Ohio Men Sentenced for Running Illegal Gambling Empire

Grimy Times –
Canton, OH – Two Ohio men, Christos Karasarides Jr. and Ronald DiPietro, have been sentenced for running an illegal gambling empire and tax fraud conspiracy.

According to the Department of Justice, Karasarides, 59, of Canton, Ohio, was sentenced to serve 262 months (more than 21 years) in prison, three years of supervised release, and to pay $5,541,520 in restitution to the United States. DiPietro, 65, of Clinton, Ohio, was sentenced to 112 months (more than nine years) in prison, three years of supervised release, and ordered to pay $4,763,520 in restitution to the United States.

The two men operated multiple illegal gambling businesses, including Skilled Shamrock and Redemption, from 2009 through July 2018. At Skilled Shamrock, patrons gambled more than $34 million between 2012 and 2017, generating over $7 million in profits. However, Karasarides and DiPietro concealed their ownership of the businesses by using nominee owners and sham contracts.

Karasarides failed to report or pay taxes on much of the income he received from Redemption and Skilled Shamrock. From 2012 through 2018, he did not report $2.3 million in income or pay over $800,000 in tax. DiPietro assisted Karasarides in thwarting the IRS’s efforts to collect the taxes owed by making false representations to the IRS.

The investigation revealed that Karasarides and DiPietro used the proceeds of their schemes to purchase luxury vehicles, maintain country club memberships, and buy and sell property. Karasarides also took several extravagant gambling trips, making millions of dollars in bets at legal casinos throughout the country.

Karasarides attempted to obstruct the investigation into his conduct by directing a witness to lie to authorities and causing false documents to be created. The case was investigated by the IRS Criminal Investigation, the Department of Homeland Security’s Homeland Security Investigations, the Department of Treasury’s Office of Inspector General, and the Stark County Prosecutor’s Office. The Justice Department’s Tax Division and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Ohio prosecuted the case.