Gaming board chairman steps down, cites media scrutiny

David B. Caruso

Thursday, Sept. 16, 2004 | 9:07 a.m.

PHILADELPHIA -- A former mob crimefighter picked by the governor to head the state's new gambling commission quit the post Wednesday, a little more than a month after his appointment.

Frank Friel said he was tired of media scrutiny, which had included newspaper stories about how the former Philadelphia police captain once testified on behalf of a boxing promoter with alleged ties to Mafia figures.

Gov. Ed Rendell appeared together with Friel at a news conference to announce the decision. The governor lashed out at reporters for 25 minutes, accusing them of treating Friel unfairly and overlooking his qualifications.

"I hope you understand what you did," Rendell growled at reporters through clenched teeth, tears welling in his eyes.

He called the day his "saddest" since he began public service, and said he still supported Friel and had not encouraged him to quit.

Friel, 62, said he made the decision to withdraw from the seven-member Gaming Control Board because of the toll on his family and to avoid being a distraction to the fledgling agency.

"The last 35 days have reminded me of the negatives associated with public life," said Friel, who co-chaired the FBI-Philadelphia Police Organized Crime Homicide Task Force in the 1980s. The task force helped prosecute dozens of mobsters.

Rendell said he is considering several people to replace Friel, but declined to disclose their names out of concern that they would face needless scrutiny.

While working for a private security firm, Friel had been paid to help a Philadelphia boxing promoter lift a ban preventing him from holding fights in a Connecticut casino. Friel testified in 2001 and 2002 that the promoter was not involved in organized crime. The testimony put him at odds with some other law enforcement figures.

Friel was also was under fire for misrepresenting his educational background during sworn testimony three years ago by incorrectly stating that he had earned master's and bachelor's degrees. Rendell said Friel simply misspoke.

And a 1974 state Crime Commission report accused Friel of being among dozens of police officers who took money from a club owner. Friel denied any wrongdoing.

Following the reports, some Republican lawmakers called for Friel to step down.

Jeffrey Piccola, the state Senate's Republican whip and a staunch gambling critic, said Friel would have disrupted the commission's work if he had stayed on. He chastised Rendell for not acting to oust Friel immediately.

"He placed his loyalty to an individual above the interest of the commonwealth," said Piccola, of Dauphin County.

Friel's supporters said they were surprised by the development.

"In my eyes, Frank does no wrong," said Joe DiGirolamo, the mayor of Bensalem, where Friel worked as director of public safety in the 1990s. "The man's integrity is incomparable."

The Daily News, citing an anonymous source, reported in Wednesday editions that Superior Court Judge Stephen J. McEwen Jr. and Gregory Fajt, Rendell's secretary of revenue, are being considered to replace Friel.

McEwen did not respond to a request for comment Wednesday and Fajt declined comment through a spokesman.

Rendell appointed Friel to chair the gambling commission on Aug. 11.

A court case is still pending involving a second appointment to the commission.

Attorney General Jerry Pappert has asked a court to block the appointment of former Democratic state Rep. Jeffrey W. Coy, who quit the legislature to take the post. Pappert said the constitution prohibits lawmakers from being appointed to paid state government jobs during their terms.