DATE: Friday, July 25, 1997                 TAG: 9707250683

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B7   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY MIKE MATHER, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH                    LENGTH:   41 lines

CAPT. GEORGE'S OWNER AGREES TO TURN HIMSELF IN

Restaurant owner George Pitsilides has agreed to turn himself in to police in Pennsylvania, where he faces up to 500 years in prison if convicted on money laundering and conspiracy charges.

But legal experts said the owner of the popular Capt. George's seafood chain could spend little or no time in jail, if convicted. The courts are traditionally lenient with people involved in illegal gambling organizations.

Authorities in Pennsylvania and Virginia made public this week details of the two-year sports-betting investigation that led to the indictments in Pennsylvania of 37 people, including Pitsilides.

Pitsilides is accused of using his business to launder money for the bookmakers in Pennsylvania in what police described as a $25 million-a-year enterprise.

Pitsilides has not been charged in Virginia and is not in custody.

He was taken into custody Wednesday to comply with a court order to provide a voice sample. Investigators will compare that sample to numerous recordings police intercepted and recorded between suspected Pennsylvania bookmakers and Pitsilides' home and the Laskin Road restaurant he owns, according to a search warrant affidavit.

Pitsilides was released after making the recording Wednesday.

In the meantime, Pitsilides' four seafood restaurants in Virginia Beach, Hampton and Williamsburg are not affected by the case. Although authorities could move to seize his business and personal assets, Pennsylvania Deputy Attorney General Richard E. Patton said that that part of the investigation ``has not even been addressed.''

Patton said the investigation in both states is ongoing. Members of the Pennsylvania State Police, the Virginia State Police and Virginia Beach's Special Investigative Division are working together, he said. ILLUSTRATION: Pitsilides

George Pitsilides is accused of using his restaurant

business to launder money for bookmakers in Pennsylvania. KEYWORDS: MONEY LAUNDERING GAMBLING INVESTIGATION

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