Person Page - 168

     Marianne K. O'Callaghan was born circa 1938. She married Paul Phillip Micallef MA, son of Charles Frederick Micallef and Marianna Agius, on 3 September 1966 at San Francisco, San Francisco Co., CA, USA.
     As of 3 September 1966,her married name was Micallef. Marianne K. O'Callaghan was also known as Kathie.

     Angelo Gaddini married Theresa Micallef, daughter of Charles Frederick Micallef and Marianna Agius.

     Grace Galea married Carmelo Micallef.
     Her married name was Micallef. Grace Galea had the following children: Fideleo Micallef
Sulverio Micallef
Zurranu Micallef
Joseph Micallef.

     Carmelo Micallef married Grace Galea. Carmelo Micallef died before 1924.¹
     He had the following children: Fideleo Micallef
Sulverio Micallef
Zurranu Micallef
Joseph Micallef. Carmelo Micallef was also known as Frederick Micallef.

     Georgina Carmen Cuschieri was born on 2 August 1940 in Qormi, Malta. She married Ray N Anderson on 21 November 1959 at San Francisco, CA, USA.
     Georgina Carmen Cuschieri emigrated from Malta on 25 July 1947 to New York, NY, USA. She was listed on a passenger list with Rose R. (?) on 25 July 1947 at New York, NY, USA; age 43, mother . Destination San Francisco, to father. Georgina Carmen Cuschieri was listed in the 1940 US Census of Charles C. Cuschieri and Rose R. (?) in 1950 at San Francisco, CA, USA; age 54, retail lunch wagon proprietor. Her married name was Anderson. Georgina Carmen Cuschieri was naturalized on 26 July 1960 at San Francisco, CA, USA. Georgina Carmen Cuschieri lived at 442 Avalon Dr, South San Francisco, CA, USA. She was a member of the Maltese American Social Club in 1996. She was a member of the Maltese American Social Club in 2009. Research: Hugo Fisher
Ginny Fisher.

     Valerie Ann Tonna was born on 23 November 1951 in San Francisco, CA, USA. She married Raul J Arriaza on 10 May 1980 at San Francisco, CA, USA.
     As of 10 May 1980,her married name was Arriaza. Valerie Ann Tonna was a member of the Maltese American Social Club in 2005.

     Raul J Arriaza was born circa 1954. He married Valerie Ann Tonna, daughter of Arthur Joseph Tonna and Barbara Josephine Haverty, on 10 May 1980 at San Francisco, CA, USA.

     Joseph J. Attard was born in October 1948 in Victoria, Gozo, Malta. He married Janet Grace Beers.
     Research: At this time Joe Attard was also engrossed in law studies for his bar exams, which left him little time to devote to the club. He resigned in mid­ year and in July 1992, Louis Vella was elected president. in 1992.¹ Joseph J. Attard was a member of the Maltese American Social Club and was Note: in 2012. Joseph J. Attard was also known as Joe Attard. Research: Mary Gomes, 2022: I am not sure if has any siblings left. I know he had a brother that passed away not long before the Pandemic but I did not know him. He had a sister named Carmen but she also passed away with the past year or so. I can't think of what her married name is and the only reason I knew her at all was because she was married into a family that my parents grew up with on the outskirts of Victoria, but still Victoria. That is where she lived. I did not talk to her much, other than to say hello if I saw her. As far as I know, Joe is still alive and was living in Gozo. I know that he is having a house or apartments built close to where his sister lived which happens to be across the street from my aunt's house. in 2022. He was living in 2022 in Gozo, Malta. Research: Patricia Attard
Diana Macfarlane
Jojo Attard.

     Rene Charles Aufort was born circa 1927. He married Rita Laura Bajada, daughter of Samuel Bajada and Carmela Bugeja, on 1 August 1946 at San Francisco, CA, USA.
     Rene Charles Aufort was a member of the Maltese American Social Club in 2004.

     Mary Formosa was born circa 1940 in Inisfall, Australia. She married John Ruzar Baldacchino, son of (?) Baldacchino, circa 1961. Mary Formosa died on 15 August 2008 at San Bruno, CA, USA. She was buried at Holy Cross Cemetery, Colma, San Mateo Co., CA, USA.
     Her married name was Baldacchino. She was a member of the Maltese American Social Club between 1999 and 2009 at San Francisco, CA, USA.
Obituary: on 17 August 2008: Mary Baldacchino Of San Bruno passed away on August 15, 2008. She was the beloved wife of John Baldacchino of San Bruno for 47 years; and is survived by her daughters: Rita Baldacchino of San Bruno, and Catherine Knight and her husband Ron of Sacramento; grandmother of Jessica Baldacchino and Melissa Lopez. A native of Inisfall, Australia, age 68, she had lived in San Bruno since 1982 and retired from Macy's after 25 years service. Family and friends may visit after 4 PM on Monday, August 18, 2008 and attend the Vigil at 7 PM at CHAPEL OF THE HIGHLANDS, 194 Millwood Dr. at El Camino Real in Millbrae. The Funeral will leave the Chapel at 9:40 AM on Tuesday, August 19 for St. Bruno's Church, 555 San Bruno Ave., West, San Bruno where the Funeral Mass will be celebrated at 10 AM. Committal will follow at Holy Cross Cemetery in Colma. In lieu of flowers, the family prefers memorial contributions be made to the American Cancer Society.
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Published in San Francisco Chronicle on Aug. 17, 2008.

     (?) Knight married Catherine Baldacchino, daughter of John Ruzar Baldacchino and Mary Formosa.

     Rita Marie Baldacchino was born circa 1962.

     Margaret (Peggy) (?) married Edward Robert Bagnani. Margaret (Peggy) (?) died before 2018.
     Her married name was Bagnani.

     Gustav William Bonello was born on 26 October 1929 in Valletta, Malta. He married Mary Lillian (?) in April 1954. Gustav William Bonello died on 9 March 2018 at San Bruno, CA, USA, at age 88.
     He was a member of the Maltese American Social Club in 1996 at San Francisco, CA, USA.
Obituary: on 12 March 2018: Gustav “Alan” Bonello, 88, of San Bruno, California, died peacefully March 9, 2018.
Born in Malta to the late Victoria and the late Lawrence. Married his wife Lilian in April 1954, living together in England, Malta, Sunnyvale, California, and San Bruno, California. Father of Stephen Bonello of San Bruno and Joanne Mull neé Bonello (her husband Gary) of Menlo Park, California. Also survived by two grandchildren Graham Mull of Charlotte, North Carolina and Jennifer Mull of Menlo Park, and siblings Myriam and Anthony (Canada), Margaret (Santa Clara, California), Eric (United Kingdom) and the late Joseph. A loving husband, father and grandfather, sharing his incredible sense of humor with those he met throughout his life.

     Leah Anne Buswell was born circa 1962. She married Michael James Borg, son of Charles Borg and Theresa Cassar. Leah Anne Buswell died in August 2015 at Stevens, WA, USA.
     Her married name was Borg. She was a member of the Maltese American Social Club in 2005.

     Emanuel Bugelli was born on 16 January 1934. He married Birthe Ann (?)
     Emanuel Bugelli was a member of the Maltese American Social Club and was In 1995, recieved contribution recognition by Maltese Club in 1984. Research: Nicola Bugelli
Linda Bugelli
Frank Bugelli.

     Birthe Ann (?) was born circa 1936. She married Emanuel Bugelli.
     Her married name was Bugelli. Birthe Ann (?) was also known as Bea (?)

     Salvinu Buhagiar was born on 20 July 1937 in Malta. He married Maureen Gabbott. Salvinu Buhagiar married Jill (?) Salvinu Buhagiar died in March 2020 at age 82.
     Salvinu Buhagiar was also known as Savior Sal Buhagiar. He was a member of the Maltese American Social Club in 2005. Research: Jill Buhagiar
Kenneth Buhagiar
Dorothy Buhagiar.

     Diana Yvonne Tanti was born on 12 August 1959 in San Francisco, CA, USA. She married Gary Joseph Bulanti.
     Her married name was Bulanti. Diana Yvonne Tanti was a member of the Maltese American Social Club in 2004. Research: Charles Bulanti
B Bulanti
Tareh Bulanti
Frances Bulanti
Texcean Bulanti.

