The ‘RICO Sledgehammer' could hit suspected NW Indiana gambling ring

Added: 2026-05-15

[00:00:00]22 people snared during Northwest Indiana gambling and extortion raids have pleaded not guilty tonight in a wide-reaching federal court case. And for all 22, the legal noose may be on the verge of tightening.

[00:00:13]>> The feds say this is a big case spanning multiple states, several years, and a criminal hierarchy. And now some defense attorneys say they're ready and bracing for prosecutors to soon up the ante by filing new, much more serious charges against the entire group. Investigative reporter Chuck Goudie is here with the story tonight. Chuck. Stephen, it's a tool that brings fear to defense attorneys and their accused criminal clients, the RICO sledgehammer. And tonight RICO, the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Law, is hanging over the heads of all 22 defendants. Their attorneys expecting that prosecutors will file new and much tougher RICO conspiracy charges that carry much stiffer prison time for those convicted.

[00:00:58]On a crisp May morning in Hammond, Indiana, the accused gambling and extortion offenders walked in a federal court to a chorus of songbirds in the trees. But the harmonious stroll ended before a judge with all pleading not guilty to felonies and the realization that their case could soon become even more serious. I'm very confident the government is going to supersede this indictment with a RICO indictment, a a Racketeer Influenced Corrupt Organizations indictment. And then everybody's on the hook for what everybody did.

[00:01:27]>> John Cantrell represents this man, Peter Pappas who is among the few defendants held without bond because Pappas is accused of threatening to murder the college daughter of a gambler who owed the group money. A RICO indictment could mean all 22 defendants would be on the hook for a conspiracy that includes allegations of violence in a criminal enterprise that stretched across state lines and included several predicate acts including money laundering, extortion, and bribery for example. A month ago federal prosecutors teed up such a case, and now defense attorneys are focused on when new RICO charges could come. They're suggesting that the allegation involves over $5 million. So, they're all all would get launched and they would all get over 10 years.

[00:02:11]Chicago outfit bosses and mafia kingpins were the original intended targets of the RICO Act when it was unveiled in 1970, but the law has branched out to drug dealers and corrupt business operators. So, with this alleged gambling and extortion ring, RICO would return to its roots because among those charged are New England mobster Giuseppe Joe Pelosi Manzi and Chicago outfit connected restaurateur GG Revido, the semi-famous owner of Capri Restaurante here in West suburban Burr Ridge. We've done the best we can do so far. We plead not guilty. He's not guilty of these charges.

[00:02:49]>> Mr. uh uh Revido is a is absolutely a harmless individual.

[00:02:56]And uh there's some kind of I don't know what it is. There's some kind of a vendetta against him, it appears to me.

[00:03:06]Federal prosecutors tonight described this multi-defendant case as complex, supported by hours and hours of undercover video and audio recordings that will have to be put on a hard drive and will take months for defense attorneys to review. With all that, the next court date isn't until September 10th or earlier, of course, if racketeering charges end up being filed.

[00:03:29]Allison. Thanks for the update, Chuck.