22 defendants to appear in court on Thursday in northwest Indiana gambling case

INDIANA - Twenty-two defendants in the northwest Indiana gambling ring investigation are expected to appear in federal court for arraignment on gambling and extortion charges.

The backstory:

The main target, James Gerodemos, also known as Jimmy the Greek, asked that his arraignment be delayed because he switched attorneys and the new one needs time to get familiar with the case.

The judge ruled that all 22 defendants must be in federal court Thursday in Hammond.

Operation Porterhouse Parlay introduced a number of defendants; Gerodemos, members of Gerodemos' family, a restaurateur from Chicago and Dean Gialamas, all accused of running an illegal gambling ring out of Gino’s Steakhouse and Paragon restaurant in northwest Indiana.

Retired FBI Agent Ross Rice read the indictment and said, "With this organization, there was no initial deposit. You make wagers based on your credibility, your apparent credit worthiness, your understanding that you're going to pay your debts if you lose. And that's where the settle up every week takes place. And that's what gets people in trouble is they start betting, they lose. They start betting more to try and recap their losses or recoup their losses, and then they get behind. And now you have a situation where they can't pay."

They are accused of threatening bettors who could not pay.

Authorities say it operated for at least five years.

"What surprises me, Joanie, is that so many people were patronizing this illegal operation. They had to know what was illegal," Rice said.

Sheriff's spending :

The county’s top law enforcement official, Sheriff Oscar Martinez, was a frequent customer at Gino’s.

Board of Election campaign documents dating back to 2022 show Martinez spent more than $72,000 on fundraisers, food and events there. 

The State Board of Accounts audited his office and reported Martinez misspent public funds from the sheriff’s commissary account, including $3,300 paid to Gino’s to feed employees working at the Lake County fairgrounds.

Law enforcement officials say it doesn’t look good, but Martinez is not accused of a crime.

"You have to figure out, did he know what was going on? Did he know what type of illegal activities were being conducted by the owner of these restaurants, of these businesses? And unless there's evidence to show that he did and was overlooking it, or potentially taking money to allow it to operate, then that becomes a whole different story…," Rice said. "I can assure you, if there's evidence showing that the sheriff knew about this and was looking the other way or protecting it, that will come out."

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