     Gary Joseph Bulanti was born circa 192. He married Diana Yvonne Tanti, daughter of Frank P Tanti and Patricia Yvonne Stafford.

     John M. Calleja was born on 25 April 1939 in Mosta, Malta. He married Doris Maria (?)
     John M. Calleja was a member of the Maltese American Social Club in 1993. He was a "Jack of all trades" in 1999. He was living in 2022 in Hayward, CA, USA. Research: John Calleja
Nicole Calleja
Charles Calleja
Patrick Calleja
Patrizio Calleja
Luis Calleja.

     Doris Maria (?) was born circa 1947. She married John M. Calleja.
     Her married name was Calleja. Doris Maria (?) and Doris Calleja were possibly the same person. Doris Maria (?) was living in 2022 in Willits, CA, USA.

     Mary Calleja was a member of the Maltese American Social Club in 2009.

     Richard Joseph Cairns was born on 31 October 1947 in San Francisco, CA, USA. He married Mary Lee Agius, daughter of Sam Moses Agius and Rita Mary Grech. Richard Joseph Cairns married Wendy (?)
     Richard Joseph Cairns began military service in 1967 at Vietnam Richard served in the Army from 1967 to 1970, reaching the rank of Sergeant. He was in Vietnam between 1967 and 1968 and then at Treasure Island from 1968 to 1970. He was a SF policeman and eventual Police captain in 1969. He was The Widows’ and Orphans’ Aid Association of the San Francisco Police Department held their monthly meeting on Tuesday October 12, 2021: Joe Vigil, with Officers Richard Cairns, Michael Lawson and Henry Bakay were awarded with Gold Medals of Valor for services rendered on Wednesday December 14, 1977. The Officers responded to a “217” (shooting) at 374 5th Street and learned that this was the scene of a fire. The 217 victim was a San Francisco Fireman who was shot by a suspect who may be heavily armed with a shotgun. Officers Vigil and Bakay forced entry into the suspect’s apartment which had been barricaded by a mattress. Vigil and Bakay entered the smoke-filled room and were immediately fired upon by the suspect who narrowly missed them. Vigil and Bakay backed out of the room and attempted to negotiate a surrender with the suspect. The suspect would not surrender. Tear gas was fired into the suspect’s premises. Officer Lawson and Cairns donned gas masks and entered the suspect’s apartment. As Cairns and Lawson opened the kitchen door, the suspect ambushed them by firing at them. A bullet struck Cairn’s rifle rendering it inoperable. Officer Cairns using his service revolver, and Officer Lawson using his shotgun, returned fire. Cairns and Lawson backed out of the apartment and waited while the Fire Department who turned their high-pressure hose on the interior of the apartment. After waiting for an hour, the Officers re-entered the suspect’s apartment and located the suspect laying face down in the kitchen as a result of being struck with numerous gun-shots. The suspect died while enroute to the Hospital while Officer Cairns was treated at the Hospital for gun-shot fragments in the left hand and left leg. The Coroner ruled that the suspect died as a result of self-inflicted gun-shot wound. Joe Vigil with Sergeant William Miller were awarded with Bronze Medals of Valor for services rendered on Friday July 10, 1981. Sergeant Miller and Officer Vigil responded to a call of a suicide at 2554 San Bruno Avenue. They entered the man’s apartment and observed the suicide suspect holding a four-inch buck knife blade to his throat. Sergeant Milller and Officer Joseph Vigil, exposing themselves to serious injury rushed the suspect and disarmed him of the knife, after a violent struggle. Miller and Vigil manifested outstanding bravery in an extremely dangerous situation and saved a human life. After retiring from the San Francisco Police Department, Joe worked as Celebrity Security for best-selling author Danielle Steele and worked many years as a security specialist for the Esprit Corporation. Joe was a life-long baseball fan, and played softball his most of his adult life hanging up his cleats at age 67. Joe replaced his cleats with dancing shoes and frequented Bay Area ballrooms with his wife Virgie. Joe lived each day with a sisters Margaret Greco, Josephine F. Vigil Ruybal, Estella Genna, brother Roldan Vigil; and daughter Anna Stephens. He is survived by his wife Virginia “Virgie” Vigil of 26 years; son Robert J. Vigil and his wife Margie; daughter Selina Vigil, 8 grandchildren and numerous nieces, nephews, and friends. on 14 December 1977.

Richard Joseph Cairns was mentioned in the San Francisco Chronicle on 12 March 1997: S.F. Police, Activists Differ on New Captain
By Henry K. LeeMarch 12, 1997
Community activists upset about a switch in captains at San Francisco's Northern District police station told Mayor Willie Brown last night that their concerns were ignored.
Several residents said the planned March 22 transfer of popular Captain Richard Cairns represents a break in continuity and a change that was vehemently opposed by many in the community.
Captain Walter Cullop, head of the Tenderloin Task Force, is to oversee the district as the result of a regular leadership rotation, Commander Joaquin Santos said.
Cullop said in an interview that he is qualified because he has served as a patrol officer, sergeant and lieutenant in the district.
But activists said they interviewed Cullop last month and felt he was a poor choice because he failed to adequately address the community's concerns. They said Santos reneged on a promise to send a different captain if they had problems. "How can we trust community policing when they make these promises and essentially lie to us?" asked resident Joanne Minsky.
Echoing comments made earlier by Assistant Police Chief Earl Sanders, Brown defended the process involved in the transfer.
"If it's done on the basis of popularity, then it becomes a farce," he said. "A police department can't be operated that way."
He added that if police indeed had made a promise, it was a "mistake."
By Henry K. Lee.

Richard Joseph Cairns was mentioned in the San Francisco Chronicle on 28 July 1999: Richard Cairns eyes mayor race
By Gregory Lewis, OF THE EXAMINER STAFF July 28, 1999

San Francisco police Capt. Richard Cairns, whose role in the 1989 police sweep of Castro Street resulted in his suspension from the force, has picked up papers declaring his intent to run for mayor.
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The move allows Cairns to raise money and explore a run for the mayor's job without formally entering the mayor's race. "I am still debating (whether to run or not)," he said Tuesday, "but I'm 90 percent sure I will run for mayor."

Cairns has until Aug. 6 to officially enter the race. Twenty-five people have declared their intent to run, including Mayor Willie Brown, Supervisor Tom Ammiano, former Mayor Frank Jordan and political consultant Clint Reilly.

Born and raised in San Francisco, Cairns is a 30-year, highly decorated veteran of the police force. He was mentioned as a possible choice for police chief early in Brown's administration, but that post went to then Deputy Police Chief Fred Lau. Cairns also was mentioned as a possible member of the command staff, but did not get that promotion, either. Currently, he is the captain in charge of the Treasure Island station.

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Cairns said his being overlooked for a promotion earlier had nothing to do with him considering a run for mayor.

The police captain said he had been thinking about a run for quite a while and has been encouraged by friends and others.

"But what prompted me to was seeing politicians setting up to run but not really wanting to run, and people who want to see change but not wanting to make the changes," he said. "The professional politicians are not fixing The City. I'm an ordinary kind of person. I relate to people. Maybe, it's time for an ordinary person to make The City work."

There is one blemish on an otherwise stellar police career that Cairns may have to overcome.

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Cairns was the target of gay and lesbian civil rights activists for his role in the Oct. 6, 1989, police sweep of Castro Street. Cairns, who was head of the police tactical unit at the time, was suspended 45 days for striking protesters and ordering a false arrest during an AIDS demonstration in the Castro District.

"That was 10 years ago," said Cairns. "It's behind me. I was disciplined for whatever. I'm not going to debate the pros and cons of that issue. . . . Except that one issue, I've not had any problems with any community."

During the incident, police arrested 50 people after shutting Castro Street between 18th and Market streets to cars and pedestrians. People in the area, not all of them demonstrators, were herded down the street and prohibited from leaving stores and businesses for nearly 45 minutes.

Cairns said he's since talked to gay and lesbian groups.

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If he runs for mayor, Cairns will have to take a leave of absence from his job.

