Tabish visitor may be mob associate

Ted Binion's estate is trying to determine whether a man who visited Rick Tabish in jail in August is the same individual named in Chicago as a reputed mob associate once tied to the movie industry.

The identification of the visitor, who signed in as Salvatore Galioto, has become important to the estate because of a recent Sun report disclosing that Tabish and the mob are trying to profit from a movie deal in the Binion case.

"It's an interesting aspect, and we'll be actively investigating it further," said Tom Dillard, a private detective hired by the estate to probe the wealthy gambling figure's September 1998 slaying. "There is a wrongful death action filed against Mr. Tabish, and this may have some bearing on that action."

The estate filed suit last month against Tabish and his reported lover, Sandy Murphy, who face criminal charges in Binion's death.

On Nov. 4 the Sun reported that Joseph Cusumano, a reputed associate of slain Chicago mob kingpin Anthony Spilotro, had locked up Tabish's movie rights and was working with a Los Angeles production company on a Binion film project.

The company, which Cusumano identified as Edgebrook Productions, is run by Michele Berk, the wife of "Baywatch" creator Michael Berk. The Berks are active in promoting Las Vegas as a site for movies.

Michele Berk, who has acknowledged being involved in a Binion film project, has refused to be interviewed by the Sun about her reported dealings with Cusumano, who is listed in Nevada's Black Book of undesirables banned from casinos.

Cusumano, sources said, telephoned Tabish's former lawyer, Steve Wolfson, a couple of times inquiring about a movie deal with Tabish. The first call took place before the well-publicized preliminary hearing in the murder case, which began Aug. 17.

The visitor who identified himself as Galioto visited Tabish at the Clark County Detention Center with the defendant's younger brother, Greg Tabish, at 6:30 p.m on Aug. 16. The meeting was listed on the jail log as a special visit authorized by Capt. Henry Hoogland.

Hoogland said special visits, which aren't unusual at the jail, generally are granted to accommodate friends and relatives of inmates from out of town.

In this case, he said, jail officials were led to believe that the two visitors were coming from Montana, where Tabish and his brother live.

Attorney Louis Palazzo, who represents Rick Tabish, could not be reached for comment on the Galioto visit, and a Sun telephone call to the only Salvatore Galioto listed in Chicago was not returned.

Hoogland said he didn't know whether the Galioto who signed in at the jail is the same man identified by the Chicago Crime Commission as a reputed associate of the mob family there.

The commission listed Salvatore "Sam" Galioto on its 1997 Chicago mob flow chart. The chart is considered a credible source by law enforcement agencies and regulators such as Nevada's Gaming Control Board.

Galioto, sources said, is known to law enforcement authorities in Las Vegas and reportedly has made frequent visits to the city.

Galioto's brother, John Galioto, who was forced to resign from a Chicago labor union in 1998 after allegedly embezzling money, also is listed as an underworld associate. Their uncle, reputed former mob lieutenant James "Jimmy the Man" Marcello, also is on the commission's flow chart. Marcello, who was sentenced to 12 years in prison for racketeering and tax fraud, answered to the late Chicago mob boss Sam Carlisi.

Sam Galioto was in the news in 1995 when he and his parents, William and Ann Galioto, were denied a $5.5 million Chicago city loan to build a video and movie production center. The Chicago Sun-Times reported that city officials denied the loan because they feared the family had mob ties.

William and Sam Galioto were already in the movie business at the time as owners of Movies in Motion Inc., a Chicago production company that leased vehicles and other equipment for filmmakers in the Windy City. The company, formed in 1976, was dissolved in 1995.

That was the year the Galiotos sought the multimillion-dollar loan for a proposed 100,000-square-foot sound stage dubbed Studio Works in a blighted section of Chicago.

The Illinois Police & Sheriff's News, a publication in Palatine, Ill., reported that the reputed mob associations helped sink the deal even though the Galiotos' business partners were tied to politically connected William Hogan Jr., then chairman of the Chicago Convention and Tourism Bureau and head of Teamsters Local 714.

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