DAVID KIDWELL / Pocono Record
Louis A. DeNaples (center), owner of the Mount Airy Casino Resort, speaks to reporters after appearing before the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board. He testifiedin April. The board, using its own investigators, cleared DeNaples for a license. Now prosecutors, working with state police, are going over his background again.
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Probe tests Pa. casino oversight
A grand jury is considering whether a slots owner misled the state about alleged mob ties.
Marino recently told associates that he planned to step down soon and probably enter private practice, sources said. Two people close to the matter said the decision was unrelated to the state's DeNaples investigation.
Contact staff writer Craig R. McCoy at 215-854-4821 or cmccoy@phillynews.com.
Meanwhile, two Republican state representatives, citing the DeNaples mess, have drafted a bill to toughen Pennsylvania's licensing process.
The legislation would create an investigatory agency with its own budget - one that no longer would have to answer to the gaming board.
At the same time, construction is going full bore at Mount Airy. The casino is scheduled to open Oct. 15.
Grand Jury Witnesses
During hearings to obtain his casino license, Scranton businessman Louis A. DeNaples denied any links to organized-crime figures. In recent weeks, a grand jury in Harrisburg has been calling witnesses to explore whether DeNaples misled the board. Sources said they included:
William "Big Billy" D'Elia, reputed leader of the Bufalino crime family. D'Elia was indicted last year for laundering narcotics profits, then for conspiring to kill two witnesses. D'Elia's possible ties to DeNaples are at the heart of the grand jury probe.
Shamsud-din Ali, a politically connected Muslim cleric from Philadelphia who at one time sought to do business with D'Elia. Last month, Ali began a seven-year prison term for his involvement in no-work city contracts.
Sam Staten Sr., business manager of Local 322 of the International Laborers Union in Philadelphia, who attended a business meeting with D'Elia and Ali. Staten held a minor stake in Riverwalk Casino, which lost its bid for a slots license.
Louis Coviello, who is serving a life term for murder. His late father, Joseph, was convicted with DeNaples 29 years ago for overbilling the government for cleanup work after Tropical Storm Agnes.
James Decker, a former Lackawanna County chief clerk, also among those convicted in the Tropical Storm Agnes case.
Thomas Joseph, who owns a property in Mountain Top, Luzerne County, that was searched in 2001 as part of a money-laundering investigation. That probe also touched on D'Elia and DeNaples, an affidavit said, but DeNaples was not charged.
Claude Limoges, a former executive of ALC Environmental Inc., a consulting and training firm with offices in New York and Philadelphia. His links, if any, with DeNaples could not be determined.
Also at the Courthouse
Two others with ties to DeNaples were seen at the courthouse while the grand jury was meeting, though it was unclear whether they appeared as witnesses:Sal Cognetti, a Scranton defense lawyer and a former assistant U.S. attorney who prosecuted DeNaples' old fraud case. Cognetti later sent the state gaming board a letter on behalf of DeNaples. Cognetti would not say whether he was there to testify or to represent a client.
The Rev. Joseph Sica, a priest and a longtime DeNaples friend who accompanied the businessman during the casino hearings.
Contact staff writer Craig R. McCoy at 215-854-4821 or cmccoy@phillynews.com.
