Louis County Port Authority by the River City Casino, which is owned by Penn National, a Pennsylvania-based gaming corporation. The money was siphoned from the $5 million in annual rent payments made to the St. Louis Economic Development Partnership then headed by Sheila Sweeney, an associate of Webbe. Rallo, a co-defendant who was also found guilty in the Stenger case, benefited from contracts funneled through the St. In 2014, Webbe introduced then-County Executive Stenger to John Rallo, who started his business career in his family’s construction company, which allegedly had ties to Chicago organized crime, according to FBI records.
But the two journalists failed to fully report the criminal background of Sorkis Webbe Jr., a crime figure who played a key role in the affair. Louis County Executive Steve Stenger helped send the politician to federal prison last year.
St Louis Post-Dispatch reporters Jeremy Kohler and Jacob Barker’s extensive coverage of political corruption involving St. Louis Post-Dispatch reporters who nailed County Exec Steve Stenger turned a blind eye to the historic influence of organized crime that presaged their reportage.
