Casey Urlacher on Monday resigned from the Illinois Civil Service Commission in the wake of his federal indictment in a gambling case.
Others facing criminal charges for their alleged roles in the case: Eugene “Gino” DelGiudice, 84, of Orland Park; Matthew “Sweaters” Knight, 46, of Mokena; Justin Hines, 40, of Algonquin; Keith D. Benson, 49, of Lemont; Todd Blanken, 43, of Cary; Nicholas Stella, 42, of Chicago; Matthew Namoff, 23, of Midlothian, and Vasilios Prassas, 37, of Chicago.
The men are accused of running an offshore sports gambling ring based in Costa Rica, according to the indictment. Urlacher allegedly recruited bettors for the website UncleMickSports.com in exchange for a cut of their eventual gambling losses.
In a Feb. 20 interview with the Chicago Sun-Times, Urlacher, the brother of former Chicago Bear Brian Urlacher, denied knowledge of the investigation and denied knowing DelGiudice, the alleged ringleader.
In 2013, Urlacher was elected mayor of the Lake County village of Mettawa. He also served on the Illinois Civil Service Commission from his appointment in 2013 until he resigned. He was receiving a $25,928 annual salary. The five-member commission is responsible for hearing employee appeals of suspensions, layoffs, allocations and demotions.
A spokesman for Gov. J.B. Pritzker told the Tribune they are working to name a replacement.
Urlacher graduated from Lake Forest College in 2003, where he played Division III football. He had an NFL tryout and went on to play in the Arena League.
A report in the Chicago Tribune says another one of the defendants, Nicholas Stella, is a Chicago Police officer who lost his position last year.
“The allegations against suspended police officer Nicholas Stella are …. serious and if proven, they undermine everything the men and women of the Chicago Police Department represent,” Interim Chicago Police Supt. Charlie Beck Charlie Beck said in a statement published in the Tribune.
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