Casey Urlacher, the brother of former Chicago Bears linebacker Brian Urlacher, was one of 10 individuals named in a federal grand jury indictment Thursday, accused of helping to run an illegal offshore gambling business.
Urlacher is accused of recruiting bettors for the website UncleMickSports.com in exchange for a cut of their eventual gambling losses.
Urlacher is currently serving as the mayor of Mettawa, a village in Lake County.
He faces charges of conspiracy and running an illegal gambling business in connection with the indictment.
The indictment, issued by the U.S. District Court’s Northern District of Illinois, names a total of 10 defendants, including Vincent Delgiudice, who is accused of running the website. The website was maintained in Costa Rica, according to the indictment, and was used to manage the accounting, betting and logistics of the illegal ring.
In the indictment, Urlacher is accused of asking one of the defendants to “create an online login and password for a new gambler,” and is accused of collecting money from gamblers who had lost on bets on the website. In one instance, Urlacher is accused of giving Vasilios Prassas, another defendant named in the indictment, an envelope containing cash payments for gambling debts.
The Chicago Tribune also reports that one of the defendants in the case, Nicholas Stella, is a veteran Chicago police officer, and that he was stripped of his powers last year.
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“The allegations against suspended police officer Nicholas Stella are various serious and if proven, they undermine everything the men and women of the Chicago Police Department represent,” Charlie Beck said in a statement to the newspaper.
Arraignment dates have not been scheduled in the case. Each of the two counts Urlacher is facing carry a maximum sentence of five years.
After Casey Urlacher’s football career came to an end, he became involved in several political endeavors, including his election as mayor of Mettawa in 2013. He was appointed to the Illinois Civil Service Commission by former Illinois Governor Pat Quinn, and was appointed to another term by former Governor Bruce Rauner in 2017.
Urlacher also had an unsuccessful run for the Republican nomination in the 25th State Senate District in 2015.