"I'll take a leave," he said. "That's not a problem. On Nov. 2, I'll be back to work or going over to City Hall - one or the other."

Cairns said his experience at three different police stations - Central, Taraval and Northern - in San Francisco forced him to relate to people and make decisions.

"I don't need six months of committee meetings to make a decision," he said. "I'll go back to my roots (to campaign). I can go to the OMI (Outer Mission-Ingleside), Sunset, Western Addition, Hayes Valley. I'll go through the whole city. The people who know me know if I say I'll do something, I'll do it or tell them why I didn't."

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He doesn't have the campaign speech down completely but he'll talk about Muni, citizens' fear of crime, morale in the Fire Department, (and) "the nuts and bolts of The City," potholes, clean streets and the homeless." <
July 28, 1999
By Gregory Lewis.

Richard Joseph Cairns was mentioned in the San Francisco Chronicle on 30 September 2009: 20 years ago, police shut down the Castro
by Matthew S. Bajko Wednesday September 30, 2009
A single activist sits down in the middle of Castro
Street as San Francisco police march in riot formation down the street during
the Castro Sweep, October 6, 1989. Photo: Rick Gerharter
A single activist sits down in the middle of Castro Street as San Francisco police march in riot formation down the street during the Castro Sweep, October 6, 1989. Photo: Rick Gerharter

By San Francisco standards the evening of Friday, October 6, 1989 started off like any other, with a cool sea breeze buffeting the city and residents welcoming the start of the weekend. In the Civic Center area, AIDS activists had gathered to protest the lack of federal funding to deal with the deadly virus that was decimating the gay male community at the time.

But what many had expected to be another routine rally organized by ACT UP would instead result in a violent takeover of the gay Castro District that rocked the police department and reverberated throughout City Hall. The incident would become known as the "Castro Sweep" and prolong a rift between the city's law enforcement and LGBT community that had began a decade earlier with the White Night riots sparked by a lenient sentence for the killer of the city's first openly gay supervisor, Harvey Milk, and Mayor George Moscone.

Before the night was through, the police had shut down an entire city neighborhood and arrested 53 people and injured 10. Four police officers also were injured during the several hours-long occupation of the Castro.

The headline in the following week's Bay Area Reporter screamed "Castro Held Hostage." A photo showed a bleeding Michael Barrett lying on the ground, having been injured by a police officer wielding his baton.

As reporter Brett Averill described the incident, he wrote that what had started "as a bland plea for more AIDS funds ended five hours later with bloodied heads, mass arrests, and the specter of fully armed riot police marching through the heart of the Castro sweeping demonstrators and confused passersby from the streets and sidewalks."

Recalling that evening in an interview with the B.A.R. this week, Brian Bringardner, an out gay man who had joined in the ACT UP protest that night, described the incident as "a military occupation of the Castro."

"I just remember how terrifying and surreal the whole thing was," said Bringardner, who now works as an assistant district attorney. "They took over the entire Castro neighborhood, which had never happened before."

Gerard Koskovich, who at the time was a freelance journalist and recent Stanford University graduate, also had decided to take part in the AIDS protest, which began at the federal building a few blocks from City Hall. He said the rally had only drawn about 150 people and the plan was to march to the Castro, making stops along the way at City Hall and then the Mint building, before ending at Harvey Milk Plaza at Castro and Market streets.

During past ACT UP marches, the police had always assigned a handful of officers to help block traffic and facilitate the safety of the protesters, said Koskovich, an openly gay man who now works as an editor and queer rare book dealer. But early on during the October 6 protest it was clear the police had changed their tactics, he said.

"The march turned non-routine the minute it left the federal plaza. Hordes of San Francisco police officers on foot and on motorcycles emerged as soon as the protesters started marching on the street. They attempted to force the march to stay on the sidewalk," said Koskovich, who wrote an essay about the Castro Sweep in the 2002 anthology Out in the Castro: Desire, Promise, Activism . "The first arrest happened a block away from the federal building. The tactical coordinator for ACT UP stepped out into the street to talk to the commanding officer and he was immediately grabbed, thrown face down on the asphalt, handcuffed, and then taken away. No one had seen anything like this at a queer protest in San Francisco for a number of years."

By the time the rally reached the Castro, the marchers were met by hundreds of police officers. It was a sign of how the night would end.

"When I got there I saw the single largest mass of San Francisco police officers I had ever seen at that point. The entire intersection of Castro and Market streets was filled with officers standing in rank," said Koskovich. "At this point it was still a peaceful march of people staying on the sidewalk. It was completely perplexing why the police force brought out a horde of officers."

Unable to hold their planned rally, the ACT UP protesters instead held a sit-in in the middle of Castro Street and drew into the pavement their own version of the AIDS quilt. Another group of protesters held a die-in on the street. People coming home from work or headed out to dinner in the Castro soon filled up the sidewalks to observe the demonstration.

Some in the crowd chanted "SFPD racist, sexist, anti-gay. SFPD go away." As the police began to arrest those blocking the street, someone knocked over a police motorcycle and the situation quickly escalated.

"That seemed to unleash the full fury of the SFPD. Officers came running out en mass onto the street and began running wild, clubbing people," said Koskovich. "I had never seen anything like it."

By 8 p.m. the police had declared the protest an unlawful assembly and tried to clear the streets. They lined up shoulder-to-shoulder along the entire stretch of Castro Street and began marching in unison toward 18th Street, sweeping the crowd along as they proceeded.

The police also ordered those inside the Castro's stores, restaurants, and bars to remain in place. Many people found themselves trapped inside the businesses and the Castro Muni station for 40 minutes.

"After having dinner on 18th Street I walked on to Castro Street and up toward Market. It was at that time that the police announced a sweep of Castro Street and the arrest of anyone on the street or sidewalk. I was forced to enter a business on the west side of the street as police descended Castro Street," wrote the Reverend Jim Schexnayder, then the director of AIDS/HIV services for the Catholic Diocese of Oakland, in a letter sent to the city's Office of Citizen Complaints, which deals with police grievances. "We were told we could not leave the building for some time by a police officer who had a belligerent tone."
At 10 p.m. that night the police had cleared out of the area. A small group of ACT UP members gathered in a circle to officially bring their protest to an end. But the incident and its ramifications were far from over.
Incident had lasting effect
The next night 1,500 people took to the streets in the Castro to reclaim the neighborhood. Then-Mayor Art Agnos issued a statement to the B.A.R. stating that "what I have heard is deeply disturbing and if even 25 percent of the allegations turn out to be true then what happened October 6 is unacceptable."

The police chief at the time, Frank Jordan, moved to demote his brother, Deputy Police Chief Jack Jordan, for his handling of the incident. But in November Jack Jordan abruptly resigned from the force.

Also reprimanded for their involvement were then-Deputy Chief Frank Reed, head of the patrol bureau, and Captain Richard Fife, who was sent to the traffic bureau. Captain Richard Cairns, who was the tactical squad commander the night of October 6, was put on administrative duty after he was accused of beating several protesters with his baton.

According to documents at the GLBT Historical Society's archives, Cairns insisted Barnett's injuries were due to his falling off a newspaper box and that he used his baton against two women who were "screaming and lunging at me" and that both reached into their pockets causing him to believe they had weapons.

Cairns was eventually suspended from the force and sued the city over how his disciplinary case was handled. He insisted in his lawsuit that "bottles and rocks were thrown at the police officers and several officers were struck" and that he was "instructed to order the crowd to disperse."

A group of citizens, including Bringardner and several of the people injured that night, sued the city and eventually settled for $200,000.

"All I ever wanted was an apology and for the mayor, chief of police, police commissioners, and Board of Supervisors to say this was wrong and should never have happened and no one would say that so we had to sue for money," said Bringardner.

Lieutenant Lea Militello, an out lesbian who chairs the department's Pride Alliance for LGBT officers, was a patrol officer on the force 20 years ago and had just been assigned the department's liaison to the LGBT community the weekend of the Castro Sweep.

"The department during the White Night riots was at a very different place than where the department was at during the Castro Sweep. We had moved to a place of opening lines of communication with the community even at that point, but we still weren't anywhere near where we needed to be," she said in an interview with the B.A.R. this week. "I think our department grew quite a bit from the White Night riots to the Castro Sweep. What the Castro Sweep did was open a wound that was already there."

