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Pennsylvania slots probe continues29 August 2007PENNSYLVANIA -- As reported by the Philadelphia Daily News: "Philadelphia labor leader Sam Staten Sr. testified yesterday before the grand jury in Harrisburg probing whether the state's first slots licensee lied during the application process about ties to organized crime. "Scranton businessman Louis DeNaples, whose slots license was affirmed by the state Supreme Court last month for the $412 million Mount Airy Resort & Casino, has repeatedly denied having any association with mobsters. "However, the Dauphin County grand jury has been calling organized crime figures and others, including William 'Billy' D'Elia, reputed boss of the Russell Buffalino crime family, and West Philadelphia imam Shamsud-din Ali. "Yesterday Staten - a 0.05 percent investor in Riverwalk Casino, a losing bidder for a state slots license here - testified for 30 minutes. "...However, the Philadelphia labor leader has been tied in the past by authorities to both Ali, a key figure in the City Hall corruption scandal, and to D'Elia, the reputed upstate mobster. "...Another witness yesterday identified himself to an official in the hallway as Thomas Joseph, owner of a Mountain Top, Luzerne County, property that was searched during an investigation of D'Elia and associates in 2001. Described as an associate of D'Elia in a 2001 federal affidavit, Joseph has not been charged." |