About this app
How to play Belfry Bliss
Mayor Gary Grasso confirmed the donations from Filippo “Gigi” Rovito after local outlet Patch contacted him to ask about contributions from two Burr Ridge businesses owned by Rovito, Capri Ristorante and the Are We Live nightclub.
The mayor said he was not aware of the contributions before the publication actually got in touch with him.
“Given the pending Indiana case, I have asked my Treasurer to return the donations,” Grasso said in an email to Patch. His campaign reported the contributions to the Illinois State Board of Elections on September 14.
How to play Belfry Bliss
In Sweden, Spelinspektionen recently flagged affiliates and social media as key channels for black market advertising and how affiliate networks redirect search traffic towards unlicensed operators.
Regulators have so far focused mainly on monitoring paid advertising. In Germany, the GGL credited an updated Google ad policy with reducing black market visibility. Yet, it acknowledged that illegal operators could still achieve visibility in organic search through SEO manipulation.
This points to a wider shift towards addressing organic search signals and domain-level practices such as doorway pages, an issue also raised in the UK, where research has linked black market migration to search-driven promotion and SEO exploitation.
About Belfry Bliss
Philip Pietras, 52, admitted to stealing from more than 170 people, many of whom are senior citizens who sought to limit the emotional and financial burdens placed on their loved ones by prepaying for their funerals. But instead of placing those funds, meant for caskets and burial services, in escrow accounts, Pietras pocketed the money to gamble.
Pietras accepted a plea deal from the state, and prosecutors expect him to enter a guilty plea on Oct. 23 and be formally sentenced on Jan. 22, 2027.
Under the terms of the state’s offer, Pietras will admit to stealing his clients’ money for his personal use. In exchange for his admission, the state has recommended a prison sentence of 7.5 years instead of 15 years, followed by five years of probation.