corbett's campaign fund. A spokesman for the attorney general said those donations had played no role in Corbett's deferral to Marsico.

DeNaples' network of friends includes a U.S. attorney. Thomas Marino, the U.S. attorney for the middle district, which includes Harrisburg and Scranton, has often socialized with DeNaples. He also sent the gaming board a letter vouching for DeNaples' character.

When the federal investigation began last year, Marino recused himself; the inquiry is being led by a prosecutor in Binghamton, N.Y.