3 suspected in 21-county theft, money-laundering ring indicted in Lee County

DIXON – Three people accused of stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from slot machines all across northern Illinois, then laundering the money by sending it to each other digitally and using it to buy jewelry and cars, are being prosecuted in Lee County after being indicted there by the Statewide Grand Jury.

Indictments filed Aug. 12 were unsealed Wednesday in Lee County Court against Gino W. Wuttke, of Chatsworth, Alyssa A. Slouka, of Morris, and Guilia R. Wuttke, whose age, hometown and relationship to Gino was not available late Wednesday.

The 21 counties in which the crimes are said to be committed are Cook, DeKalb, DuPage, Grundy, Lee, La Salle, Jo Daviess, Kane, Lake, Ogle, Bureau, Champaign, Kankakee, Vermillion, Iroquois, Stephenson, Carroll, Mason, McLean, McHenry and Will.

Officials with Attorney General Kwame Raoul’s office, which will prosecute these cases in Lee County, declined to provide any details beyond what is in the indictments, including whether more people are involved.

Gino Wuttke, 32, is charged with 44 counts – theft, two counts of money laundering and 41 counts of burglary. He is in Lee County jail on $750,000 bond.

According to the indictment, between Feb. 20 and Sept. 19, 2021, he stole between $100,000 and $500,000 from video gambling machine terminals in 41 businesses – including the Shamrock Pub in Dixon, the Oregon VFW, and Shaw’s Express in Mount Carroll – and used the stolen money to buy jewelry, clothing and accessories and vehicles to disguise the theft.

Theft is punishable by at least 4 to 15 years in prison; the other 43 charges carry 3 to 7 years each, or 15 to 30 or 7 to 14 years if he is found eligible for an extended term.

Wuttke also has a pending burglary case in Kendall County, stemming from an arrest in September in Yorkville, when he reportedly lived in Joliet.

Slouka is charged with two counts of burglary, two of theft, two of money laundering, and with conspiracy to commit theft, conspiracy to commit burglary and conspiracy to launder money.

Slouka is accused of stealing between $10,000 and $100,000 from Gold Rush Amusements, which provides slot machines to businesses, in Lee County, and of entering into Porky’s in Dixon, both in April 13, 2021, and of burglarizing one Bureau County business (with Gino Wuttke) and stealing from another that April 24.

She then laundered less than $10,000 of the money by sending and receiving transactions with other defendants using the digital payment network Zelle, the indictment says.

She is charged with two counts of burglary, two of theft, two of money laundering, and with conspiracy to commit theft, conspiracy to commit burglary and conspiracy to launder money. The crimes occurred between April 3 and May 18, 2021, court records show.

The first two conspiracy charges carry 2 to 5 years, and the third 1 to 3 years, unless she is extended-term eligible, when the penalties increase to 5 to 10 and 3 to 6 years.

Slouka is in Lee County jail on $75,000 bond.

Guilia Wuttke also is accused of laundering money by exchanging less than $10,000 in stolen cash with other defendants through Zelle, and conspiracy, from Feb. 1 to Sept. 13, 2021.

She is charged with two counts of money laundering, conspiracy to launder money, conspiracy to commit theft and conspiracy to commit burglary.

All three have preliminary hearings Sept. 8.

By statute, the Statewide Grand Jury, which is based in Lee County, investigates, indicts and prosecutes multicounty cases involving money laundering, racketeering, drugs, guns, computers and street gangs.