KC mob associate added to Black Book

John Wilen

Friday, Jan. 29, 1999 | 12:10 p.m.

The Nevada Gaming Commission on Thursday added a new name to the Nevada Black Book -- the state's list of undesirables banned from casinos.

Peter J. Ribaste, 44, of Kansas City will never again be allowed in a Nevada casino. Ribaste was added to the black book for four felony convictions and his reputed association with organized crime figures.

"His presence in a licensed gaming establishment poses a threat to the state and to licensed gaming," said Keith Kizer, a deputy attorney general.

Ribaste, nominated to the black book by the Gaming Control Board last May, had planned to fight his nomination in a hearing before the Commission.

"Mr. Ribaste had requested a hearing before this commission but has now decided he does not want a hearing," said Kizer.

Law enforcement sources have long tied Ribaste to the Kansas City Mafia, or La Cosa Nostra, alleging he at one point took direct orders from the late Kansas City mob boss Carl Cirella and his underboss, Carl DeLuna. Ribaste allegedly ran a lucrative illegal gambling operation and nightclubs for the Kansas City mob in the 1980s.

Ribaste also tried to enter the Kansas City retail car industry. In 1989, he was convicted of mail fraud, wire fraud and failing to disclose $90,000 in Las Vegas gambling debts on loan applications used to try to buy a Kansas City car dealership. He served six months in jail and three years on probation.

Between 1987 and 1994, Ribaste traveled to Las Vegas frequently, said Kizer. He moved to Las Vegas' upscale Spanish Trails development in 1994, and subsequently bought into a car dealership here.

To buy into the dealership, he used a $100,000 loan from Horseshoe hotel-casino co-owner Ted Binion -- the same loan that prompted officials to ban Binion from the gaming industry before his death last year.

Ribaste has been seen in the company of several known mobsters in Las Vegas, officials said. A known sports better, Ribaste was extended credit by Las Vegas casinos as recently as 1995, officials said.

Last year, Ribaste was convicted of a fourth felony, this time for evading $85,000 in taxes in the years 1987-89. Prosecutors charged Ribaste with hiding interests in two Kansas City nightclubs. He was sentenced to six months home detention and four years probation.

Since his latest conviction, Ribaste has moved back to Kansas City.

"Mr. Ribaste's notorious and unsavory reputation, along with his felony convictions, make him a proper candidate for inclusion in the list of excluded persons," said Kizer.

The Commission's unanimous vote makes Ribaste the 33rd person added to the Nevada Black Book.