From Crystal Club Soda to Gertrude Hawk Chocolate

To win a slots license for his Mount Airy Casino Resort, Louis DeNaples hired some high-powered legal help to address long-standing allegations of ties to organized crime.  He turned to Peter Vaira, a former U.S. attorney in Philadelphia, to investigate his background and prepare a report for the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board.  But DeNaples’ recruitment of former federal prosecutors didn’t stop there. He enlisted two other former U.S. attorneys and a former assistant U.S. attorney, who successfully prosecuted DeNaples in 1977, for critical tasks involving his gaming application and a subsequent grand jury investigation.  Continue reading.