The Illinois Gaming Board has revoked the license of an allegedly mob-connected operator of a video gambling license at a Steak’n Egger diner in Cicero.
The board revoked the license of Firebird Enterprise Inc., owned by Jeffrey Bertucci, which operates the restaurant at 5647 W. Ogden Ave. The video gambling machines were disabled Friday, a day after the ruling, a board spokesperson said.
The board rejected the finding of Administrative Law Judge Michael Coveny, who recommended that Bertucci should be allowed to continue operating, despite admitting in court to prior illegal gambling.
Bertucci has never been convicted of a state gambling charge, but in 2000, he was arrested on a charge of illegally operating a coin-operated amusement device, the board stated in its ruling.
A federal grand jury subpoena in 2004 prompted him to remove the devices, but he testified that he reinstalled them in 2006, and illegally operated them through at least 2009, the board stated. He also admitted to filing false tax returns, and to giving false testimony to federal investigators and a grand jury, the board wrote in its order.
That testimony came years later in the trial of Michael Sarno, alleged leader of the Cicero street crew of the Chicago Outfit, who was sentenced to 25 years in prison for racketeering. Bertucci testified that he maintained illegal gambling machines at Steak’n Eggers in Cicero and Chicago, according to the board findings.
When asked about his 2000 arrest in 2018 by Gaming Board investigators, Bertucci admitted illegally operating the machines for five or six years in the 2000s, saying he was in his 20s and many other business owners were doing it, so he did it to make some extra money, the board order stated. But his case was thrown out, according to the board, and he said he’d never again engaged in such activity.
Gaming agents didn’t ask Bertucci about his trial testimony or further illegal gaming, and he didn’t mention it, the board finding stated. The board then licensed Firebird for video gaming in 2019.
Later in 2019, a letter on an unrelated matter from the law firm of Fox Rothschild, which represents Bertucci, informed the board that Bertucci had testified at the Sarno trial.
In 2023, the Chicago Sun-Times reported that Bertucci had testified about getting his gambling terminals from an organization linked to former Chicago mob boss James Marcello, and from Casey Szaflarski, whom federal authorities said ran the mob’s video poker operations.
Shortly thereafter, Gaming Board Administrator Marcus Fruchter proposed revoking Bertucci’s license.
Gaming Board rules prohibit making false statements in a license application, and authorizes discipline for any cause that would have caused the board to reject an applicant.
The board concluded that Bertucci partnered with known members of organized crime to engage in illegal gambling. His testimony discredits the gaming industry, the board stated, and would have caused the board to reject his license application had they known about it.
Bertucci’s lawyer did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but previously claimed he was a victim of selective prosecution, since other scofflaws have remained licensed. But the board stated that there was no discrimination, since he was treated the same as other participants in the Sarno trial.
