Inviting crime to Massachusetts

'They' tell you crime doesn't increase....Oh?

Bill Kearney

Massachusetts ‘Gaming’ Future

Casinos ‘BREED’ compulsive gambling degenerates who will become criminals.

Pittsburgh Tribune-Review - February 25, 2013 - Former West Penn Allegheny manager charged with stealing $700k
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A former financial services manager for West Penn Allegheny Health System siphoned more than $700,000 from the struggling medical center to gamble at casinos in Pennsylvania, Illinois and Atlantic City, the Allegheny County District Attorney's Office said on Monday.

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Former West Penn Allegheny manager charged with stealing $700k

By Adam Brandolph

Published: Monday, February 25, 2013

A former financial services manager for West Penn Allegheny Health System siphoned more than $700,000 from the struggling medical center to gamble at casinos in Pennsylvania, Illinois and Atlantic City, the Allegheny County District Attorney's Office said on Monday.

 

Ira L. Johnson, 52, of Penn Hills is facing 10 charges, including theft, unlawful use of a computer, receiving stolen property and misapplication of entrusted property. The former manager of patient financial services and manager of revenue/cash receipts has a preliminary hearing scheduled for March 5. Johnson couldn't be reached for comment. His wife declined comment.

Authorities said Johnson funneled checks made out to Allegheny Medical Practice Network and West Penn Physician Practice Network into a PNC Bank business checking account that he opened on July 26, 2007.

Detectives said Johnson withdrew money — sometimes more than $10,000 each time — at Rivers Casino on the North Shore, Meadows Racetrack and Casino in North Strabane, Presque Isle Downs in Erie, Mountaineer Casino Racetrack & Resort in Newell, W. Va., Harrah's Chester Casino and Racetrack, Bally's Atlantic City and Grand Victoria Casino outside Chicago. Bank statements showed no evidence that he used any of the money for West Penn Allegheny business, detectives said.

 

Dan Laurent, a spokesman for the health system, said Johnson was employed from 2006 until he was fired on Nov. 8, 2011, a day after he deposited two checks totaling $350 into his account.

 

West Penn Allegheny executives met with detectives from the district attorney's office on Jan. 4, when an employee noticed suspicious activity. The company eventually conducted an internal audit, which uncovered the missing money.

“Since we discovered his actions, we have thoroughly scrutinized and enhanced our internal control processes to deter any individual, regardless of work responsibility or intent, from perpetrating this type of crime again,” Laurent said. “WPAHS is grateful to the Pittsburgh police, Allegheny County and the District Attorney — all of whom responded immediately and are helping to ensure that justice is served in this case.”

Laurent said West Penn Allegheny has insurance to protect itself from such theft and plans to file for reimbursement.

Stephen Foreman, associate professor of health care administration at Robert Morris University, said the health system should have noticed the money was missing earlier.

“It makes you wonder because if he was intercepting checks, there should have been other systems in place that would have caught that,” Foreman said. “They need to explain how their systems allowed this to happen.”

The health system reported a $112.5 million operating loss in its most recent financial year, more than double the loss of the previous year.

“They may not have paid as much attention to internal issues,” Foreman said.

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Study: More Slot Barns, more gambling addicts

Study: More casinos, more gambling addicts
By Eric Peterson

One university study shows that living near a casino can as much as double your likelihood of becoming addicted to gambling.

It’s a temptation that may become stronger for some existing gambling addicts in the Northwest suburbs with the recent opening of the new Rivers Casino in Des Plaines.


And it’s a temptation that could spread even further through a plan to significantly expand gambling in Illinois — with tens of thousands of video poker machines coming soon to social establishments, and the possibility of five more casinos and slot machines at racetracks.

But experts say it’s individuals, not the state, who ultimately are responsible to take whatever steps are necessary to resist the temptation.

“It’s dependent upon the individual, and how serious they are about making the changes they need to make in their lives to abstain,” said Steven Hart, president of the Illinois Council on Problem Gambling.

Hart said his organization — while striving to provide a public voice for the issues of the problem gambler — is neutral on gambling expansion.

Just as Prohibition was not a practical solution to problem drinking, eradication of gambling opportunities is viewed as an unrealistic approach to problem gambling, Hart said.

Much like the alcoholic has to live in a world filled with bars and liquor stores, the gambling addict has to find a way to maintain control in a world of casinos and race tracks, he added.

For some recovering addicts, the sudden proximity of a new casino may present a problem. But those addicts probably already know who they are and should be taking steps or engaging professional help.

“We would work out how you’re going to handle the new situation,” Hart said.

A study published in 2005 by John W. Welte of the University of Buffalo’s Research Institute on Addictions indicates the chance of becoming a gambling addict doubles if you live within 10 miles of a casino.

According to the study, someone living within 10 miles has a 7 percent risk of becoming a problem gambler — as defined by particular behavior patterns — compared to an approximately 3.5 percent risk among those 10 or more miles away.

He’s the first to admit, though, that the study is based purely on statistical data and doesn’t account for other individual traits that would make one more or less likely to become addicted to gambling.

