TRUMBULL COUNTY Men plead guilty in gambling case

The president of United Auto Workers Local 1714 said gambling is not rampant at the GM plant.
By PEGGY SINKOVICH
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- A Niles man and three Warren men pleaded guilty to charges of operating an illegal gambling business, primarily out of GM Lordstown's fabricating plant.
Joseph Cupido, 62, of Andrea Boulevard, Niles; Clifford L. Jordan, 63, Woodview, Warren; Andrew J. Jordan Jr., 58, Sweetbriar S.W., Warren; and Clifford L. Jordan Jr., 24, Van Wye, Warren; entered the pleas Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Akron.
Cupido pleaded guilty to two counts of operating an illegal gambling business. The others each pleaded guilty to one count.
Each man remains free on a $20,000 bond. Judge James A. Gwin accepted the pleas and set sentencing for January.
Atty. Robert Shaker, who represents Cupido, and Atty. John Fowler, who represents Clifford Jordan, declined to state why their clients decided to plead.
The defendants could face up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
The four were indicted by a federal grand jury last month.
Gambling ring
The indictments stem from what authorities say was a gambling ring being operated out of the GM fabricating plant in Lordstown and a building on Warren's South Side.
The South Side building was identified by authorities as Tri-County Golf Club at 1109 Wood Ave. The one-story cinder block building is a social club not affiliated with a golf course, authorities say.
Cupido's plea agreement stated that Cupido operated a numbers business from the fabricating plant with help from several others. It also noted that those working with Cupido collected cash bets from employees of the Lordstown facility, and the cash bets were given to a middleman who gave them to Cupido. The name of the middleman is not provided in the plea agreement.
Response
Bob Chambers, president of United Auto Workers Local 1714 at the fabricating plant, said gambling is not rampant at the plant.
Jim Graham, president of UAW Local 1112 at the Lordstown Assembly Plant, said some problems are to be expected when so many people are together, but the vast majority of workers are good employees and citizens.
The two plants employ more than 6,000 hourly workers. FBI officials have said the gambling operation was bringing in an estimated $10,000 a day.
The plea agreement also states that Cupido will forfeit $4,941 in cash that was seized from his home last November.
Clifford L. Jordan's plea agreement states that he agrees to forfeit $1453 in cash seized from his car last November.
FBI agent Jeffrey Sadlak obtained 21 federal search warrants last year.
Sadlak and officers from the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation and Detective Jeff Hoolihan of Warren and Detective Rick Seigal of Lordstown used the warrants to search homes, vehicles and other structures in Trumbull County in November 2001.
The investigation began in March 2000, FBI officials have said. According to the indictment, the illegal gambling business began sometime in 1996. The operation included sports bookmaking and a numbers lottery.
sinkovich@vindy.com