The sweep incident was the impetus for the department to seriously examine its relationship with the LGBT community and change its procedures, she said.

"I think what is important about it for the community is the night was not a good one for people in the community, without question, but I think looking back on it now I think that night jump started where we are today," she said. "It forced our police department to open lines of communication with this community across the board."

Rather than have the Mission Station be responsible for forming ties with the LGBT community, all stations were ordered to reach out and develop relationships with gay residents in their areas of town, said Militello.

"It got us there a lot quicker," she said.

Militello said she also oversaw the implementation of training on LGBT issues all new recruits were required to take before joining the force.

"As awful a night that was for some people, also I think a lot of good came out of what occurred after. We are so much better a police department," said Militello, who pointed to how the police took a gingerly approach to the protests this year and last over the passage of Proposition 8, the same-sex marriage ban. "Twenty years ago we didn't utilize our LGBT cops the way that we do now. With the Prop 8 protests we had an entire squad of LGBT cops within that circle of people who communicated with the organizers."

While Militello stated emphatically that she could not conceive of another Castro Sweep occurring today, Koskovich disagreed and said it is important for the LGBT community and other citizens to remember what happened that night.

"The important thing to remember is there will always be tension between the mission of a police department and the free speech rights of angry citizens," said Koskovich, who spent three years of his life pursuing the matter through the OCC process and the courts. "People should not be lulled into thinking this could never happen again. Those of us there that night were stunned this could happen in San Francisco. Queers must know when they go marching in the streets they might encounter an angry police officer."

The historical society will present a panel discussion about the Castro Sweep from 6 to 8 p.m. November 4 at its offices in Suite 300 at 657 Mission Street.
Richard Joseph Cairns Honored by MHS for his service during the Vietnam War on 18 November 2018.

     Esther Doris (?) was born circa 1946. She married Tony Debono.
     Her married name was Debono.

     The Maltese Cross Foundation has been in the San Francisco Bay Area area since 1984. Since 1984, the MCF has awarded its yearly volunteer Award to a Maltese American individual who exhibits outstanding community volunteerism and dedication to making life better, especially for those who are in need. It is considered the highest honor bestowed within the Maltese American Community in this region.. Before this Award is agreed upon, the entire MCF board of directors has to unanimously agree on the recipient.

Maltese Cross Foundation Award.
Maltese Cross Foundation Award Recipients:

1998 Ofc. Dave Chetcuti, Millbrae
2000 Lillian Fenech, San Bruno
2002 Jane Abela, Benicia
2004 Maltese American Social Club, San Francisco
2006 Josephine Muscat, South San Francisco
2008 Alpio Barbara, Redwood City
2010 Denis Sammut, San Bruno
2012 Fr Lawrence Goode, Palo Alto
2014 Rev Monsignor Francis Cilia, San Jose
2016 Joe and Dedee Sammut, Millbrae
1999 Fr Edwin Farrugia, San Francisco
2001 Hon. Charles Vassallo, Millbrae
2003 Mary Borg, San Carlos
2005 Barbara Fenech, San Francisco
2007 Joseph Grima, Redwood City
2009 Fr David Farrugia, Berkeley
2011 Raymond Muscat, San Francisco
2013 Paula Ebejer-Moffit, Santa Clara
2015 Stella DeCesare, South San Francisco
2017 Rose Vassallo, San Bruno
2018 Rev. Joseph Glynn, San Mateo in 2018. Executive Board

Louis J. Vella ... President

Peter Xuereb ... 2nd Vice President

Frank 'Cikku' Agius ... Asst. Secretary

Dennis Acosta ... Parliamentarian

Vincent Falzon ... 1st Vice President

Jessica Agius ... Secretary

Anne Grima ... Treasurer

Lillian Vella ... Asst. Treasurer

Directors

Annie Vella

Darren Cassar

Joanne Grima

Joseph Grima

Laura Xuereb

Reno Vella

Stefanie Vella-Nimick

Charlie Grima

Denise Falzon

John Falzon

Joyce Falzon

Louis Grima

Roberta Grima

Vicky Grima. Hon. Louis Vella was president of Maltese Cross Foundation between 2018 and 2022. As of 2021, (?) Maltese Cross Foundation was located at PO Box 698, San Carlos, CA, USA; Maltese Cross Foundation of California.
(?) Maltese Cross Foundation President: Louis J. Vella; 1st VP: Vincent P. Falzon; 2nd VP: Peter P. Xuereb; Secretary; Jessica Agius-Anderson; Treasurer: Anne Grima in 2023.

     Benjamin Franklin Spiteri was born on 26 December 1955 in San Francisco, San Francisco Co., CA, USA. He married Jean M. Flosi on 22 May 1976 at San Francisco, San Francisco Co., CA, USA.¹ Benjamin Franklin Spiteri married Annette (?)
     Benjamin Franklin Spiteri began military service in 1974 at Vietnam He served in the Navy from 1974 to 1980, the tail end of the Vietnam era, ending his service as a petty officer. He was stationed in Kingsville, Texas as an air traffic controller. As of 2018, Benjamin Franklin Spiteri lived at NV, USA.
Benjamin Franklin Spiteri Honored by MHS for his military service during the Vietnam War on 18 November 2018. Research: Annette Spiteri.

     Larry Grech began military service at Vietnam.
Larry Grech Honored by MHS for his military service during the Vietnam War on 18 November 2018. He and Larry Edward Grech were possibly the same person.

     Dennis John Sammut was born on 4 January 1943 in San Bruno, CA, USA. He married Patricia Ann Odonnell on 18 November 1971 at Virginia City, NV, USA. Dennis John Sammut and Patricia Ann Odonnell were divorced in December 1974 at San Mateo Co., CA, USA. Dennis John Sammut married Karen Anne Rasmussen on 22 December 1980 at San Francisco, CA, USA. Dennis John Sammut died on 29 January 2020 at Woodside, CA, USA, at age 77.
     He was listed in the 1940 US Census of Joseph Simon Paul Sammut Jr. and Helen Marguerite Arana in 1950 at San Bruno, CA, USA; age 32, pool room, bar, retail liquor proprietor. Dennis John Sammut and (?) Maltese Owned Businesses were Maltese Business 3rd owner of Artichoke Joe's Casino, San Bruno. Dennis John Sammut was a member of the Maltese American Social Club between 1991 and 2013.

Dennis John Sammut was mentioned in the San Francisco Chronicle on 10 July 1996: Artichoke Joe's Cardroom Wins OK to Expand
By John Wtldermuth Chronicle Peninsula Bureau
One of the Bay Area’s oldest cardrooms has received an OK to expand, even though its owner says he has no immediate plans to add any new tables. The San Bruno City Council unanimously approved the expansion Monday night, despite complaints from a half-dozen residents that the card club was getting off much too cheaply and a general rise in anti-gambling sentiment in the Bay Area. Dennis Sammut, whose family has owned Artichoke Joe’s in San Bruno for 80 yean, will be paying the city an additional 1700,000 a year for the right to boost the tlae of hit downtown eltih from 35 tables to 51. The city's take could rise to about $1.6 million a year if Sammut ever increases the club to a maximum of 60 tables. Sammut has said all along that he is willing to pay
Dennis Sammut, whose family has owned Artichoke Joe’s in San Bruno for 80 years, will be paying the city an additional $700,000 a year for the right to boost the size of his downtown club from 35 tables to 51. The city’s take could rise to about $1.6 million a year if Sammut ever increases the club to a maximum of 60 tables....Sammut’s popularity in San Bruno is a big reason the city has been reluctant to change the way the gambling club is taxed, Bartalini said.
"Dennis (Sammut) puts out money like confetti and everyone knows he's a soft touch for the Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, sports teams and other activities," he said. “He puts out $100,000 in donations and saves $3 million in taxes."
Bartalini and other opponents to the expansion were unable to sway any of the council members.
"Artichoke (Joe’s) has a lot to be proud of,” said Mayor Ed Simon. "They have helped this community and always paid a fair tax."
Although the council approved the club’s request for additional tables, the club must come back to the city before physically adding more gaming tables. And although the club will begin to pay the increased tax in January, no date has been set for actually expanding the club, said Wilbur Duberstein, attorney for the card club.

