Monday, January 29, 2007

The son of a deceased West Virginia mobster pleaded guilty in federal court
to playing a role in a multimillion-dollar bookmaker ring. Christopher
Hankish, 44, of Scott Township, pleaded guilty Wednesday to one count of
conspiracy to conduct an illegal gambling business, federal prosecutors
said. Hankish is the son of Paul Hankish, a Wheeling, W.Va., native who died
in prison in 1998 while serving time for a racketeering and gambling
conviction. Investigators with the Pennsylvania State Police and state
Attorney General's Office said they came across Christopher Hankish while
looking into gambling activity involving former video poker kingpin John
Conley. Prosecutors said Hankish participated in a sports betting gambling
business run by Conley. They said Hankish recruited bettors for Conley's
organization, accepted bets on behalf of the organization and arranged for
collecting debts. According to prosecutors, a wire tap by the state Attorney
General's office and state police captured several telephone calls between
Conley and Hankish in which they discussed various aspects of the gambling
operation. Conley has not been charged, but was sentenced in May to four
years in federal prison for violating his probation by placing sports bets
over the phone last year. He had been released in January 2004 after serving
nine years in prison on a gambling conviction.