CLEVELAND ‒ Two men convicted of federal charges related to long-closed storefront gambling operations in Stark County got lengthy prison terms Monday.
U.S. District Court Judge Donald C. Nugent sentenced Christos Karasarides Jr. and Ronald DiPietro.
Cash, homes & prison terms: Lots still at stake over illegal gambling raids in Stark
Their sentences represent the culmination of a long legal battle that started with raids of illegal gaming parlors in 2018 and included more than 1 million documents from government prosecutors alone.
Karasarides, DiPietro learn fate in federal court
Karasarides was convicted of tax evasion, gambling, money laundering, conspiracy and obstruction. He tried to obstruct the investigation into his conduct. After a witness received a grand jury subpoena, Karasarides directed that witness to lie to authorities.
He was sentenced Monday to nearly 22 years in federal prison and ordered to repay the IRS most than $5.4 million. He also must forfeit:
- His home on Dunkeith Drive NW in the village of Hills and Dales, appraised at $647,600 by the Stark County Auditor’s Office.
- Cash totaling $239,000 seized in 2018 from a bank safe deposit box in Jackson Township.
- Another $152,768 in cash taken from the home in 2018.
- Currency totaling $28,000 taken in 2020 from an auto business in Warrensville Heights.
- A 2012 Mercedes-Benz S-Class.
DiPietro, a certified public accountant who lives in Green, was convicted of conspiracy to operate an illegal gambling business, operating an illegal gambling business, tax evasion and preparing false income tax returns for Karasarides. He was required to forfeit $20,000 seized at his home in July 2018.
Nugent said he gave DiPietro a sentence below the federal sentencing guidelines because of the 65-year-old’s health problems, with include atrial fibrillation, liver failure and diabetes. He had been seen by health care workers in several Cleveland Clinic departments in 2023.
DiPietro was sentenced to more than nine years prison and ordered to repay $4.76 million to the IRS.
The amounts owed represent Karasarides’ unpaid taxes and employment taxes that were not paid on behalf of employees, who were paid in cash without tax withholding.
Guilty: Stark County-area men convicted of running illegal gambling operations following 2018 raids
Raids at Skilled Shamrock, Redemption Skill Games
The charges relate to three illegal gambling businesses that operated between 2009 and 2018 in Plain Township: Skilled Shamrock at 4225 Hills and Dales Road NW, Redemption Skill Games 777 at 2824-2826 Whipple Ave. NW, Plaza 777 at 2128 Columbus Road NE.
At Skilled Shamrock alone, which primarily operated slot machines, patrons gambled more than $34 million between 2012 and 2017, with the owners retaining more than $7 million, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
A June 23 federal indictment stated Karasarides owed $3.1 million in taxes on income he earned gambling and from other businesses he ran.
According to investigators, 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 during which he made millions of dollars of bets at legal casinos throughout the country.
Sentencing reactions
His attorney, Michael J. Goldberg, said he was disappointed with the length of the sentence given to Karasarides, 59.
“I thought it was excessive,” he said after the sentencing hearing ended.
Before the judge made his decision, Goldberg said the sentencing rage for the crimes was more appropriate for terrorists and cartel-level drug dealers.
He and Karasarides both pointed to Ohio’s changing legal landscape regarding the 777 storefront gambling parlors.
A letter submitted to the judge by Stark County attorney Thomas Harnett said it is important to put Karasarides’ crimes in context.
“Specifically, the gambling activities upon which he was convicted were both condoned and licensed by nearly every municipality and government in Northeast Ohio, including the cities of Cleveland, Akron and Canton,” wrote the husband of Stark County Common Pleas Judge Chryssa Hartnett.
Goldberg said Plain Township gave permits to Karasarides’ “skill games” businesses, costing $5,000 each, in addition to fees of $100 for each game. He said township officials had visited the sites, and should have known what was going on.
Goldberg acknowledged that what made his client’s operation illegal was the payout of cash prizes.
Given the chance to speak for himself, Karasarides said he wishes he had handled his tax problem “more professionally,” and expressed regret about involving family members.
Other gambling-related sentences
His son, Christopher Karasarides, is serving a sentence of a year and a day for conspiring to defraud the United States in connection with his father’s ilegal gambling businesses. He helped his father hide assets from the IRS by storing $239,000 of his father’s cash in a safety deposit box in Christopher’s name. Christopher also served as a straw owner for his father’s businesses, signed and delivered false promissory notes and filed false tax returns.
Thomas Helmick, Christos Karasarides’ nephew, served as a paper owner of one of Karasarides’ illegal gambling businesses. He pleaded guilty to conspiring to defraud the United States. He was sentenced to probation for three years and ordered to pay more than $1.2 million to the IRS.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Samuel Bean said Karasarides was happy to use other people, including his family, to protect himself.
DiPietro asked the judge for leniency so he could work to pay restitution.
“I want to get back to helping people,” the accountant said. He said his average fee for filing someone’s tax return was $150, and that police were among his clients.
Letter of support for Karasarides, DiPietro
DiPietro was the subject of 14 letters sent to the judge by people who wrote good things about him. They included former Canton Deputy Mayor Fonda P. Williams II, Canton Civil Service Commission Secretary Kathleen O. Tatarsky, his mother Georgia DiPietro, brothers Jerry and David, and his daughter Tristan DiPietro.
Letters submitted in support of Karasarides came from Assistant Summit County Prosecutor Jonathan S. Baumoel and doctor who has belonged to the same church as the defendant since birth.
The relative, Stephanie Karasarides, wrote that Christos has helped his sister-in-law with his three nieces in any way that he could following his brother Pete’s death in 2009. She wrote that his youngest son has autism, making Christos’ presence in his life “extraordinarily important.”
Jerry DiPietro wrote that he and Ronald had worked together in the family business, Pizza Oven. He said the family created a nonprofit, the DiPietro Family Foundation, which has raised money for the people of Stark County. Among other causes, it provides clothing for children through the Canton Ex-Newsboys Association.
In the letter to the court, he described his brother as generous, kind and patient.
“He’s not perfect, none of us (are) but his heart his intentions (I) am sure were in the right place,” Jerry wrote, “and he’s not doing nobody any good in jail, including you. Let him go to work to try and make the things you feel he did wrong right.”
Reach Nancy at 330-580-8382 or nancy.molnar@cantonrep.com. On X, formerly known as Twitter: @nmolnarTR.