Dennis John Sammut was mentioned in the San Francisco Chronicle on 24 September 1996: Opposition to Bart extension through San Bruno; concerns about loss of parking spaces for his Casino which sit on public land. He spent $300,000 in opposition. In 1997 he agreed to a $6 million dollar deal for a 40 year lease on the land and stopped fighting the extension.

Dennis John Sammut was mentioned in the San Francisco Chronicle on 7 March 1998: From Page A ll
Dennis Sammut...that he will drop his opposition to the expansion of BART to San Francisco Internationai Airport. Under a plan expected to be approved March 16 by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, Sammut will pay the city more than $8 million over 40 years — at least §192,000 a year — to rent the parking lots next to his casino that sits on land owned by San Francisco.
It sounds like a lot of money — Sammut had been paying $7,680 a year for the past 36 years — but he still comes out the winner. The BART extension cuts through Sammut’s 275-space parking lot and had the potential to put him out of business. Rather than surrender, he became the single greatest opponent to the BART extension, filing lawsuits, riling up local citizens, and generally making an effective nuisence of himself. BART officials said that any further delays could cost them as much as $67,000 for every foot they tried to extend the train system.
In return for dropping his opposition, Sammut gets a guarantee from the city and BART that his casino parking will remain in place or that they will provide him with a reasonable alternative, including shuttle buses from another location. And when the BART extension is finished, don’t be surprised if there’s a stop in San Bruno that drops off passengers right outside the main entrance to Artichoke Joe’s.

Dennis John Sammut was mentioned in the San Francisco Chronicle on 22 March 2007: THE REAL DEAL / Artichoke Joe's / San Bruno casino has been catering to Bay Area card players since the early 20th century, and the place is still going strong
Matt Villano
March 22, 2007
Bay Area history is palpable at Artichoke Joe's Casino in downtown San Bruno. The venue has been serving up poker and other various card games in some form since Joseph Sammut founded it in the 1930s. Today, after a series of expansions and renovations, the Sammut family still deals 'em out, with more than 50 tables overall.
Poker reigns supreme, with a variety of limit and no-limit Texas Hold 'Em games, as well as contests in Omaha and seven-card stud. Players also come to wager on pai gow, 21st century (or California) blackjack and a game known as Fast Nine -- a variation on the gin rummy spin-off Panguingue.
The casino's bar, a classic dive, is connected to the gaming area and is a great place to sit with a drink and watch a game. The joint also has a full-service restaurant, which serves a variety of goodies and specializes in Asian food.
Sal Davis, a resident of San Francisco, says he likes Joe's because of its neighborhood vibe, reasonable table limits and the variety of games.

Read More"Whatever you want to play, they have it here," he said during a recent game of Hold 'Em. Davis added that because the cardroom is less than 2 miles from San Francisco International Airport, it's a great place to come before or after a flight.
Hit Joe's on a good day, and you can sit down at a poker table immediately. Get there when it's busy, however, and you could find yourself waiting for as long as an hour. While the casino is festooned with a number of flat-panel televisions, it's difficult to see TVs from a number of the waiting seats, so bring a book.
Of course, there's rarely a wait if you're looking to play a tournament. Artichoke Joe's sponsors limit poker tournaments of varying denominations Mondays through Thursdays. On Sundays at 6:45 p.m., the casino also hosts a no-limit tournament, with a $49 buy-in, and a re-buy for $20. The purse: a guaranteed $3,000.
Though these tournaments keep guests coming back, the casino has not been immune to controversy in the past year. Most recently, the facility was at the center of a brouhaha in Sacramento over a bill designed to raise gambling limits across the state -- a bill that supposedly would have benefited Lucky Chances Casino in Colma.
Because Joe's was founded before the state moratorium on gambling expansion, courts have ruled that the casino can offer unlimited wagering. Whatever ultimately happens with the gambling-limits issue, the market is big enough for Artichoke Joe's and Lucky Chances to coexist.
Finally, no discussion of Artichoke Joe's is complete without a mention of how the place got its name. Rumor has it that right after Sammut opened the place, he accepted any wager, no matter how large. Somebody once asked Sammut how he'd pay off a big bet if he lost, and he reportedly replied, "In artichoke leaves." But we couldn't confirm this rumor. "We don't talk to media," one manager said.
Dennis John Sammut Maltese Cross Foundation Award in 2010 at San Bruno, CA, USA. Research: US Patent Office: Name:      Dennis J. Sammut Residence Place:      Woodside, California
Application Date:      12 Nov 2003 Publication Date:      28 Dec 2010 Certificate Number:      10706184 Case Number:      7856750
Others Listed Lawrence Chao, Dickinson Buell
He had multiple patents for apparatus and method for calculating aiming point information
Publication number: 20050021282
Abstract: The present invention relates to target acquisition and related devices, and more particularly to telescopic gunsights and associated equipment used to achieve shooting accuracy at, for example, close ranges, medium ranges and extreme ranges
An improved telescopic gunsight is provided by combining a conventional telescopic gunsight with a reticle having a primary vertical cross-hair, a primary horizontal cross-hair intersecting the primary vertical cross-hair, a plurality of secondary horizontal cross-hairs having predetermined thickness evenly spaced a predetermined distance along the primary vertical cross-hair, a plurality of secondary vertical cross-hairs having predetermined thickness evenly spaced a predetermined distance along at least some of the secondary horizontal cross-hairs and a range-finder positioned in one of the quadrants formed by the intersection of the primary vertical and horizontal cross-hairs. Some of the secondary horizontal cross-hairs are marked with a unique identifying character to assist the shooter in quickly finding an aiming point. The thickness of, and spacing between, the cross-hairs can be based upon an easy to learn inches of angle (or centimeters of angle) scale, or upon any other conventional scale. A ring having a center aligned with the optical center and circumscribing the cross-hairs can be included to aid the shooter in centering his eye in the field of view. An aiming dot can also be provided for the same purpose, and to aid in rapid acquisition of a moving target. in 2010.
Dennis John Sammut The Corporation has been disciplined before. On May 9, 2011, the Commission issued a Stipulation and Order (Stipulated Settlement) in In the Matter of the Accusation
Against: Artichoke Joe’s, etc., CGCC Case No. 2011-03-04-2. The Stipulated Settlement resolved an accusation against the Corporation. The allegations in that accusation arose out of loan-sharking activities, illegal drug sales, and the failure to meet BSA reporting requirements. In the Stipulated Settlement, the Corporation did not contest illegal loans alleged in the accusation and that a serious problem of loan-sharking existed at the Casino. The alleged violations of the Act for illegal drug sales and the failure to meet BSA reporting requirements were withdrawn as part of the settlement.
In settling the prior accusation pursuant to the Stipulated Settlement, the Corporation agreed to pay a total fine of $550,000 with $275,000 being stayed for two years. If no proceeding was brought during the two-year stay period, the stayed portion of the fine was canceled. The Corporation also agreed to pay $300,000 for the costs of investigation and the accusation’s prosecution. At the time of the Stipulated Settlement, the total amount of the fine and cost reimbursement was the highest imposed on a California card room. in 2011.

Dennis John Sammut was mentioned in the San Francisco Chronicle in 2012: San Bruno’s Artichoke Joe’s card room to pay for city cop in wake of raid
By JOSHUA MELVIN | Bay Area News Group, San Mateo County Times, Mercury News, January 9, 2012
Artichoke Joe’s Casino in San Bruno plans to pay the city for a police detective who would monitor its cardroom operation, which was raided and temporarily shut down last year by state gambling regulators. The detective, as long as City Council approves the plan at their Tuesday meeting, will have to “detect and deter criminal activity inside the casino,” as well as license cardroom workers, according to a report from police Chief Neil Telford. The new arrangement comes after the California Gambling Control Commission ordered Artichoke Joe’s to work more closely with local police. The cardroom, as well as the Oaks Card Club in Emeryville, was shutdown by state and federal authorities in March after investigators discovered loan sharks were advancing cash to broke gamblers. Those who didn’t pay had their lives threatened. Ultimately, three low-level casino employees were hit with federal charges. The Sammut family, which owns Artichoke Joe’s, told investigators they knew nothing of the crimes, which also included drug dealing. Authorities accepted that explanation and allowed the club to reopen in May as long as specific conditions were met. The terms included requirements for a better surveillance camera system, training for employees and redesigning the area of the casino that had been the source of the crimes. The Asian gaming table section had to be more open and visible to management and security guards. All of those changes have been made.

