Friday, November 24, 2006

The son of a deceased West Virginia mobster has been charged in connection
with a multimillion-dollar bookmaking ring. Christopher Hankish, who is from
suburban Pittsburgh, is charged with gambling conspiracy. He is the son of
Paul "No Legs" Hankish, a Wheeling, W.Va., native who died in prison in 1998
while serving time for a racketeering and gambling conviction.Christopher
Hankish was charged Friday. He declined comment. Investigators with the
Pennsylvania State Police and the state Attorney General's Office came
across Hankish while looking into gambling activity involving former video
poker kingpin John "Duffy" Conley. Conley has not been charged, but was
sentenced in May to four years in federal prison for violating his probation
by placing millions of dollars in sports bets over the phone last year. He
was released in January 2004 after serving nine years in prison on a
gambling conviction.