CHICAGO -- Contractors, lawyers and investors tied to the ill-fated Emerald casino project in Rosemont poured at least $128,400 into village Mayor Donald E. Stephens' campaign fund during the last half of last year, campaign records show.
Contributions related to the casino accounted for a little more than a quarter of the $510,400 in receipts that Stephens took in from July 1 to Dec. 31.
At the time, the mayor was pushing the Illinois Gaming Board to let Emerald Casino Inc. move its casino license from a defunct riverboat in East Dubuque to a new site in Rosemont, a suburb wedged between Chicago and O'Hare International Airport. The Gaming Board denied that license renewal last month.
"I think the stench of the deal and now the stench of what created the deal, which was money, is apparent to everyone," Tom Grey, the Rockford-based executive director of the National Coalition Against Gambling, said Monday.
But Gary Mack, a Stephens spokesman, said many of the contributions were made by companies that have done business with Rosemont for years. He said it's simply seen as good business to donate money to lawmakers and governmental leaders.
"I can assure you there is no connection between any contributions that are made and any work that gets done in the village," Mack said.
Rosemont was so confident the casino would be approved that the village had begun construction on the site of a floating barge, a parking garage and a hotel by early last year. But construction was suspended last February after Gaming Board members raised concerns.
Even so, many of the companies that won contracts for the casino site also donated to Stephens' campaign, as did Emerald itself and its proposed shareholders.
Emerald Ventures Inc. gave Stephens $15,000. Individual shareholders, their relatives or their businesses donated another $29,000.
Proposed shareholder Arthur J. Smith, for example, gave $3,000, and his company, Art's Enterprises, gave another $3,000. Nick Boscarino, husband of proposed shareholder Sherri Boscarino, gave $10,000.
Neither Smith nor Emerald vice president Joseph McQuaid returned phone calls Monday. Boscarino has an unlisted phone number.
The construction company designated to oversee the entire casino project -- Power Construction Co. -- gave Stephens $12,800 during the last half of 2000. Power went into a joint venture on the project with Degen & Rosato Construction Co., owned by Stephens friends Isaac Degen and Raymond Rosato.
Degen & Rosato gave Stephens $800, while another company they own, Northwest Display Corp., gave $3,000.
The two men were Stephens' co-defendants when he was tried and acquitted of tax and fraud charges in 1985. The mayor had been accused of having a secret stake in a land deal that allowed construction of the Rosemont Horizon arena.
The Donald E. Stephens Committeeman Fund also gave out plenty of money during the last half of 2000. State lawmakers, for example, got $92,400 from the fund.
The mayor's involvement with the proposed casino raised questions for Gaming Board investigators who probed the deal. The mayor has said investigators questioned him about possible ties to mafia figures -- allegations he vehemently denied.
Mack said the amount of money companies and individuals connected to the Emerald project gave Stephens does not reflect his influence on the project.
"If the mayor had any influence, Rosemont would have a casino now," he said.
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