A Cook County deputy sheriff indicted in connection with an alleged scheme to bribe two basketball players at Arizona State University to shave points was stripped of his badge and gun and given a desk job Monday, officials said.
Joseph Mangiamele, 36, of Arlington Heights, was “de-deputized,” said Bill Cunningham, spokesman for the sheriff’s office.
Mangiamele and his father, Dominic Mangiamele, 61, of Mt. Prospect, were indicted Friday in what federal officials described as one of the nation’s worst sports gambling scandals.
Both Mangiameles have been released on bond. Joseph Mangiamele declined to comment on the matter Monday night.
According to the indictment returned by a grand jury in Phoenix, the scheme began in December 1993 and ran through March 1994.
More Top Picks Best Wireless Earbuds Under 100 Dollars
The FBI said the scheme generated some $900,000 in bets at eight Las Vegas casinos.
Under the scheme, starting guard Stevin Smith, who officials said, owed money to alleged bookmaker and San Diego resident Benny Silman, agreed to recruit fellow guard Isaac Burton Jr. and limit their point totals to beat the betting spread on games.
The FBI said Smith admitted to taking about $20,000 in bribes for each of the four fixed games, while paying Burton more than $4,000 for his role in fixing two games.
The indictment and federal officials said the other two men in the scheme were Joseph Gagliano, a former trader on the Chicago Board of Trade who had moved to Phoenix, and Silman.
According to the indictment, Silman canceled Smith’s own debts as part of Smith’s payment for shaving points.
The indictment said Silman brought Gagliano into the scheme to raise money to bribe Smith for the point shaving and also to raise money to make bets on the underdog team.
Gagliano is alleged to have then brought in Joseph and Dominic Mangiamele to help raise money for the bribes and the bets.
Bookmakers use an estimated final point spread to equalize betting on competing basketball teams. Bettors who wager on the underdog can still win if the underdog team beats the point spread.
Smith asked Burton if he would miss some free throws against Oregon State, officials said.
Joseph Mangiamele has worked for the sheriff’s office since 1990 and was a process server or subpoena server assigned to the child support division, officials said. He is still being paid.
His case has been referred to the sheriff’s inspector general’s office for further investigation and possible suspension without pay, Cunningham said. If convicted, he would be fired.
Mangiamele’s father was a Cook County deputy sheriff from 1980 until 1990, Cunningham said.