Quote:
Originally Posted by snorpus
"Big Bill" Lias was reputed to be the kingpin in the Wheeling/Weirton area, with ties to the mob in Steubenville and Cleveland. Supposedly he was big in numbers and bootlegging.
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Once "Big Bill: Lias was out of the way Paul "No Legs" Hankish took over the Wheeling area for the Pittsburgh Family.
Remnants of Pittsburgh LCN is as follows:
Thomas "Sonny" Cincutti- Boss of what's left, nobody ever voted him in
John Bazzano Jr. died
Sonny Amato died
Charles "Chucky" Porter not active
(Nothing but a Rat)
Wango Capizzi died
Bobby Ianelli was never made, he was an independent bookmaker who paid tribute
Lenny Strollo is in witness protection Well Yes, But he was Release Last year (2008)
From a Federal Prison in Glenville, WV. Lenny has been seen in the Steubenville, OH area with his family members. (I don't think Lenny is needing to much protections these days)
John "Duffy" Connelly is the video poker machine czar who is in federal prison
No he is not in Prison. Duffy served time at The Federal Correctional Institution (FCI) in Elkton, Ohio, Then he was moved to a Pittsburgh Facility before being released on July 27, 2009
(Noticed His Name spelled correctly by me)(Conley)
By
Jason Cato
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Sunday, May 14, 2006
Duffy Conley parked in front of a red brick church in downtown Carnegie one January morning, but he wasn't there to pray.
The former kingpin of an illegal video poker empire in Pittsburgh was headed to his rented office at Citadel Financial, housed in the former First Baptist Church on Roberts Avenue.
State and federal investigators, however, beat him there. They were swarming over the office, confiscating computers and sports betting slips.
Conley's arrival gave them more. He was carrying papers detailing illegal video poker transactions and machine locations, and an address book with the names and numbers of bookmakers and ex-cons, including some connected to organized crime, state police said.
The evidence collected Jan. 18 and three months of wiretaps temporarily landed Conley, 43, in the Allegheny County Jail for violating the conditions of his supervised release from federal prison, where he served time for a previous gambling conviction.
On Wednesday, he'll be back in federal court in Pittsburgh as prosecutors try to send him back to prison for two years.
State and federal authorities continue to investigate a multimillion-dollar gambling ring involving what's left of Pittsburgh's LaRocca/Genovese organized crime clan -- considered the strongest of Pennsylvania's three Mafia families until several convictions in the 1990s and the aging of its most influential members helped precipitate its decline.
Conley -- whose gambling operations are linked to the mob -- is at the heart of the probe, investigators say.
"He spoke to every bookie we're aware of in Allegheny County," Paul Marraway, an agent with the state Attorney General's office, said during a Feb. 8 hearing in Pittsburgh before U.S. Magistrate Judge Francis X. Caiazza. "And many of these people are associated with organized crime."
Those include Christopher Paul Hankish, 43, the son of a notorious Wheeling, W.Va., crime boss; and fellow Citadel Financial employee Salvatore A. "Sonny" Williams, 49, whose father ran one of Pittsburgh's largest gambling empires. Both sons did time for their involvement in organized crime.
State investigators say Conley's recent gambling operation included contact with
Ralph "Big Head" Maselli and
John V. "Johnny A" Adams, both of whom have long ties to the Pittsburgh Mafia, according to reports for the now defunct Pennsylvania Crime Commission.
Investigators said they recorded Conley's telephone conversations for months, and intercepted numerous calls between Conley and the four men they say are associated with organized crime.
Marraway said the topic was always the same -- gambling. And the amount wagered was staggering. Conley moved more than $3 million in sports bets in one month last fall.
Conley's father laughed when asked about his son's involvement with mobsters. "I don't know anything about organized crime," said
John F. "Jack" Conley, of Robinson.
Christopher Hankish is out of prison, but not active
Well this is another somewhat truth.
Christopher Paul Hankish Passed away in his apartment in Scott Township. PA on September 19,2008
and never went to prison at all for his involment with "Duffy" Conley
The facts are that Sports Gambling (spot sheets, bookies ect.) in Wheeling WV area had been under control of Chris Hankish for some time and before Him, His father Paul "No Legs Hankish operated for decades for the Pittsbugh Family.
My Father used to work for
Paul "No Legs" Hankish, He Also retired as a Racing Judge at Wheeling Downs in Wheeling WV. before Passing from Thyroid Cancer.
He used to laugh at how much money was leaving the track everyday on Sports Gambling.
Chris Hankish had an Assiociate hired at Wheeling Downs in early 80's' His name was
John Gorby also used the name
"little John" His job was to set up a network from Dog Racing Patrons to Sports gambling for Hankish and the Pittsbugh Family.
In the early 90's
Chris Hankish served time in a federal Facility for a unrelated Charge.
Appointing his Assiociate
John "Little John" Gorby as his financial advisor.
Conley's sports-betting ring handled $3 million in wagers in less than a month in 2005.
The last time Pittsburgh made members was in 1986/1987- Chuck Porter in 86 and Lenny
(I think this is true, But why be a made member if it only gets the heat on you??)
just a thought.
I agree with JCB1977 there is to much B.S. coming from the Feds.
I have no affiliation with anyone.
Goodbye.
Information data was retieved from
"Real life La Cosa Nostra" 2009
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