In the dozen years since Welte’s data was collected, gambling has expanded. He is now engaged in a follow-up study to compare new data to the old. But many areas that were more than 10 miles from a casino then are no longer. Welte’s own office is now only a little more than a mile from a casino that didn’t exist when he conducted his first study.

“It’s making it more convenient,” Welte said of the way gambling opportunities are changing in the country. “And if it’s more convenient, more people are going to be getting into trouble.”

Self-exclusion from casinos, a program offered by the Illinois Gaming Board, is an opportunity many problem gamblers take advantage of, said program Director Gene O’Shea.

Under the self-exclusion program, problem gamblers risk arrest and the forfeiture of all winnings if they’re caught on the grounds of a casino.

People from many Illinois towns, as well as locations around the nation, are represented on the gaming board’s self-exclusion list. There are, in fact, 36 residents of Des Plaines already registered. Chicago has 385 people on the list. St. Louis has the most, with 927.

But even gambling addicts who signed up for self-exclusion in a rational moment may later get the irrational urge to sneak into a casino.

“They’re a lot better at catching people than they used to be,” said Scott Damiani, a recovering problem gambler who is head of the speakers bureau for the education-oriented Outreach Foundation.

For example, he said, casinos have become savvy about checking their surveillance videos to make sure that people cashing in large winnings are those who actually won them.

A review of Elgin police reports shows self-banned players occasionally being arrested at the city’s Grand Victoria Casino.

Damiani, 70, of Downers Grove, said he hasn’t made a bet in 17 years.

Proximity to a casino might add temptation for a problem gambler because it makes it easier to account for one’s time to others, Damiani said. But for someone in the throes of addiction, distance is no obstacle, he added.

His strongest advice for those recovering from a gambling addiction is to avoid temptation. Gambling addicts should avoid going to dinner at casinos. Sports gamblers should avoid sporting events. Recovering problem gamblers should certainly not seek employment at a casino.

Damiani said he doesn’t even buy charitable raffle tickets anymore but simply makes a donation to the organization without receiving a ticket.

“The worst thing that could happen is that I would win, and would start gambling all over again,” Damiani said.

The proximity of temptation can be a danger for all addicts.

Kathy Rein, who’s the gambling addiction specialist for The SHARE Program in Hoffman Estates, said some members of her women’s group swear they would never have developed a problem if there wasn’t a casino near their homes.

She said some of the gambling addicts she treats say they’re already experiencing some disquiet about Rivers Casino — not because of where it is but because everybody’s talking about it and its billboards and advertisements are springing up everywhere.

If the possibility of an extensive expansion of gambling in Illinois comes true, such pressures will become even more prevalent, Damiani said.

But even as Gov. Pat Quinn considers whether to sign a bill allowing five new casinos and slots at racetracks, Illinois ranks notoriously low in its funding for treatment for addicts, Rein said.

Public Costs of Gambling

Priest's $300,000 theft puts spotlight on gambling addiction
Experts split on whether legal wagering causes more economic harm than good
By John Keilman and Art Barnum, TRIBUNE REPORTERS

Within weeks of arriving at Roselle's St. Walter Catholic Church, the Rev. John Regan began stealing from the collection plate to fund his gambling addiction.

He stashed checks in a private bank account and spent the money at casinos in Elgin and Joliet. He lost big, blowing $116,000 in less than a year at one of the riverboats, prosecutors say. By the time the Diocese of Joliet figured out what was going on, Regan, who last week pleaded guilty to theft, had taken nearly $300,000.

It's a striking case but not an unusual one, say addiction counselors, and it illustrates a problem they expect to grow if gambling expands in Illinois

Two to 3 percent of adults are problem gamblers, experts say, and they can exact a tremendous toll on their families and communities. As Gov. Pat Quinn weighs whether to allow five new casinos and thousands of new slot machines, advocates hope he will make one question part of his calculations:

Is gambling's social cost greater than its payout?

Researchers have examined this for years, and some have concluded that the answer is yes. Baylor University economist Earl Grinols estimates that for every dollar gambling brings in, three dollars are lost on crime, unemployment, addiction treatment and other costs.

"The research indicates that the damage is bigger than benefits to society," he said.

The priest arrived at St. Walter in June 2006 after 13 years as the Joliet Diocese's vocations director. Regan, now 47, swiftly made a good impression.

"I thought he was really great," said parishioner Karen Gerovac, 69. "His services were very meaningful. I just thought he was a real terrific person."

But DuPage County prosecutors say that within a month of becoming pastor, Regan opened at a local bank the "Church of St. Walter Special Needs Account." He alone had access to it.

That was where he secreted a $500 check Gerovac had written to the church, along with many other contributions. From that account, authorities said, Regan wrote checks to himself and made hundreds of ATM withdrawals at Harrah's in Joliet and Grand Victoria in Elgin.

Keith Whyte, executive director of the Washington-based National Council on Problem Gambling, said thievery is a hallmark of gamblers who are over their heads.

