5 Found Guilty of Skimming $2 Million at Vegas

Five organized crime figures, including the reputed boss of Chicago crime, were convicted today of skimming $2 million in gambling proceeds from Las Vegas casinos.

After 30 hours of deliberations since Thursday, the jury in U.S. District Court convicted the defendants on each of eight counts against them.

“Your decisions are courageous ones,” Judge Joseph E. Stevens Jr. told the jurors.

The defendants were charged with conspiracy and traveling in interstate commerce to carry out the skimming plan. Skimming is the illegal diversion of profits before taxes are collected.

The defendants face penalties of 40 years in prison and $80,000 in fines.

Convicted were Joseph J. Aiuppa, 78, and John P. Cerone, 71, whom the government described as the boss and underboss, respectively, of organized crime in Chicago; Joseph Lombardo, 58, and Angelo LaPietra, 65, both of Chicago, and Milton J. Rockman, 73, of Cleveland.

Influence Over Trustees

They were accused of using influence over trustees of the Chicago-based Central States Pension Fund of the Teamsters Union to infiltrate Argent Corp., which owned the Stardust, Fremont, Hacienda and Marina casinos in Las Vegas.

The government contended that they established a hidden interest and skimmed $2 million between 1974 and 1983, splitting the proceeds among crime families in Las Vegas, Kansas City, Chicago, Milwaukee and Cleveland.

Allen R. Glick, a real estate millionaire from La Jolla, Calif., formed Argent in 1974 and used two pension fund loans totaling $87.75 million to buy and remodel the Stardust and Fremont.

Glick, who testified as a government witness, said he later found that he had hidden partners who took credit for getting him the loans and demanded $1.2 million.