The state didn’t specifically ask for a full-time city officer to be assigned to monitoring the casino, rather that was Telford’s suggestion, said Alan Titus, attorney for owner Dennis Sammut. “We agreed,” he said. “Artichoke Joe’s thinks this is a great idea.” Titus said the detective won’t be stationed in the casino but will work closely with the operation’s staff. He said the police will review regulatory filings and watch for possible crimes. Sammut will pay the $156,400 cost of the detective, including salary and benefits. The city will then hire a new officer to replace the detective. Artichoke Joe’s is already one of the city’s biggest taxpayers, contributing more than $1 million to its coffers each year. San Bruno Mayor Jim Ruane said he’d be happy to hire a new cop and added the city already has a similar arrangement for the Tanforan shopping mall. “The gaming commission felt they wanted more eyes on the casino,” he said. “It’s a good thing.”.

Dennis John Sammut was mentioned in the San Francisco Chronicle in 2016: At the November 9th 2016 San Bruno CA City Council meeting, local business owner Dennis Sammut of Artichoke Joes Casino was honored for Artichoke Joes being a San Bruno business for 100 years. San Bruno Mayor Jim Ruane read and presented Dennis with a proclamation. Dennis and the Sammut Family Foundation continues to be a BIG supporter of many San Bruno functions. Dennis John Sammut was in the Legal System for willful Violation of Anti-Money Laundering Controls in 2017.

Dennis John Sammut was mentioned in the San Francisco Chronicle in November 2017: San Bruno casino facing $8 million penalty over alleged money laundering on premises
By Dominic Fracassa Published 7:30 pm PST, Monday, November 20, 2017

Federal financial-crime enforcers allege that Artichoke Joe’s in San Bruno failed to create adequate internal controls intended to detect, deter and report suspicious transactions. Federal financial-crime enforcers allege that Artichoke Joe’s in San Bruno failed to create adequate internal controls intended to detect, deter and report suspicious transactions.
The federal Financial Crimes Enforcement Network has hit Artichoke Joe’s Casino in San Bruno with an $8 million penalty for allegedly violating a number of anti-money-laundering laws over the past eight years.

From October 2009 until this month, FinCEN claims, the casino — one of the largest so-called card clubs in the state — failed to create adequate internal controls intended to detect, deter and report suspicious transactions.


The 101-year old casino’s operators have denied the allegations and say they’re currently their next steps.

In a statement released on Friday, FinCEN Acting Director Jamal El-Hindi said that “for years, Artichoke Joe’s turned a blind eye to loan sharking, suspicious transfers of high-value gaming chips and flagrant criminal activity that occurred in plain sight.”


“Casinos, card clubs and others in the gaming industry should consider their risk of exploitation by criminal elements, and understand that they will be held accountable if they disregard anti-money-laundering and illicit finance laws,” El-Hindi said.

The casino was raided by federal and state law enforcement officials and temporarily closed in March 2011. The raid led to the conviction of two of the casino’s customers on loan-sharking charges. According to FinCEN, senior-level employees at the casino knew that loan sharks were conducting criminal activity at the casino, using Artichoke Joe’s gaming chips to facilitate illegal transactions.

FinCEN claims the casino’s operators failed to file reports on the alleged illegal activity, like loan sharks passing chips to casino patrons on the gaming floor in clear sight of the casino’s employees.

Without the proper internal controls for rooting out and reporting suspicious financial activity, the casino was exposed to a heightened risk of money laundering and other criminal activity, FinCEN said.

The $8 million penalty “recognizes the duration and severity of AJC’s violations, the size and sophistication of the card club, AJC’s awareness of criminal activity on its premises, and its deficient culture of compliance,” FinCEN’s statement said.

In a statement sent by the casino’s publicist, Artichoke Joe’s president, Dennis Sammut said the casino “is fully committed to upholding all laws and complying with all regulations. A lot of effort has gone into and continues to go into compliance with the many laws and regulations applicable to cardrooms, and we will continue to dedicate all resources needed to achieve compliance with FinCEN and all other governing agencies.”

Dominic Fracassa is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: dfracassa@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @dominicfracassa. Research: FinCEN Issues $8 Million Penalty on California Card Club for Willful Violation of Anti-Money Laundering Controls
November 17, 2017
Artichoke Joe’s Casino Turned a Blind Eye to Loan Sharking, Suspicious High-Value Chip Transfers, and Flagrant Criminal Activity for Years

WASHINGTON—The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) today announced an $8 million civil money penalty against Artichoke Joe’s, a California corporation, doing business as Artichoke Joe’s Casino (AJC). AJC, one of the largest card clubs in California, willfully violated U.S. anti-money laundering (AML) laws from October 2009 to November 2017. During this 8-year period, AJC failed to implement and maintain an effective AML program, and failed to detect, deter, and timely report many suspicious transactions.

“For years, Artichoke Joe’s turned a blind eye to loan sharking, suspicious transfers of high-value gaming chips, and flagrant criminal activity that occurred in plain sight. FinCEN’s $8 million civil penalty results from the card club’s failure to establish adequate internal controls and its willful violations of the Bank Secrecy Act,” said Jamal El-Hindi, Acting Director of FinCEN. “Casinos, card clubs and others in the gaming industry should consider their risk of exploitation by criminal elements, and understand that they will be held accountable if they disregard anti-money laundering and illicit finance laws. This significant action highlights the need for all entities, including those in the gaming industry, to build a robust culture of compliance into their policies and procedures to ensure they are not facilitating illicit activities.”

AJC, a card club located in San Bruno, California, has been in operation since 1916. In March 2011, AJC was the subject of a raid by state and Federal law enforcement which led to the racketeering indictment and conviction of two AJC customers for loan-sharking and other illicit activities conducted at AJC. AJC senior-level employees knew that loan-sharks were conducting criminal activity through the card club and using AJC gaming chips to facilitate illegal transactions. Nonetheless, AJC failed to file any Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) on this activity. For example, there were several instances in which loan-sharks provided AJC chips to customers on the gaming floor within plain sight of AJC employees.

AJC also failed to implement adequate internal controls, which exposed the card club to a heightened risk of money laundering and other criminal activity. In particular, AJC failed to adopt adequate policies and procedures to address risks associated with gaming practices that allow customers to pool or co-mingle their bets with relative anonymity. Further, AJC did not establish procedures for obtaining and incorporating information from propositional players (players paid by casinos or card clubs to wager at a game) or other employees who may have observed suspicious transactions. AJC also failed to file complete and timely reports on suspicious transactions involving potentially structured chip redemptions and purchases, and redemptions of large volumes of chips with no cash-in or gaming activity. FinCEN’s Assessment of $8 million recognizes the duration and severity of AJC’s violations, the size and sophistication of the card club, AJC’s awareness of criminal activity on its premises, and its deficient culture of compliance.

Acting Director El-Hindi expressed his appreciation to the Internal Revenue Service Small Business/Self-Employed Division, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the State of California Department of Justice’s Bureau of Gambling Control, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of California for their support and strong partnerships with FinCEN. This is the third enforcement action against a card club for FinCEN, the only Federal regulator with AML enforcement authority over card clubs. on 17 November 2017.
Dennis John Sammut Gambling Control Commission case: http://www.cgcc.ca.gov/documents/adminactions/pending_hearings/Artichoke_Joes_Accusation.pdf in 2018.

