sentenced to 18 months house arrest<\/a> for using his political influence to convince bar owners to participate in a multimillion-dollar illegal gambling operation.<\/p>\n<\/div>\nThe ex-politician admitted to assuring business owners in Western Pennsylvania that the machines wouldn’t land them in any legal hot water.<\/p>\n
Gergely’s actions were to benefit friend Ronald “Porky” Melocchi, who installed and operated 335 machines in 70 locations. In exchange for convincing owners to house the devices, Melocchi made donations to Gergely’s political campaigns.<\/p>\n
Melocchi testified before a grandy jury about the Biros’ activities, and said he learned about the illegal gambling business from Robert.<\/p>\n
Failed Legal Casino<\/b><\/h2>\n
According to Shapiro, the Biros family unsuccessfully tried to build a legal horse racetrack and casino in Lawrence County. The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board rejected the proposal in 2013.<\/p>\n
Lawrence County is expected to soon become home to a legal commercial casino. Mount Airy Casino won the rights to build a satellite gambling venue there in February through a $21.18 million auction bid.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\nThe casino operator secured a 15-mile radius centered in Lawrence County’s New Castle, a city about 50 miles northwest of Pittsburgh.<\/p>\n
Local county officials want the legal gambling property, and have said “the welcome mat is out” for Mount Airy. The satellite will be permitted to house 750 slot machines and 30 table games.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A family in Western Pennsylvania is being accused of operating an illegal video poker enterprise that made millions of dollars and endured for more than three decades. Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro alleges in a presentment that four members of the Biros family, Robert, 83, Andrew, 52, Christine, 55, and Alfred, 63, illegally placed video […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":84745,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21,60],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
Pennsylvania Family Charged With Running Illegal Video Poker Operation<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n