Video poker kingpin faces more charges

PENNSYLVANIA -- As reported by the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: "Federal prosecutors have filed new gambling charges against the former kingpin of Western Pennsylvania's largest video-poker empire.

"The U.S. Attorney's Office filed a criminal information against John Francis "Duffy" Conley, 45, formerly of the South Side, charging him with operating an illegal gambling business. Conley has been in custody since February 2006, when he was accused of running a multimillion-dollar sports betting ring. The latest charges were filed Monday and made public today.

"A federal jury in 1995 convicted Conley on charges related to his $15 million-a-year video gambling machine business. He served nine years in prison.

"U.S. District Judge Arthur J. Schwab in May 2006 ordered Conley back to prison for another four years for violating conditions of his release in the video-poker case by operating an illegal gambling business and associating with known felons.

"Prosecutors said they had evidence that Conley's operation handled $3 million in sports bets in less than a month in 2005 and employed people with known ties to organized crime. Several defendants have been prosecuted for their involvement in the sports-betting ring that stretched from Allegheny County to Las Vegas and to offshore casinos in the United Kingdom and Costa Rica..."