Feds Say Accused Indiana Gambling Boss Sent Witness Death Threats From Church

Federal investigators say James “Jimmy the Greek” Gerodemos, the accused leader of a multi-state illegal sports betting operation, sent death threats to bettors who owed money to his bookies, including a video filmed in the back of a church, according to NBC Chicago.

Prosecutors say Gerodemos filmed flaming memorial candles and told the camera, “I just lit some candles for your family ... I say for them to die,” before adding further threats, in a message sent to a bettor behind on payments.

"At this point in time, no one's able to verify that that's actually James Gerodemos anyway. But even if it were, my point is these are not actual threats of violence," said Gerodemos' attorney, Beau Brindley, who disputes that the voice on the video belongs to his client and says it came from a burner phone.

Gerodemos, a 63-year-old Schererville resident, is the last of 22 defendants still in custody following an April indictment that accused him and Dean Gialamas of leading the Gerodemos Gambling Organization, a Lake County, Indiana-based bookmaking operation prosecutors say ran for at least two decades using websites including abcwagering.ag and gardencitybets.com, fronted through the Gino's Steakhouse and Paragon restaurants. 

$5m Bond

A week before the new filing, U.S. District Judge Andrew Rodovich had ordered Gerodemos released on a $5 million bond, giving prosecutors until this week to convince him otherwise with new evidence of a pattern of threats against extortion victims and their families.

The case stems from an 87-page, 28-count federal indictment unsealed in April 2026, which charged Gerodemos and Gialamas, along with 20 others, with running the operation between January 2021 and April 2026 through Gino's Steakhouse in Merrillville and the Paragon restaurant in Hobart. 

More than 150 law enforcement officers, including FBI and IRS agents, raided both restaurants and several homes the day the charges were unsealed, arresting all 22 defendants.

Crime Sheet

Charges named in the indictment include conducting an illegal gambling business, Hobbs Act extortion and conspiracy to commit extortion, collection of extensions of credit by extortionate means, conspiracy to commit money laundering, and forfeiture allegations. 

All 22 defendants pleaded not guilty in May, and a status hearing is scheduled for next June.

Prosecutors say employees at both restaurants helped collect and distribute gambling proceeds from agents, bookies and bettors, and that Gerodemos' relatives, including his wife Athena and son Elias, were also charged over financial transactions tied to the alleged scheme. 

Gerodemos had been ordered released on the $5 million bond over prosecutors' objections, with conditions including home confinement, electronic monitoring, and a requirement that his immediate family surrender their passports and co-sign the bond, before the new evidence of alleged witness threats prompted prosecutors to seek his continued detention.