Gambling charges against restaurateur don't come as much of a shock

Sunday, August 17, 2003

By Joe Smydo, Post-Gazette Staff Writer

After Mickey Flynn attended the swearing-in ceremony for Washington County's elected officials 3 1/2 years ago, one official jokingly wondered whether the courtroom made Flynn nervous.

So long-running and widespread were the bookmaking rumors that when state authorities charged Flynn two weeks ago with running a sports-betting operation from the Union Grill, his restaurant and bar a block from the county courthouse, some were surprised only that the stories had caught up with him.

"If I said no, would you believe me?" Sheriff Larry Maggi said, smiling when asked whether he had heard the rumors.

Announcement of the charges Aug. 7 trumped the story of Gov. Ed Rendell's visit to Washington that day and left residents pondering two questions: What prompted state police and the attorney general's office to go after Flynn and, if the charges are true, how did he operate -- rumors notwithstanding -- under the noses of local law enforcement?

The attorney general's office said Flynn, 62, of East Washington, and a partner, Charles Martin, 50, of South Strabane, worked with eight bookies, identified as Daniel Piccolo, 75, and Charles Skorvan, 58, both of Monongahela; William McGonigle, 69, of Peters; John Pankas, 68, of Canonsburg; William Antonio, 58, of Beallsville; Edmund Cononge, 43, of Canton; James Celedonia, 50, of Upper St. Clair, Allegheny County; and Anthony Cihal, 76, of Pittsburgh.

All are free pending their arraignments, scheduled for 4 p.m. tomorrow before District Justice Jay Weller of North Strabane.

"The whole deal was a set-up [expletive] deal," said Flynn, son of late county Commissioner Michael Flynn, brother of Register of Wills Kathleen Flynn Reda and uncle of state police Cpl. Lou Reda. Flynn referred questions to Pittsburgh lawyer Michael Foglia, who said he could not comment until he had reviewed the case.

Flynn, known for his Christmas and St. Patrick's Day parties, his generosity to employees and his profanity, runs one of the city's landmark establishments.

Because the Union Grill is below street level, Washington and Jefferson College students call it the D&U -- Down and Under. But the restaurant, its walls decked with prints by local artists, is a hangout more for politicians and county workers than for the college crowd.

After extensive remodeling in the mid 1990s, Flynn hung a framed print of a rooster on the wall in the bar -- a metaphor, some thought, for the proud, confident owner.

The county prothonotary's office has more than a dozen records of liens the state and federal governments imposed on Flynn or the Union Grill because of tardy payment of various taxes. All appear to have been satisfied.

Flynn, who owns two houses in East Washington and a 55-acre tract in Donegal Township, often criticized police and government. But he made a $200 campaign contribution this year to Commissioner J. Bracken Burns and $100 contributions to Maggi, District Attorney John C. Pettit, Coroner S. Timothy Warco and Treasurer Francis King.

Maggi, a retired trooper, recalled that Flynn's name surfaced from time to time in gambling investigations. However, he said troopers never had enough evidence to pursue him.

Authorities did strike at Flynn once before.

In June 1995, officers removed two video poker machines from the Union Grill and cited Flynn for allowing gambling on the premises, said Sgt. Zigmund Jendrzejewski, district commander of the state police Bureau of Liquor Control Enforcement.

The case was handled as a violation of the state Liquor Code; Flynn waived the case and paid a $500 fine imposed by an administrative law judge working for the Liquor Control Board.

No criminal charges were filed.

The Liquor Control Board wasn't immediately able to say whether the charges filed two weeks ago would affect the Union Grill's liquor license.

Flynn and Martin face a variety of charges, including participating in a corrupt organization, a felony punishable by 20 years in prison. Those identified as bookies face misdemeanor counts of bookmaking, and Cononge also faces felony drug charges because authorities said they found marijuana and steroids in his home.

The attorney general's office wouldn't say what led investigators to Flynn, who allegedly charged a 10 percent commission, called "juice," on the bets he took.

However, the investigation began in April 2001, a month after Flynn reported an ambush, assault and robbery to East Washington police. Flynn told police he and a friend arrived at Flynn's home early March 4, 2001, and were forced into the house and tied up by two black men who stole a large amount of money.

Borough police Chief Larry Prevuznik said his department then received anonymous calls alleging gambling at the Union Grill. He said his officers also developed information indicating that a possible suspect in the assault and robbery was a person with a gambling connection to Flynn.

Prevuznik, saying he didn't have the resources to conduct a gambling investigation, turned the case over to state police. The robbery remains unsolved.

Another Flynn investigation began after suspended District Justice Ronald Amati was convicted of running an illegal video poker operation and tipping friends to police raids.

Kevin Harley, spokesman for the attorney general's office, declined to say whether the investigations were linked but said such cases often overlap.

Piccolo, one of those identified as Flynn's bookies, was a witness in the Amati trial. Trooper Anthony J. Cornetta, who orchestrated the sting that nabbed Amati, was one of two investigators who presented evidence against Flynn and the other nine to the statewide investigating grand jury.

The attorney general's office said Flynn at one point arranged for bettors to leave their wagers on voice mail, while Martin told customers to call Flynn with bets while the former vacationed in Las Vegas. The attorney general said its confidential informant went to the Union Grill to "settle up" many wagers.

The case sheds an uncomfortable light on one of Western Pennsylvania's worst-kept secrets. Next to the region's love of sports is the love of betting on them.

"Sports gambling is a fact of life. Don't you know?" Washington police Chief John Haddad said when asked how pervasive the practice is in the city. Haddad, who declined to discuss Flynn, said he believes betting is one factor driving the popularity of professional football.

Maggi said gambling is a low priority with many police departments because residents, ambivalent about such activity, prefer to have investigators focus on violent crime.

Also, he and Harley described gambling investigations as complex, time-consuming endeavors best handled by the state. Harley said most of the investigations are handled by a special state police unit, the organized crime division, and often are run through investigating grand juries empowered to compel testimony and grant immunity.

The attorney general's office said investigators monitored tens of thousands of phone calls among Flynn and the others, logging volume and duration of calls and sometimes listening to conversations. Investigators said they caught bookies transferring bets from one to another for financial reasons and heard Flynn and Piccolo discussing a "Vegas night" involving blackjack and craps.

The attorney general said search warrants served at the Union Grill and the defendants' homes yielded bookmaking paraphernalia and more than $200,000 cash -- $12,800 from Celedonia's home, $131,000 from Cononge's home, $33,000 from Pankas' home, $3,600 from Cihal's home and $38,000 from Martin's home.

Later, officials said, they listened as Flynn and Martin discussed moving their business to an offshore betting house. Authorities said the pair discussed doing so through Flynn's son, Michael, who works for an offshore betting business in Costa Rica.

Joe Smydo can be reached by at jsmydo@post-gazette.com or 724-746-8812.

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