AKRON Man sentenced for role in gambling operation

Three others charged in the gambling operation are to be sentenced later this week.
By PEGGY SINKOVICH
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
AKRON -- A 24-year-old Warren man apologized to the court moments before he was sentenced to four months in federal prison and four months' house arrest for his part in an illegal gambling business operating primarily out of GM Lordstown's fabricating plant.
Clifford L. Jordan Jr. told Judge James A. Gwin of U.S. District Court on Monday that he was sorry for his actions and "will not do it again."
Judge Gwin ordered Jordan into custody to begin serving his sentence. Jordan had been free on a $20,000 bond since pleading guilty in November to one count of operating an illegal gambling business. When he is finished serving his incarceration and house arrest, he will be placed on two years' supervised probation.
"I believe the sentence was fair," said Warren Detective Jeff Hoolihan, who assisted federal officials with the investigation. "Clifford Jordan Jr. was a small part of this."
He could have faced up to five years in prison, officials said.
Entered guilty pleas
Three other men also pleaded guilty in November to taking part in the operation: Joseph Cupido, 62, of Andrea Boulevard, Niles; Clifford L. Jordan, 63, Woodview, Warren; and Andrew J. Jordan Jr., 58, Sweetbriar S.W., Warren.
Clifford L. Jordan is Clifford L. Jordan Jr.'s father.
Cupido pleaded guilty to two counts of operating an illegal gambling business. The others each pleaded guilty to one count. All three are expected to be sentenced later this week, officials said.
The four men were indicted by a federal grand jury in October. The indictments stem from what authorities say was a gambling ring being operated out of GM's 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.
Amounts involved
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 seized from his home 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, Hoolihan, 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