Chicago has a sordid history of organized crime. So how will regulators make sure the new casino is on the up-and-up?

Chicago has a sordid history of organized crime. So how will regulators make sure the new casino is on the up-and-up?

Article brief provided by Chicago Tribune
  • Dan Petrella, Chicago Tribune
May 16, 2022 10:17 PM
  • Dan Petrella, Chicago Tribune

A decade ago, Chicago was on the verge of getting its first-ever casino, a controversial idea that nevertheless received legislative approval before it was vetoed by then-Gov. Pat Quinn because, in his words, the bill contained “loopholes for mobsters.”

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Quinn, a self-styled outsider among Illinois Democrats, was by no means the first to raise concerns about how a state-sanctioned gambling emporium would be able to stay free of corruption in a city with a rich and often-sordid history of organized crime. In a town where Al Capone and Joey “The Clown” Lombardo are well-known names, the potential for mob infiltration was anything but hypothetical, as evidenced by the debacle in the early 2000s to build a casino in suburban Rosemont.