Dennis John Sammut was mentioned in the San Francisco Chronicle in 2019: Artichoke Joe’s Today
Third Generation: The business has remained in the family’s hands and has been run since 1975 by Dennis Sammut, son of “Joe II” and grandson of the original Giuseppe Sammut. Modern Facilities: Major expansion and remodeling in the 1980s and 1990s expanded the one-time stable into a spacious, thoroughly modern, and very comfortable building. Massive aquarium tanks featuring colorful exotic saltwater fish are a principal attraction of the high-ceilinged main cardroom.
Staff: We are one of the largest employers in San Bruno. Artichoke Joe’s employs more than 430 full-time workers, many of whom live in and around San Bruno. Our staff members range in age from early 20s to 70s. Our staff is carefully trained, and retrained annually, for the specific jobs they fill as well as for how to deal with medical and other emergencies. Giving Back to the Community: The Sammuts have been prominent contributors to San Bruno’s civic life and especially to its youth sports programs for decades. In 1990 they set up the Sammut Family Foundation, which focuses its giving on youth programs such as 4-H Clubs and the Scouts, local public elementary and middle schools, anti-drug and anti-alcohol programs at the high school, reading support programs at the city library, and children with special needs. Many local youngsters have had the opportunity to play organized baseball, soccer, and other sports thanks to Artichoke Joe’s, which sponsors 25 baseball teams ranging from “T-ball” to “teeners.”

Artichoke Joe’s Casino: 659 Huntington Ave., San Bruno, CA 94066.
Dennis John Sammut Wikipedia: Opening date:     1916; Casino type: card club; Artichoke Joe's Casino is a card club in San Bruno, California. The club is owned by Dennis Sammut and managed, in part, by Ron Cox, a former Foster City councilman.
HistoryThe establishment was a family founded and family owned business since 1916. The one-room Joe's Pool Parlor switched names to Artichoke Joe's in 1921, becoming a permanent fixture in San Bruno sporting life. Joseph Sammut opened his pool parlor and phone exchange in Al LoReaux's former plumbing shop. Most calls concerned horse races. Joe accepted any wager, no matter how large. Asked how he would pay off if he lost a big bet, he replied, "In artichoke leaves," hence the name. Still owned by the Sammut family, Artichoke Joe's is one of the city's oldest businesses.
BART controversy: The casino came to fame in the 1990s during construction of the SFO BART extension because the owner spent hundreds of thousands of dollars in an attempt to both derail the extension entirely and to profit from it.
Obituary: on 9 February 2020: Dennis Sammut January 4, 1943 - January 29, 2020
Dennis Sammut, 77, San Bruno businessman, inventor, and adventurer, died on January 29, 2020 of complications from pancreatic cancer.
Dennis John Sammut was born January 4, 1943, in San Bruno, the second child of Joseph Sammut, Jr. and Helen Arana Sammut, both of San Bruno. He is best known as the third-generation owner-operator of Artichoke Joe's Casino, one of San Bruno's oldest businesses. Dennis took over the company in the early 1980s and developed it into one of the largest and most popular cardrooms in northern California.
A vigorous outdoorsman, Dennis became an expert hunter and whitewater rafter, engaging in hunts from Alaska and Canada to Botswana and Australia, and running rivers throughout the western U.S. and Canada. His favorite was the Grand Canyon of the Colorado, which he rowed three times.
As a long-range marksman, he invented, patented, and marketed a revolutionary new type of reticle (the graphics seen in a rifle scope) that has been widely praised by experts and is now used by military and other sharpshooters around the world. Dennis was known for his generous support of youth athletic teams and other charitable causes in the San Bruno area. He is survived by his wife Karen Anne Sammut, his mother Helen, his daughter Lara, sons Cody and Michael, sister Sally Sammut Johnson, and brother Rick Sammut. All live in the San Francisco Bay Area.
I.

Dennis John Sammut was mentioned in the San Francisco Chronicle on 26 March 2021: Artichoke Joe’s Casino Agrees To Record $5.3 Million Penalty For Misleading Gambling Regulators, Violating Federal Law
March 26, 2021 -- KPIX CBS SF Bay Area
SAN BRUNO (AP) — One of California’s more profitable card rooms agreed Thursday to a record $5.3 million penalty for misleading gambling regulators and violating a federal law designed to deter money laundering, the state attorney general’s office said.

Artichoke Joe’s Casino in San Bruno failed to properly report an investigation by the federal Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, leading to the largest agreed-upon penalty in the history of California gambling regulation, officials said. The state penalty is in addition to a $5 million federal settlement for failing to have an effective anti-money laundering program and failing to report certain suspicious activity between 2009 and 2017, state officials said. That $5 million is also the largest amount assessed against a California card room by federal regulators. “Artichoke Joe’s has worked hard for the last few years to put in place Bank Secrecy Act controls that meet rigorous and very complex federal standards, and this settlement was an acknowledgement that our efforts have been successful,” the casino’s president, Vince DeFriese, said in a statement.
The attorney general’s office said the 51-table cardroom has California’s eighth-largest gross gambling revenue. A decade ago, state gambling regulators accused the card room of engaging in loan-sharking activities, illegal drug sales, and failing to properly report violations, according to the most recent allegations. As part of that settlement, the card room did not contest the illegal loans allegation and the state dropped its claims of illegal drug sales and the reporting failure.
A federal criminal investigation at the time led to a 2011 racketeering indictment and conviction of two casino customers and others for loan-sharking and other illegal activities at the casino “with the direct assistance of the card club’s employees,” according to federal regulators.
Loan-sharks “extended extortionate and unlawful credit” to the casino’s customers, openly used the casino to conduct their business including by using the card club’s gaming chips, and some casino employees knew of the loan-sharking and in some cases helped with the transactions, federal regulators said in a 2018 settlement.
They said the casino failed to properly fix the problems as required under the 2011 settlement. For instance, in 2016 they said the casino failed to properly monitor one customer for money laundering even though the customer engaged in more than $1.8 million in cash transactions in just three months.
Artichoke Joe’s has been in operation since 1916, offering card and tile games including baccarat, blackjack, poker, and Pai Gow, according to federal regulators. Card rooms do not have slot machines, which are reserved for tribal casinos in California.
The penalty exceeds the previous record of $3.1 million in 2019 against Hawaiian Gardens Casino, California’s second-largest card room. That Southern California casino had 225 tables and is the major source of tax revenue for Hawaiian Gardens, the smallest city in Los Angeles County. It was assessed an additional $2.8 million federal penalty for allegations that included its failure to have an effective anti-money laundering program and failing to report suspicious activity.

Dennis John Sammut was mentioned in the San Francisco Chronicle on 26 July 2024: San Francisco Standard: A casino family amassed millions in San Bruno. Now, they’re in a bitter civil war
An illustration of a casino
The family that owns and operates Artichoke Joe’s Casino, which has stood in San Bruno for more than a century, is known for philanthropy. But behind a rosy public image, a bitter family feud is playing out. | Source: AI illustration by Jesse Rogala/The Standard
By Tomoki Chien
Published Jul. 26, 2024 • 5:50am

Dennis Sammut knew he was about to die. A deadly pancreatic cancer was eating at the 76-year-old’s gut, and it was time to prepare the family business for his death.

This was no small task. Sammut, the no-nonsense grandson of Maltese immigrants, was the third-generation owner of Artichoke Joe’s Casino, a 103-year-old San Bruno institution he grew into one of the Bay Area city’s largest employers — and biggest cash cows.

In 2019, the card room paid the city almost $2 million in taxes: enough to fund San Bruno’s library, streets and public works budgets. The Sammuts, a beloved local family, had donated some $3.7 million to the community over the previous decade.
The image shows the facade of a building with a sign reading "Artichoke Joe's Casino" in large red and yellow letters, set against a clear, blue sky.
Artichoke Joe’s Casino, which opened in 1916, is one of San Bruno's largest employers — and biggest cash cows. | Source: Tâm V?/The Standard

That December, Sammut, who died a month later, walked into a meeting that could come to define his legacy.

The question of the day was his financial compensation. The company, in his mind, owed him a significant bonus after a legal saga had forced him to take a pay cut two years before. Never mind that he was on his deathbed.

It should have been a meeting to settle his affairs. Instead, he set in motion a bitter legal battle that is still tearing the Sammuts apart.

The hundreds of public documents generated by the civil war offer a rare glimpse into one of San Bruno’s most influential businesses as the Sammuts fight over millions of dollars. They also expose an ugly side of a family that has long been a fixture of the community.

