YOUNGSTOWN Bingo probe at K of C hall nets 3 arrests

YOUNGSTOWN -- Three people were arrested Saturday as a result of an investigation into illegal bingo at the Knights of Columbus hall on Davis Street.
Jeraldine Lesko, 38, of Hillsdale Avenue, was charged with operating a gambling house and conducting bingo without a license, while Alfred Hull Sr., 68, of Westchester Drive, Austintown, was charged with operating a gambling house, and Selone Zitello, 86, of North Brockway Avenue, was charged with conducting illegal bingo without a license.
Police said they received a call from the Ohio Attorney General's office in early October stating that illegal bingo was being played at the hall every Saturday. Two undercover officers said that about 10 a.m. Saturday, they went into the hall and each bought $15 worth of bingo cards from Lesko using marked money.
The officers said Hull then offered to sell them "The Pick" for $1. The officers said they gave the money to Hull, who stamped their bingo cards. Reports do not define "The Pick."
The officers said they sat with about 100 other people in the hall and played bingo until about 12:30 p.m. Zitello was calling the bingo numbers, police said.
The officers also said they bought $10 worth of pull tabs from Lesko and won nothing.
Police said that about 12:30 p.m., other officers who were not undercover came into the hall and asked Lesko who was in charge of bingo. Lesko said that Hull was in charge.
Police found Hull in the hall's kitchen counting money with another man who was not arrested. They added that they found two expired licenses for bingo in the hall, as well as $4,637 worth of cash, bingo cards, pull tabs, notebooks and supplies.
Reports state that the man who was counting money with Hull asked an officer, "If I give you $50, would you leave us alone?" The man was not arrested.