Mettawa Mayor Casey Urlacher indicted in connection with illegal gambling ring
Casey Urlacher, the mayor of North suburban Mettawa and brother of Chicago Bears icon Brian Urlacher, is charged along with nine others in connection with an illegal offshore sports gambling ring, federal prosecutors announced Thursday.
In an indictment alleging one count of participating in the gambling conspiracy and one count of conducting an illegal gambling business, prosecutors say Casey Urlacher worked as an agent for the "illegal gambling business" and recruited gamblers and other sub-agents to the operation.
Prosecutors allege those involved placed bets through a Costa Rican-based gambling platform identified only as "Company A." The operation began sometime in 2016, according to prosecutors.
Prosecutors said Urlacher was in contact with the group's ringleader, 54-year-old Vincent Delgiudice of Orland Park, also known as "Uncle Mick," in December 2018 about setting up an account for a new gambler with a maximum bet of $500 and maximum weekly limit of $3,000.
Court documents state Urlacher also paid another co-defendant "debts owed" to Delgiudice later that month. That co-defendant gave an envelope to Delgiudice in Oak Brook that same day, saying, "This is Casey's," according to court papers.
Urlacher denied any knowledge about the gambling investigation when contacted Thursday morning by the Chicago Sun-Times, and he said he didn't know any bookie named DelGiudice. "I don't know nothing about it," Urlacher said. "I don't know who you're talking about."
Arraignments for the 10 men have not been scheduled, prosecutors said.
Delgiudice has been charged with one count of conspiracy to conduct an illegal gambling business, one count of conducting an illegal gambling business, one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering and six counts of money laundering.
A law enforcement search of Delgiudice's residence led to the seizure of more than $1.06 million in cash, silver bars and jewelry valued at $347,895, and gold coins valued at $92,623, authorities said.
The indictment seeks the forfeiture of those items as well as Delgiudice's home. It also seeks a personal money judgment of $8 million against him.
Others charged like Urlacher with one count of participating in the gambling conspiracy and one count of conducting an illegal gambling business include Matthew Knight, 46, also known as "Sweaters" and "McDougal," of Mokena; Justin Hines, 40, of Algonquin; Keith D. Benson, 49, of Lemont; Todd Blanken, 43, of Cary; Nicholas Stella, 42, of Chicago; Matthew Namoff, 23, of Midlothian; and Vasilios Prassas, 37, of Chicago.
The 10th defendant, Eugene "Gino" Delgiudice, 84, of Orland Park, is accused of assisting in the collection or paying out of cash to gamblers recruited by Vincent Delgiudice. He received the same two charges as the alleged agents of the operation.