At the heart of the sprawling dispute is the fortune. At stake is control of the casino itself.
‘A selfless philanthropist’

Dennis Sammut was a man of clout; the business he ran is nearly as old as the city of San Bruno itself.

His grandfather founded the enterprise in 1916, and over the next century, the Sammuts converted the pool house in a horse stable into a full-fledged card parlor that employs some 400 full-time workers. In 2021, Artichoke Joe’s had the eighth-largest gross revenue of any California gambling operation.

All that money bought influence.

In 1996, when plans for the not-yet-built BART airport extension threatened to impinge on Artichoke Joe’s parking lot, Sammut enlisted a crack team of Washington lobbyists to kill the project’s federal funding. He nearly succeeded.

In 2010, when a natural gas pipeline exploded and killed eight people in San Bruno, Sammut rushed to provide aid.

He regularly donated thousands to local schools, the San Bruno Professional Firefighters Association and AARP and served for 12 years on the city’s economic development committee.
Dennis Sammut hands a check to a man
The late Dennis Sammut, right, hands a check to Service League of San Mateo County Executive Director Mike Nevin in 2011. Sammut had a reputation for philanthropy. | Source: Courtesy photo

But a little over a decade ago, Artichoke Joe’s started running into serious legal trouble.

In 2011, state gambling regulators temporarily suspended the card room’s operating license, accusing the company of failing to alert authorities about suspicious transactions and allowing criminal loan sharks to prey on patrons.

The company agreed to pay $825,000 in fines, retrain staff to spot loan-sharking and comply with regulations targeting money laundering. But six years later, federal regulators found that Artichoke Joe’s had not properly implemented those measures and levied an $8 million fine.

Artichoke Joe’s ultimately paid $5 million as part of a settlement. It later paid the state $5.3 million in a separate settlement for allegedly misleading regulators and violating money laundering laws.

These were the largest fines state and federal regulators had ever imposed on a California gambling operation.
Dennis Sammut holds a certificate
Dennis Sammut accepts a certificate from the San Bruno City Council celebrating Artichoke Joe's 100th anniversary in 2016. | Source: Courtesy Riechel Reports

Still, after Sammut died in January 2020, the mayor of San Bruno spoke at a ceremony to celebrate his charitable work. The San Mateo Daily Journal dedicated a 740-word obituary to him. Two members of the U.S. House of Representatives posthumously thanked Sammut for his service.

“It wasn’t about getting a plaque or acknowledgment,” Mayor Rico Medina said of Sammut. “It was about making a difference.”
Allegations of ‘self-dealing’

It did not take long for the family to fall apart.

In 2022, Sammut’s sister Sally Johnson sued his widow and son. Johnson accused her sister-in-law, Annie Sammut, and nephew, Cody Sammut, of excessively and illegally compensating themselves after the death. The complaint also names the card room as a defendant.

Johnson alleged that before her brother died, he “committed numerous acts of self-dealing” and compensated himself lavishly, all while mismanaging the card room.

Annie and Cody have denied wrongdoing. Both continue to sit on the company’s board, and Cody was named CEO after his father’s death. Johnson told The Standard that her two relatives voted her off the board about a month ago.

Lawyers for Artichoke Joe’s, Annie and Cody did not respond to requests for comment. In court documents, attorneys for Artichoke Joe’s noted that Johnson “was gifted a minority interest and made a director but never worked at the business.”

“What I’m doing is for the integrity of the Sammuts,” Johnson said in an interview. “We never had any money growing up. Our father worked hard, our grandfather worked hard.”
Joseph Sammut Jr. plays cards
Joseph Sammut Jr., father of Dennis Sammut and Sally Johnson — pictured playing poker in the 1970s — turned Artichoke Joe's into a full-fledged gaming establishment. | Source: Courtesy photo

Her lawsuit has carved an irreconcilable rift in the family. At its core, it is a battle over the Sammut fortune.

Johnson alleges that between 2011 and 2016, Dennis Sammut quadrupled his annual bonus to $3 million. That was a quarter of the card room’s revenue in 2016 and nearly triple its net income, according to Johnson.

But the crux of the suit is the December 2019 board meeting just before Dennis’ death.

In Johnson’s telling, her brother insisted that because he had taken smaller bonuses as a result of the massive fines imposed on the company, the board should award him a deferred package to make up for it.

Artichoke Joe’s has said in court documents that Dennis’ mother, who was 99 at the time, had an estate plan that required the company to repurchase her shares if one of her children died before her.

Because that appeared likely, the company said, Dennis chose to defer his 2019 bonus so the card room would have enough cash on hand.
The image shows a person standing in front of a tall brick building labeled "Artichoke Joe's." The person is saluting with their right hand, wearing glasses and a dark jacket.
Dennis Sammut poses outside the card room in 1981. | Source: Courtesy San Francisco Examiner/Newspapers.com

“Dennis managed Artichoke Joe’s as a dictatorship,” Johnson’s complaint reads. “He alone made the decisions and expected others in the company and in the family to fall in line.”

Johnson alleges that her brother lied to her, saying the bonus was needed because he had loaned the company money. Regardless, Johnson voted with the rest of the board to approve the bonus in principle, though the family did not specify how much it would be or when it would be paid out.

Dennis died a month later, and it took two years for the family to revisit the matter. When it did, things did not go well.

In December 2021, Cody and Annie proposed a massive $16.15 million compensation package for the late owner, citing the board’s 2019 agreement. Johnson was irate.

As Dennis’ wife and son, Annie and Cody would gain directly from the bonus, Johnson wrote in the lawsuit. They should not have been able to vote on the compensation package, she said.

The two initiated the first $3.23 million payment installment anyway.

In an interview, Johnson said the dispute over the compensation package has nothing to do with her own fortune.

“The money’s not going to go to me,” Johnson said. “It’s going to go back into Artichoke Joe’s. That money should go to our people, our employees.”

Attorneys for Annie and Cody have pointed out that Johnson approved the bonus in principle in 2019 and argued that their clients were merely carrying out the binding directive when they approved the $16.15 million package.

Artichoke Joe’s has argued that because of her own “delay and lack of diligence,” Johnson has no standing.

“Plaintiff consented to the action of which she now complains,” the card room’s lawyers wrote.
More dirty laundry

Johnson’s lengthy lawsuit enumerates several other complaints against her sister-in-law and nephew. The two have denied any wrongdoing with respect to the claims.

One of the most salient allegations is that Annie loaned Artichoke Joe’s $2.5 million at an 8.5% interest rate, which Johnson characterized as exorbitant. The term was supposed to expire in early 2022.

Johnson alleges that, during the same meeting at which Annie and Cody voted to award the late Sammut a $16.15 million bonus, the two also voted to extend the term of Annie’s loans by three years.

“Artichoke Joe’s had ample cash available to repay Annie’s notes,” Johnson’s suit reads.
The image shows the entrance of Artichoke Joe's Casino, with an arched canopy above and a man walking while talking on the phone outside.
Dennis Sammut’s sister Sally Johnson has accused his widow and son of excessively and illegally compensating themselves after his death. | Source: Tâm V?/The Standard

That allowed Annie to enrich herself at the expense of the card room, Johnson argued. She also took issue with a $600,000 bonus that Cody proposed and approved for himself with the help of his mother in 2022, calling it “excessive.”

Johnson also claims that Cody and Annie have failed to produce the card room’s annual financial reports for the last five years and have “taken steps to prevent” her from viewing balance sheets and income and cash flow statements.

The legal battle is unlikely to end soon.

In April 2023, the family entered court-ordered private mediation. It was unsuccessful.

Johnson indicated that she thinks further mediation would be unproductive and is asking for a jury trial. Among her demands, she wants the court to forever banish Cody and Annie from the company’s board.

“We need professionals on that board,” Johnson said. “People who’ve been trained to run a company.”

Annie, Cody and representatives of the card room object to a jury trial and have expressed a willingness to reenter mediation. They won’t reconvene until September.

Johnson said she hopes the court will rule in favor of what she sees as necessary to save Artichoke Joe’s. But, she said, there may be no saving the Sammuts.

“It has ruined the family,” she said. “It’s really sad.”

Tomoki Chien can be reached at tchien@sfstandard.com
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