Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times
A former Melrose Park police officer whose late grandfather was a reputed mob boss and whose brother is a former reality TV star pleaded guilty Thursday to his role in a gambling ring once run by a bookie now facing a prison sentence of more than two years.
A third individual, Ramiro Barajas, was also charged Wednesday as part of the same investigation, court records show.
Paloian admitted in January that he ran the ring from 2015 until 2019 in Chicago, Elmwood Park and Melrose Park. But federal authorities have said they “know now that Paloian was running a bookmaking operation as early as 2012 and continuing until shut down by the FBI.”
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Federal prosecutors have charged an ex-Melrose Park police officer for his role in a gambling ring run by a bookie with mob ties who was sentenced last week to more than two years in prison.
John Amabile, 33, is charged with running an illegal sports bookmaking operation. The charge stems from the same investigation that led to last week’s sentencing of Gregory Paloian, of Elmwood Park, a source confirmed.
Reached earlier this year after abruptly resigning from the Melrose Park Police Department amid rumors that he was in trouble with federal investigators, Amabile declined to speak in detail with a reporter.