"Many, if not most problem gamblers report committing white collar crimes to finance their gambling," he said. "They tell themselves they're just borrowing the money and will pay it back once they hit it big."

Regan's pilfering continued for about two years until the bank noticed suspicious transactions and alerted the diocese, which swiftly uncovered the thefts, officials say. The diocese says it immediately alerted authorities and suspended Regan from priestly ministry.

Spokesman Doug Delaney said the diocese repaid the parish for the thefts, with some of the money coming from insurance and some from other funds. He said Regan, who made $25,000 a year as a priest, has agreed to reimburse the diocese.

Church officials did not pay for Regan's legal defense, but they have had to absorb other expenses related to his crime. They sent him to a Pennsylvania behavioral health center that specializes in treating the addictions of Catholic clergy. They got another priest to replace him at St. Walter. And they continue to pay for his lodging, housing him with another priest (Delaney did not know the dollar value of these items, but said they were likely minimal).

There were public expenses, too, including the investigation and prosecution conducted by the DuPage County state's attorney's office and the 10 days Regan spent in the DuPage County Jail (officials could not provide an estimate of those costs).

And should he receive prison time — he could receive anything from probation to 15 years behind bars at his August sentencing — the public tab would go higher still: It costs the Illinois Department of Corrections about $22,000 to house an inmate for a year.

Researchers have added up those expenses and others, including lost work time, unemployment and stress-related illness, to estimate of the social toll of problem gamblers. Grinols, the Baylor economist, calculates that introducing gambling in a community costs each adult $166, while returning only $54 in benefits.

Researchers actually have looked at that question: A 1999 study by the University of Chicago's National Opinion Research Center concluded that the prevalence of problem gambling is twice as high for those living within 50 miles of a casino as it is for those who live farther away.

Priest with gambling addiction admits to stealing $400K

Joliet Diocese priest with gambling addiction admits to stealing $400K
By DAN ROZEK
Sun-Times

A Roman Catholic priest looted more than $400,000 from his Joliet Diocese church while he served as pastor, then gambled away much of the stolen cash at casinos, DuPage County prosecutors said Thursday.

The Rev. John Regan faces up to 15 years in prison after pleading guilty to two felony charges for stealing the cash from St. Walter Parish in Roselle between 2006 and 2008.

But as part of his plea deal with prosecutors, the 47-year-old Regan also is eligible for probation when he is sentenced in August.

Regan, who remains a priest but no longer serves in a parish, said little during his hearing, except to admit to the thefts.

“How do you plead to these two offenses?” Judge John Kinsella asked.

“Guilty,” replied Regan, who remains free on bond until his sentencing.

To hide the thefts, Regan funneled collection plate offerings to a special church account that only he could access — and that no other church leader knew existed, prosecutors said.

“The defendant withdrew cash at ATMs from this account at casinos and also used it for credit card bills,” prosecutor Helen Kapas said in court.

Regan, whose annual salary was about $25,000, also took cash offerings from parishioners and put them in a personal bank account, depositing more than $273,000 between August 2006 and July 2008, she said.

Bank records indicate he withdrew more than $320,000 from the two accounts at ATMs at Harrah’s Joliet Hotel and Casino and Grand Victoria Casino in Elgin, Kapas said.

Though Regan could be placed on probation, Kapas said she “absolutely” will seek a prison term for the priest, as well as $410,000 in restitution for the money authorities contend he stole.

While Regan pleaded guilty, his attorney disputed prosecutors’ claims about how much the priest stole.

“We may attempt to refute some of these allegations,” defense attorney John Donahue said in court.

Regan previously lived in Joliet and was vocations director for the diocese.

He wrote columns in The Herald-News in 2006 criticizing coverage of how the Joliet Diocese handled sexual abuse allegations. In one column, he wrote of former Bishop Joseph Imesch, “As he has shown us how to learn from his mistakes, may we strive
to learn from ours. … It’s time for all of us, laity, priests, bishops, victims,
lawyers, and reporters, to move on with a positive attitude.”

Two years later, in 2008, Regan was sent by the Joliet diocese to an out-of-state gambling treatment program after church officials began investigating finances at St. Walter’s.

“It is clear that the loss of parish funds were a direct result of a gambling addiction,” the diocese said in a statement following Regan’s guilty plea.

The diocese repaid the church about $295,000 to cover some of the losses.

Regan and his attorney declined to comment as they left the courtroom.

Growing with the world of addiction

Growing with the world of addiction
By Dave Gathman

Gambling addiction

When the Grand Victoria Casino became Elgin’s biggest tourist attraction overnight in the mid-1990s, everyone recognized the potential for an increase in gambling addiction. So using money donated by the casino and passed through the city government, Renz Center began working with gambling addicts.

“It’s a little different than alcohol or drugs because you’re not injecting a chemical. But researchers have found that the changes that take place in the brain while gambling are very similar,” Howe said.

Jim Renz noted in 1981 that “nobody ever walks willingly through our doors the first time. They come to get someone off their back.” For many alcoholics in 2011, that someone is not the boss but a criminal court judge, after a conviction for driving under the influence.