The Nevada Gaming Commission Thursday punted until February 26 on its decision whether to grant a hearing to a Las Vegas entertainer seeking removal from the state’s Black Book.
Francis “Frankie” Citro, Jr., 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, where he is now banned.
Commission Chair Jennifer Togliatti clarified at the beginning of the agenda item discussion that Citro’s petition for removal from the Black Book was only about whether to hold a hearing and not whether to decide the outcome.
Based on comments from Commission members, holding a hearing is not a given and Citro may face an uphill battle to get his name removed.
The 80-year-old made a request Nov. 14 for the removal. The Commission has 90 days to consider the request and since that will expire in mid-February before the Feb. 26 meeting, the regulators needed a waiver granted by Citro Thursday to go past the deadline.
Citro attorney Michael Lasher filed a 11-page petition with exhibits of news stories and letters of support.
Commissioner Abbi Silver said all they have is the petition representing one side and she only got the prior order putting Citro into the Black Book on Thursday. Once she went through it during a break, she said she became curious what happened to have him excluded.
“We really have nothing,” Silver said. “The petitioner didn’t put anything in there. Having been on the Nevada Pardons Board and pardoned people for all types of crimes after years, I have no problem, if someone is rehabilitated, to have a hearing, but it’s almost like I don’t have a full record to make a vote about whether or not he should get a hearing. Maybe if I have everything, I might vote no hearing or I might vote hearing.”
Silver said there aren’t a lot of protocols to deal with removal.
Lasher said he thought the Commission would be provided a transcript of the 1991 hearing.
Commissioner Brian Krolicki said there are a lot of media and podcasts involving Citro with a lot of links and questioned whether that would be part of the record for consideration.
Togilatti said she assumes they have to rely on the petition and previous record, but once there’s a hearing, the “floodgates open” and the Commission can say what they want to say and present more material.
Krolicki said that’s the answer he expected, but stated that Citro has been active in the media and in his own words described the process “that aren’t necessarily constructive for his argument. As long as we saw the same thing, it’s part of the consideration of whether or not to hear it. I think Mr. Citro’s own words that are recent would be germane. If we were not to consider those, I would understand. I think that preliminary evidence would be very important in the consideration of the Commission whether or not to move forward.”
Togliatti encouraged Krolicki to “put his blinders on” and only look at the order of exclusion and the petition. The transcript of that 1991 hearing is on microfiche, she said.
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.
