Corrupting police and public officials has always been standard operating procedure for organized crime, and a Northwest Indiana gambling ring was no exception, court documents show.
Now, the two accused leaders of the mob-linked organization, nicknamed Jimmy the Greek and Dean Gem, appear to have fashioned themselves as “Goodfellas” according to federal agents, sending each other a clip from that famous Mafia movie by the same name amid the investigation.
The film, about a notorious Mafia heist from an Air France cargo terminal at New York’s JFK Airport in 1967, was to be a blueprint for alleged Northwest Indiana gambling kingpins James “Jimmy the Greek” Gerodemos and his reputed major domo Dean “Gem” Gialamas according to a newly-filed government motion asking that Gialamas be held without bond.
After “Jimmy the Greek” shared the Goodfellas clip, court papers state Gialamas said “let’s recover some money” from degenerate gamblers.
Also, in court paperwork, prosecutors showed off a $1 million personal check from Gialamas to illustrate just how big the big-time stakes could be.
Federal investigators say payouts were made at multiple Gerodemos restaurants in Northwest Indiana, along with a popular Italian eatery southwest of Chicago in suburban Burr Ridge. Authorities say the southwest suburban restaurant is owned by Outfit associate Gigi Rovito, a convicted felon who is also charged in the new gambling case.
In newly revealed information, the NBC Chicago investigative team has learned that members of the gambling enterprise had at least three law enforcement officers on the take.
According to new paperwork, one of them was a federal law enforcement agent working “in a large city” who “looks out for me,” according to Jimmy the Greek.
A second corrupt lawman is also said to be a federal agent, while the third is a local policeman according to authorities, who allegedly worked as a bookie while carrying a badge.
The three law enforcement officers are not named in court records. Neither are their federal agencies or the local Illinois police department where they worked.
But with illicit gambling allegations spread from Indiana to Chicago, across the country and to Central America, there is another new wrinkle: FBI agents say money was also being borrowed from a drug cartel. All of the revelations are putting the stars in alignment for additional federal charges soon. As we first reported last week, even defense attorneys expect racketeering charges, under what is known as the RICO Act, charges that usually carry double-digit prison sentences.
