{"id":313869,"date":"2024-03-12T14:00:15","date_gmt":"2024-03-12T19:00:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=313869"},"modified":"2024-03-13T12:15:40","modified_gmt":"2024-03-13T17:15:40","slug":"sweepstakes-operators-extortion-trial-sinks-when-organized-crime-mentioned","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/sweepstakes-operators-extortion-trial-sinks-when-organized-crime-mentioned\/","title":{"rendered":"Chicago Sweepstakes Operator’s Trial Sinks When \u2018Organized Crime\u2019 Mentioned"},"content":{"rendered":"

The case against the owner of a Chicago sweepstakes<\/a> machine company accused of involvement in shaking down a victim over a loan collapsed last Friday. That’s after somebody mentioned \u201corganized crime.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Gene
Gene Cassano arriving in court last week. He denies ordering Gioacchino Galione to rough up alleged victim Luigi Mucerino over a $10k loan. (Image: Chicago Tribune<\/em>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Gene \u201cGino\u201d Cassano, 55, and his codefendant, Gioacchino \u201cJack\u201d Galione, 47, are both charged with conspiring to collect a debt by extortionate means. Additionally, Galione is charged with using violence to collect a debt.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t Mention the Mob<\/strong><\/h2>\n

U.S. District Judge Sharon Johnson Coleman halted proceedings in the case and declared a mistrial on Friday.\u00a0 That’s after FBI Special Agent David Patch testified that his job involved investigating \u201corganized crime matters,\u201d The Chicago Tribune<\/em> reports.<\/p>\n

Coleman said the use of the phrase would prejudice the jury against the two defendants. That\u2019s despite federal court records showing that the case is linked to a wider investigation into gambling and prostitution rackets allegedly operated by the Chicago Outfit\u2019s<\/a> Elmwood Park Crew.<\/p>\n

Going forward, the government will be sure to instruct all witnesses that they cannot use the term \u2018organized crime\u2019 in any context, including to describe their own backgrounds,\u201d<\/strong> the motion stated.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Previously, lawyers for Cassano and Galione accused prosecutors of \u201cattempting to find ways to inject organized crime gloss to this case from the jump.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018Just Business\u2019<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Earlier in the week, the court heard testimony from the victim, Luigi Mucerino, who was assaulted in Galione\u2019s garage on Aug. 1, 2016. That was because he borrowed $10K from Cassano, which he failed to pay back, according to prosecutors.<\/p>\n

Mucerino told jurors he was returning from a business trip on the night he was assaulted. On his way home, he received a call from his terrified wife that someone was banging on the doors and windows.<\/p>\n

\n

He then got a call from Galione and agreed to meet him. He was driven to the garage where he was knocked unconscious. He awoke on the floor, bleeding. When asked why he had been attacked, Galione replied with a line straight out of Mob central casting, explaining that it was \u201cjust business.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Lawyers for the defendants aren’t denying that Galione roughed up Mucerino. But they do deny the alleged motive for the assault and the allegation of Cassano\u2019s involvement.<\/p>\n

Having discharged the jury on Friday, Coleman set a status hearing for Monday to determine the next steps. The trial will have to start over.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The case against the owner of a Chicago sweepstakes machine company accused of involvement in shaking down a victim over a loan collapsed last Friday. That’s after somebody mentioned \u201corganized crime.\u201d Gene \u201cGino\u201d Cassano, 55, and his codefendant, Gioacchino \u201cJack\u201d Galione, 47, are both charged with conspiring to collect a debt by extortionate means. Additionally, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":313870,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21,60,86430],"tags":[90180,90181,90178,90179],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nSweepstakes Operator\u2019s Extortion Trial Sinks When \u2018Organized Crime\u2019 Mentioned<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Gene Cassano accused of ordering Gioacchino Galione to beat up Luigi Mucerino over a loan, but mistrial declared over \u2018Mob\u2019 talk.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/sweepstakes-operators-extortion-trial-sinks-when-organized-crime-mentioned\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Sweepstakes Operator\u2019s Extortion Trial Sinks When \u2018Organized Crime\u2019 Mentioned\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Gene Cassano accused of ordering Gioacchino Galione to beat up Luigi Mucerino over a loan, but mistrial declared over \u2018Mob\u2019 talk.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/sweepstakes-operators-extortion-trial-sinks-when-organized-crime-mentioned\/\" \/>\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=\"2024-03-12T19:00:15+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-03-13T17:15:40+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/Cassano.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"853\" \/>\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\/sweepstakes-operators-extortion-trial-sinks-when-organized-crime-mentioned\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/sweepstakes-operators-extortion-trial-sinks-when-organized-crime-mentioned\/\",\"name\":\"Sweepstakes Operator\u2019s Extortion Trial Sinks When \u2018Organized Crime\u2019 Mentioned\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/sweepstakes-operators-extortion-trial-sinks-when-organized-crime-mentioned\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/sweepstakes-operators-extortion-trial-sinks-when-organized-crime-mentioned\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/Cassano.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-03-12T19:00:15+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-03-13T17:15:40+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/58769b72851c8cf117fb58ca150ebf8b\"},\"description\":\"Gene Cassano accused of ordering Gioacchino Galione to beat up Luigi Mucerino over a loan, but mistrial declared over \u2018Mob\u2019 talk.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/sweepstakes-operators-extortion-trial-sinks-when-organized-crime-mentioned\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/sweepstakes-operators-extortion-trial-sinks-when-organized-crime-mentioned\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/sweepstakes-operators-extortion-trial-sinks-when-organized-crime-mentioned\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/Cassano.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/Cassano.jpg\",\"width\":1280,\"height\":853,\"caption\":\"Gene Cassano arriving in court for an extortion trial that was ultimately abandoned when someone mentioned \u201corganized crime.\u201d Federal prosecutors dropped charges against Cassaino and associate Gioacchino Galione Monday. 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