Burr Ridge Mayor Returns Indicted Restaurateur's Campaign Donations

BURR RIDGE, IL – Burr Ridge Mayor Gary Grasso, a candidate for DuPage County Board chairman, said Tuesday he was returning $2,000 from a local restaurant owner who is indicted in a federal gambling case in Indiana.

Patch asked Grasso, a Republican running against Democratic incumbent Deb Conroy, about donations from two Burr Ridge establishments owned by Filippo "Gigi" Rovito. They are Capri Ristorante and the Are We Live nightclub.

In response, Grasso said he did not know about the two contributions before Patch's inquiry, but verified them. On Monday, Grasso's campaign reported the donations to the state Board of Elections.

"Given the pending Indiana case, I have asked my Treasurer to return the donations," Grasso said in an email.

Rovito did not return a message for comment.

In 2018, Rovito donated $5,000 to Grasso's unsuccessful attorney general campaign.

But Grasso returned the money after a downstate TV station called the donation into question. The station said Rovito was named in FBI mafia investigations.

Grasso has not explained the return of the donations in that case.

According to an April indictment, Rovito was among 22 defendants who took part in a gambling ring in northwest Indiana.

Rovito was charged with operating an illegal gambling business and conspiracy to collect extensions of credit by extortionate means.

The federal government said it would seize the property of defendants that was derived from illegal gambling proceeds.

The prosecutors noted Rovito's criminal history.

Public records show that a 17-year-old Rovito committed a sex crime against a 14-year-old girl in 1991. He was released from prison in 2002 after about five years.

His criminal charges have included aggravated criminal sexual assault and possession of a controlled substance, federal prosecutors said.

In 2003, he was convicted of failing to register as a sex offender, for which he received a 2-year sentence, they said.

For years, Grasso's critics have accused him of being too close to Rovito.

Grasso has been Rovito's attorney in civil matters. A plate at Capri Ristorante is named "Linguini alla Mayor Grasso."

In June, Grasso wrote a piece for the Chicago Tribune accusing the media of unfairly linking Italian Americans to the mob.

In its headlines, Chicago's NBC affiliate tied Rovito to the Outfit, a Chicago-based organized crime syndicate.

And the Tribune contended Burr Ridge has had its share of "mobbed-up denizens" over the years.

"I've sadly watched some members of the Chicago news media stigmatize Italian Americans as Outfit members or mafia operatives whenever it serves to embellish a story," Grasso said. "The Outfit still sells – pathetically. It’s time that it stop. Or as I like to say: Basta. Enough."