The brother of James Weiss, the politically connected businessman convicted in June of bribing two state elected officials, has been charged with lying to federal investigators about his brother’s contacts with notorious Outfit hitman Frank “The German” Schweihs.
The charges unsealed Wednesday against Joseph “Joey” Weiss bring new mob intrigue to a case that already had elements of political corruption, a state senator-turned government mole, a corrupt ex-cop and the shady world of sweepstakes gaming machines.
Joey Weiss, 43, of Oak Lawn, was charged in an indictment filed under seal in August 2022 with lying to federal investigators and obstruction of justice. He’s scheduled to be arraigned Oct. 13 before U.S. District Judge Matthew Kennelly, court records show.
Weiss’ attorney, Lisa Wood, declined to comment on the charges Wednesday.
According to the six-page indictment, Weiss collected revenue and performed other services for his brother’s sweepstakes gaming business, which operated the quasi-legal machines that look like video poker terminals but are not regulated by the state.
In October 2020, James Weiss, who is the son-in-law of former Cook County Assessor Joseph Berrios, was charged in a superseding indictment with attempting to pay off two state legislators to pass a bill beneficial to his sweepstakes gaming company and then lying about it to two FBI agents.
The next year, a new federal grand jury investigation was initiated that was probing whether James Weiss, his company, or another co-owner of the company, identified only as Individual B, had any ties to the Chicago Outfit, and in particular Schweihs, the mob hitman who was charged in the landmark Family Secrets case more than a decade earlier, according to the indictment.
Schweihs, who spent decades as a reputed enforcer for the mob’s Grand Avenue street crew, died in of cancer in 2008 while awaiting trial.
In January 2022, more than a year after his brother’s indictment, Joseph Weiss lied to FBI and IRS agents in an interview when he denied knowing anyone who used to do business with Schweihs, including both his brother and Individual B, according to the indictment.
Weiss also falsely denied hearing that his brother “had a problem and went for protection to somebody” and that his brother had “reached out to Frank Schweihs, who was out of town, and thereafter somebody told (James Weiss) to see Individual B,” the indictment stated.
The indictment was unsealed on the day prosecutors are due to file a sentencing memo in the case against James Weiss, who was convicted by a jury in June of seven counts of bribery, wire fraud, mail fraud and making false statements. He is scheduled to be sentenced next week.
The charges alleged James Weiss desperately wanted the state’s gambling expansion bill to include language explicitly legalizing sweepstakes machines, but it was left out of the proposal in the 2019 spring session. Weiss then agreed to pay monthly $2,500 bribes to get a deal done, first to state Rep. Luis Arroyo and later to state Sen. Terry Link, who was a chief sponsor of the gambling bill in the Senate, according to prosecutors.
Arroyo and Weiss didn’t know that Link, a Vernon Hills Democrat, was cooperating with the FBI. Link, who is hoping for a break on his own federal tax conviction in exchange for his cooperation, testified over two days beginning last week about his undercover role.
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Arroyo, meanwhile, pleaded guilty to bribery for his role in the scheme with Weiss but did not agree to cooperate with prosecutors. Seeger sentenced Arroyo to nearly five years in prison last year, calling him a “corruption superspreader.”
The Tribune has previously reported that James Weiss’ company, V.S.S., was connected to a former Chicago cop, John Adreani, through a complex web of corporations, many of which list the same address in a south suburban strip mall as their headquarters.
Adreani was fired from the Police Department in 2015 for associating with a major drug trafficker after he was captured on a wiretap discussing gambling and drinking excursions and real estate ventures with him, according to Chicago Police Board records.
Adreani was not charged, however his name came up several times during James Weiss’ trial.
The trial centered on the largely uncharted world of sweepstakes machines, sometimes called “gray machines,” which allow customers to put in money, receive a coupon to redeem for merchandise online and then play electronic games like slot machines.
Since the machines can be played for free, they are not considered gambling devices. Critics, however, contend that the unregulated devices — which operate in cities, including Chicago, that have banned video gambling — are designed to skirt the law.
jmeisner@chicagotribune.com
