As big as a player as there has been in the world of gambling on the east coast of the United States the past 40 years, aging Pittsburgh mobster Robert (Bobby I) Iannelli is smoking it to the filter. The seasoned 88-year old Steel Town gambling-boss titan was indicted this week on charges of overseeing a giant sports book and numbers lottery business out of Allegheny and Westmoreland Counties, alleged to be still running his rackets from his old homestead, Chubb’s Place restaurant in North Park.
According to state police, task force members seized: 61 liters of liquor, 10 gallons of malt and brewed alcohol, three illegal gambling machines, $500 in cash and other business-related items. GREENSBURG (KDKA) – An illegal gambling ring was taking bets on seemingly anything and everything, according to police. Authorities have charged 13 suspects for running numbers in what law enforcement calls an extensive illegal gambling operation. Between January 22 and February 25, 2020, authorities confiscated 71 gambling machines, including 65 video gambling devices, from 17 liquor establishments. Gambling devices seized across the Commonwealth. Seizures dot the map of PA. In the Erie area in the Northwest, police took six devices. The Pittsburgh region in the West had 13 uprooted.
Iannelli came up in the mob under Tony Grosso, Pittsburgh’s longtime policy czar, who went to prison in 1986. Upon Grosso’s incarceration, Iannelli took over most of illegal gambling in Western Pennsylvania on behalf of the LaRocca crime family and mafia don Michael Genovese. Partnering with the Williams brothers, Iannelli controlled massive swaths of numbers territory once belonging to Grosso – Grosso’s illegal lottery generated $30,000,000 per year in net profits.
Closely aligning himself with Pittsburgh mob capos Anthony (Wango) Capizzi and Frank (Sonny) Amato, Jr., Bobby I grew his bookmaking business to be one of the largest in the country. He did collections for the savvy Capizzi and the mob prince Sonny Amato and has long acted as a layoff bank for other high-end bookies reaching from Pittsburgh to New York to Boston.
Iannelli’s arrest record dates back to the 1950s. He took a federal bookmaking pinch in the 1970s and did three years behind bars. In 1991, he was popped in a state gambling case and had to do some more time. People who know him describe him as a “gentleman gangster.”
Bobby I’s son, Rodney (aka “Rusty”) was busted with him in the 1991 state case as well as the most recent one. Family gambling affairs were based out of Chub’s Place in 1991 just like prosecutors allege they are being today. Rusty Iannelli, 59, was nailed in 2013 for running gambling rackets with Pittsburgh mob figures Ron (Porky) Melocchi and Jeff (Biscuit) Risha and pleaded guilty.
The Pittsburgh mafia, in the form of a functioning crime family, is defunct. When Genovese died of natural causes in 2006, the hierarchy fell apart. Links to Genovese, like the ones the Iannellis carry, are few and far between these days, although scattered activity still occasionally occurs. Amato passed away in 2003. Wango Capizzi, for years the LaRocca syndicate’s liaison to the Las Vegas gaming industry, followed shortly after Genovese, and checked out in 2007.
The Pennsylvania State Police are back to seizingunauthorized and untaxed gambling devices and their proceeds from across the state, after a temporary pause during a legal challenge.
Between January 22 and February 25, 2020, authorities confiscated 71 gambling machines, including 65 video gambling devices, from 17 liquor establishments.
Gambling devices seized across the Commonwealth
Seizures dot the map of PA. In the Erie area in the Northwest, police took six devices. The Pittsburgh region in the West had 13 uprooted.
The Philadelphia area in the Southeast topped the list with 16. Police took 13 devices in the Northeast near Wilkes-Barre and Williamsport. Here you can see the districts with number of devices seized between Jan. 22 and Feb. 25.
| Police District | Number of Devices Seized |
|---|---|
| PHILADELPHIA | 16 |
| PITTSBURGH | 13 |
| PUNXSUTAWNEY | 12 |
| WILLIAMSPORT | 8 |
| ERIE | 6 |
| ALLENTOWN | 5 |
| ALTOONA | 5 |
| WILKES-BARRE | 5 |
| HARRISBURG | 1 |
| Total Seized | 71 |
VICTIM: Society, according to State Police
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Accord to police spokesman Ryan Tarkowski, some seizures included gambling devices marketed as “skill machines.”
Many of the individual seizure reports read precisely the same way.
In a box spelling out what the PA State Police sees as the harm, many read, VICTIM: Society.
Captain Jeffrey Rineer, acting director of the liquor enforcement unit for the PA SP summed up:
“Illegal, unregulated gambling is a serious – and growing – problem facing the commonwealth, with video gambling devices spreading beyond licensed liquor establishments into convenience stores, malls, and restaurants. So far in 2020, gambling machine seizures have been reported from every office.”
More than $115,000 was seized and is subject to forfeiture, along with the devices.
Additionally, those involved risk criminal prosecution. And licensed liquor establishments are subject to administrative penalties under the liquor code. That includes the possibility of license suspension or seizure.
POM takes offense, defends legality of “skill games”
Pennsylvania Skill is a brand from the Pace-O-Matic company of Williamsport, PA.
POM recently lost an attempt to enjoin the court to protect their “skill games” machines while broader legal issues work their way through the state court system. At issue is if the games are subject to regulation, licensing, and taxation – or not.
POM has gone so far as to contend in civil court that while their games are legal, another manufacturer’s are not.
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A spokesman for POM, Michael Barley, took issue with seizures of games made by his company:
Though we applaud the Pennsylvania State Police for seizing games that are clearly illegal and have no judicial support, we are disheartened in the fact that the Pennsylvania State Police has used this opportunity to continue to harass Pennsylvania Skill who have the only adjudicated/legal game in the Commonwealth.
Through their comments and actions, the Pennsylvania State Police have desperately tried to tie our legal, court adjudicated Pennsylvania Skill games to those manufacturers operating illegal gambling devices.
Conflicting legal rulings, growing opposition
Conflicting court rulings about the nature of POM’s devices – whether they are merely random outcome slot machines or based on skill – have created a gray area not fully explored yet in the court system or the state Legislature.
Recently, a court ruling opened the way for resumption of police seizures. Also, multiple gaming organizations united to lobby against the spread of unauthorized gaming machines in the Commonwealth.
Even the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB) finally weighed in by joining the ongoing court battle and formally calling the machines illegal.
With those developments, the red light previously holding back enforcement is now yellow, if not yet bright green. And the State Police are seizing the opportunity.
Officials claim the gambling devices are hurting lottery revenue
Further opposition to illegal gaming devices has come from PA officials who are concerned unregulated and untaxed gambling devices will cut into PA state lottery revenues earmarked for senior citizen programs.
A spokesperson for the lottery last week told told KYW Newsradio in Philadelphia that a year ago, just 8% of its lottery agents had gambling devices as well as lottery terminals. This year it is 25%, and that’s cutting into lottery revenue.
Last month during Legislative hearings, PA Lottery executive director Drew Svitko told lawmakers skill games could lead to a $200 million decline in scratch-off ticket sales this year. That is a more significant loss than the $115 million hit last year, PennLivereported.
“Those skill machines are absolutely having an effect on the lottery,” Svitko testified.
Last year lottery ticket sales generated $1.14 billion. The Lottery Fund helps pay for older Pennsylvanians’ property tax and rent rebates, transportation, prescriptions, and local agencies on aging.
There is disagreement on a path forward. Some lawmakers propose creating regulations and taxing the devices. Other lawmakers are pushing for heightened enforcement. For now, none of these machines are safe from seizure.