{"id":116449,"date":"2019-10-04T13:05:56","date_gmt":"2019-10-04T20:05:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=116449"},"modified":"2019-10-04T17:18:10","modified_gmt":"2019-10-05T00:18:10","slug":"atlantic-city-mayor-stole-from-youth-basketball-program-faces-20-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/atlantic-city-mayor-stole-from-youth-basketball-program-faces-20-years\/","title":{"rendered":"Atlantic City Mayor Who Promised Casino Shakeup Embezzled $87,000 From Youth Basketball Program, Faces 20 Years"},"content":{"rendered":"

Atlantic City’s Democratic mayor Frank Gilliam Jr resigned on Thursday after pleading guilty in a federal court in Camden, New Jersey to one count of wire fraud. He admitted to siphoning $87,000 from a charity youth basketball program into his own pockets.<\/p>\n

\"Frank
Frank Gilliam Jr blamed mismanagement in city government and the casinos for Atlantic City\u2019s woes and promised voters he would effect change. (Wayne Parry\/AP)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

His plea comes less than a year after he was cleared of assault<\/a> and harassment charges stemming from a late-night fistfight in the parking lot of the Golden Nugget Casino. Gilliam is now facing up to 20 years in prison and a potential fine of $250,000 if convicted in the current wire fraud case.<\/p>\n

While local press reported early Thursday that Gilliam was due to appear in front of US District Judge Joseph Rodriguez later that morning, the reason for the hearing was unknown until the bombshell was dropped in court.<\/p>\n

But trouble had been brewing for Gilliam since December 2018, when the FBI raided his home<\/a>, seizing computers and more than $40,000 in cash.<\/p>\n

Governor Weighs In<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Gilliam\u2019s resignation came on Thursday night, but according to The New York Times,<\/em>\u00a0he initially resisted pressure from New Jersey\u2019s Democratic Governor Phil Murphy to quit.<\/p>\n

Murphy said Gilliam\u2019s actions were \u201cdespicable,\u201d adding he had \u201csquandered the trust of his community.\u201d<\/p>\n

It is with a heavy heart that I tender my resignation as Mayor of the City of Atlantic City, effective immediately,\u201d Gilliam wrote in an official statement. \u201cI would like to apologize to the residents of the great city of Atlantic City, who deserve stability and respect.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Gilliam was elected mayor after an extended period of economic downturn in Atlantic City, which saw the closure of four of its 12 casinos. He criticized his Republican predecessor, Don Guardian, for allowing the state to take over the city finances.<\/p>\n

He promised change, blaming the city\u2019s misfortunes on poor city governance and on the casinos. He vowed to reinvent the town as a family friendly destination.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve lost our identity because of gaming,\u201d he said. \u201cIf everyone got to the table, Atlantic City would find its way.\u201d<\/p>\n

$10,000 Accident<\/strong><\/h2>\n

In March 2008, a New Jersey judge dismissed a complaint against Gilliam regarding the alleged misappropriation of a $10,000 check from the Atlantic City Democratic Committee (ACDC).<\/p>\n

Gilliam claimed it had been a mistake and later returned the money.<\/p>\n

Judge Bernard DeLury of the New Jersey Superior Court said there had not been a \u201cscintilla of evidence\u201d that the incident was anything but an honest error.<\/p>\n

\n

But questions about Gilliam\u2019s character remained because of press reports that he had a restraining order filed against him in 1997 for domestic violence, and that he appeared to have invented a master\u2019s degree in social work from San Francisco State University out of thin air.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Gilliam continues a long tradition of Atlantic City mayors who have ended their tenure with prison sentences looming. These include Michael Matthews, who was charged in 1983 with accepting money from Nicodemo \u201cLittle Nicky\u201d Scarfo, the late, psychotic head of the Philadelphia crime family, as well as from an FBI undercover agent.<\/p>\n

Most recently, Bob Levy was sentenced in 2007 to three years\u2019 probation for lying about his military record in order to obtain veterans\u2019 benefits.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Atlantic City’s Democratic mayor Frank Gilliam Jr resigned on Thursday after pleading guilty in a federal court in Camden, New Jersey to one count of wire fraud. He admitted to siphoning $87,000 from a charity youth basketball program into his own pockets. His plea comes less than a year after he was cleared of assault […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":116453,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[61],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nAtlantic City Mayor Stole From Youth Basketball Program, Faces 20 Years<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Atlantic City Mayor Frank Gilliam Jr. pleaded guilty to wire fraud and embezzling $87,000 in donations to a youth basketball charity he founded.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Atlantic City Mayor Stole From Youth Basketball Program, Faces 20 Years\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Atlantic City Mayor Frank Gilliam Jr. pleaded guilty to wire fraud and embezzling $87,000 in donations to a youth basketball charity he founded.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/atlantic-city-mayor-stole-from-youth-basketball-program-faces-20-years\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-10-04T20:05:56+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-10-05T00:18:10+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Frank-Gilliam-Jr..jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"960\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@casinoorgphilc\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/atlantic-city-mayor-stole-from-youth-basketball-program-faces-20-years\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/atlantic-city-mayor-stole-from-youth-basketball-program-faces-20-years\/\",\"name\":\"Atlantic City Mayor Stole From Youth Basketball Program, Faces 20 Years\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/atlantic-city-mayor-stole-from-youth-basketball-program-faces-20-years\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/atlantic-city-mayor-stole-from-youth-basketball-program-faces-20-years\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Frank-Gilliam-Jr..jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-10-04T20:05:56+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-10-05T00:18:10+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/58769b72851c8cf117fb58ca150ebf8b\"},\"description\":\"Atlantic City Mayor Frank Gilliam Jr. pleaded guilty to wire fraud and embezzling $87,000 in donations to a youth basketball charity he founded.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/atlantic-city-mayor-stole-from-youth-basketball-program-faces-20-years\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/atlantic-city-mayor-stole-from-youth-basketball-program-faces-20-years\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/atlantic-city-mayor-stole-from-youth-basketball-program-faces-20-years\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Frank-Gilliam-Jr..jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Frank-Gilliam-Jr..jpg\",\"width\":1280,\"height\":960,\"caption\":\"Frank Gilliam Jr blamed mismanagement in city government and the casinos for Atlantic City\u2019s woes and promised voters he would effect change. 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He currently focuses his coverage on gaming law, white-collar crime, global money laundering, tribal gaming, politics, and regulation. Philip was the original features editor for poker\u2019s Bluff Magazine and editor for Bluff Europe, which he helped launch. His writing has also been featured in ESPN, Forbes, Time Out, The Sun, and The Daily Star, as well as iGaming Business, eGaming Review, and numerous other industry news and tech websites. His news stories for Casino.org\/news have been linked by The Washington Post, The Daily Mail, People Magazine, and Jimmy Fallon's Tonight Show, among many others. Philip once won $20,000 with 7-2 off-suit. He has been reprimanded for unwittingly playing Elton John\u2019s piano on two separate occasions on both sides of the Atlantic. He became a writer because he is a lousy pianist. Philip lives outside London with his wife and children, where he spends his time agonizing about Arsenal FC. 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