Nevada’s Black Book of excluded persons will take center stage Thursday when the state’s Gaming Commission will consider adding an illegal bookmaker to the list, while considering the removal of another.
The cases involve Matthew Bowyer and Francis Citro Jr.
Bowyer is the convicted bookie for the now-imprisoned interpreter for baseball star Shohei Ohtani. The Nevada Gaming Control Board in January recommended he be permanently banned.
Bowyer was sentenced in August to 12 months in prison and began serving it in October, with an estimated release in August, followed by two years of supervision. The southern California resident operated an illegal gambling business for at least five years until October 2023 and at times had more than 700 bettors, including Ippei Mizuhara, the Japanese interpreter for Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani.
Bowyer was a patron of Caesars from 2017 to January 2024, which stopped only after the FBI executed a search warrant on his home. In November, Caesars was fined $7.8 million by the Gaming Commission for its dealings with the bookmaker and failing to ban him from their properties after having suspicions about his activities and his source of funds. Caesars had won $2.6 million from Bowyer over seven years. Resorts World Las Vegas was fined $10.5 million in March, accused of a culture that welcomed individuals, including Bowyer, with suspected ties to illegal bookmaking.
“Frankie” Citro has been excluded from casinos since the Commission ruled in 1991 on his criminal history and “notorious and unsavory reputation.” Citro entertains at the Italian American Club in Las Vegas, where he sings Italian folk songs and tells jokes about the Mob. His removal from the Black Book would allow him to perform in casinos.
Based on comments at a January Commission meeting, it appeared Citro will have an uphill battle to get his exclusion lifted. According to published reports, Citro pleaded guilty to extortion in 1980, pleaded guilty in 1987 to conspiracy to use counterfeit credit cards, and in 1986 was convicted under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act in California. He’s been convicted of four felonies.
