CANTON, Ohio — Ten people have been indicted in alleged illegal gambling schemes that took place in Canton, the U.S. Department of Justice announced on Thursday.
A federal grand jury in Cleveland returned five indictments charging 10 individuals -- three of whom were previously charged -- with illegal gambling, tax or other related charges. The indictments accuse nine of the defendants of owning or operating illegal gambling businesses in Canton including Skilled Shamrock, Redemption, Plaza 777, Gametastic,Gametastik, Belden Connection 777, Café 62, Got Skillz, and Skillz 777.
Those charged include:
Stephanie Condric
Accused of co-owning and operating Gametastic. Allegedly concealed the ownership of Gametastic by putting the business in the name of a nominee and reported some of its payroll under the name of a nominee business.
Condric and her co-conspirators allegedly failed to report all of Gametastic’s payroll on employment tax returns filed with the IRS. It is also alleged that Condric failed to report her share of Gametastic’s profits on her individual income tax returns for 2016 and 2017.
Christos Karasarides, Christopher Karasarides, Ronald DiPietro, Thomas Helmick
Previous indictments charged Ronald DiPietro (a Certified Public Accountant), Thomas Helmick, Christos Karasarides and Jason and Rebecca Kachner with gambling and/or tax offenses. Jason and Rebecca Kachner pled guilty in July 2022.
A third superseding indictment now adds Christopher Karasarides, Christos' son. The indictment accuses Christopher and Christos Karasarides of conspiring to defraud the United States, with Christos being accused of submitting false information to settle a more than $3.1 million tax debt and Christopher being accused of helping to conceal his father’s assets from the IRS by serving as a nominee owner of some of his father’s businesses. Christopher is also accused of filing false tax returns from 2017-2020.
Among the businesses Christos is accused of hiding from the IRS are Skilled Shamrock, Redemption, and Plaza 777.
Melissa Bragg
In a separate indictment, Melissa Bragg of Canton is accused of conducting Belden Connection 777, an illegal gambling business, from approximately 2013 to July 11, 2018.
Michael Moneypenny
In a separate indictment, Michael Moneypenny of Norton, Ohio, is charged in with four counts of conducting illegal gambling businesses, arising from his involvement in Skilled Shamrock, Redemption, Gametastic, and Gametastik. It is alleged that Moneypenny operated a business repairing and selling slot machines, and also leased slot machines to gambling businesses in Ohio and Florida.
Isaiah Worlow, Steven Fluharty, and Tiffany Kerekes
A fifth indictment charges Isaiah Worlow, Steven Fluharty, and Tiffany Kerekes with conducting illegal gambling businesses related to Got Skillz, Skillz 777, and Café 62.
Condric, Christopher Karasarides, Melissa Bragg and Michael Moneypenny each made their initial court appearances on Thursday, while Christos Karasarides, Tiffany Kerekes, Isaiah Worlow, and Steven Fluharty will make their initial appearances at a later date.