$34,528 Forfeiture: Rockdale DJ Makes $7.50 Per Hour, Plus Tips

ROCKDALE, IL — A 53-year-old Rockdale man charged with money laundering following his multiple visits to the Joliet Hollywood Casino may lose $34,528 in cash and silver coins and have them awarded to the Illinois State Police under a forfeiture complaint filed this week by the Office of Will County State's Attorney Jim Glasgow.

John Tomaras spent March 11 in the Will County Jail before posting 10 percent of his $50,000 bail to go free. The Otis Avenue resident is accused of money laundering crimes.

The forfeiture complaint reveals that the Illinois State Police had video surveillance from the Hollywood Casino of Tomaras inserting $38,180 into the electronic gambling devices with minimal play on Feb. 24, Feb. 25, Feb. 27, Feb. 28, March 2, March 8 and March 10.

At 2:12 p.m. on March 10, Illinois State Police troopers detained Tomaras for further questioning, and he had $2,678 in his possession, court records show.

At 4:15 p.m. Illinois State Police gaming agents interviewed Tomaras at the Hollywood Casino. According to the forfeiture complaint, Tomaras arrived at the casino around 12:30 p.m. with two pouches, one with $400 cash and the other with $1,200. Tomaras inititally claimed he gambled on the electronic roulette machines and won $200 cash.

Next, Tomaras said he left the roulette machine and inserted an unknown amount of $20 bills into several electronic gambling machines with no play. He redeemed several ticket vouchers from the devices and exchanged the vouchers at a kiosk ATM, obtaining various $100 bills, the court documents reflect.

At first, Tomaras told Illinois State Police "he continually exchanged bills from $100 to $20 to obtain new crisp bills because he does not like to exchange bills at the banks due to the tellers getting irritated," the complaint revealed.

According to the forfeiture, Tomaras said he maintained a silver coin collection and gold bars in his personal safe back in Rockdale as savings for his daughter, as well as $5,000 cash, in the safe.

Tomaras told police he worked as a DJ Wednesday through Saturday and made $7.50 per hour plus about $300 a week in tips. He had no other sources of income.

Eventually, Tomaras recanted his story to Illinois State Police about the money in his safe, now claiming "he is a gambling addict and lost all his money from the safe at the casino," court files show.

However, Illinois State Police remained skeptical of that statement, too.

A search of the Rockdale DJ's vehicle found $420 cash in the center console, and when Tomaras gave the police written consent to review his cell phone, officers discovered "text conversations with individuals discussing narcotics purchases as well as discussing the making of cannabis infused butter," the forfeiture stated.

Tomaras also gave written consent for police to search his apartment unit and his safe in Rockdale. Rockdale and Manhattan police dogs were brought to the apartment to assist with the search. Inside Tomaras' safe was $30,530 cash and various rare coins Tomaras talked about earlier, court files show.

Why the civil forfeiture?

Will County prosecutors maintain that Tomaras committed the felony offense known as structuring, in which "John Tomaras was exchanging currency which amounts to a financial transaction under the Illinois Money Laundering Act, and said financial transaction was done at least in part to conceal the nature, source, ownership or control of the currency.

"In the alternative, the currency represents proceeds from the felony sale of narcotics or cannabis."

Related Joliet Patch coverage:

Rockdale Man Laundered $38,180 At Hollywood Casino Joliet: Police