Leader of an Illegal Chicago Gambling Ring Sentenced to 18 Months in Prison

US District Judge Virginia Kendall sentenced Vincent “Uncle Mick” DelGiudice to 18 months in prison and ordered him to pay massive forfeiture, including a fine of $3.5 million. According to the police, Uncle Mick ran the biggest and most lucrative gambling ring in Chicago’s federal court history.

DelGiudice’s Sentence Is Part of a Massive Case

The Wednesday sentence that was handed to DelGiudice is part of a massive case in which officials say that it involves over 1,000 gamblers and millions of dollars. The case even reached the White House when Mettawa Mayor Casey Urlacher was pardoned by then-president Donald Trump at the end of his term in 2021. Urlacher is the brother of Brian Urlacher, the Chicago Bears linebacker.

DelGiudice admitted to all of his crimes and apologized to his family. He acknowledged the fact that what he did was wrong. DelGiudice and Casey Urlacher were among 10 people that were charged with a gambling conspiracy in February 2020.

Even though most of the defendants avoided prison time, Nicholas Stella, who was a police officer in Chicago, was charged with DelGiudice. Stella was sentenced to a year and 3 months in prison. Bookie Gregory Paloian was handed a harsher sentence as he received 2 and a half years of prison time.

This wasn’t the first time Stella got in trouble. In January 2021, he served six months in jail on domestic abuse charges. His girlfriend called the police from a hotel located in the vicinity of O’Hare International Airport and stated that he wanted to kill her.

In February 2021, DelGiudice pleaded guilty and admitted that he ran the illegal gambling ring from 2016 to 2019. He also admitted that a Costa Rica company managed his gambling site and his accounting. The plea agreement states that DelGiudice sent $113,625 in around 12 checks from 2018 to 2019.

DelGiudice’s father, Eugene DelGiudice, was also involved in the gambling ring as he collected payments and gave out winnings. He got three-month home detention and a year of probation.

Feds Found More than $1 Million In DelGiudice’s Home in 2019

When DelGiudice admitted to his deeds, he stated that he ran the business in Orland Park, Woodridge, Chicago, Frankfort and Lemont. Agents were there to help him accept numerous football, baseball, basketball, college sports, and hockey bets.

His house was searched in April 2019 and feds stated that they found jewelry, silver, two cash-counting machines, gold bars, and upwards of $1 million cash.

Feds also claimed last month that his operations continued even after he was indicted in February 2020. They ceased when Urlacher was charged. However, DelGiudice’s denied these claims and stated that evidence shows that all gambling operations ceased when feds raided DelGiudice’s home.

Judge Kendall even noted that the gambling ring operated by DelGiudice even reached Illinois State University.