A New York City restaurant consultant whose stepfather reputedly is a figure in organized crime cannot be allowed to service a Pennsylvania casino, a Commonwealth Court panel has concluded.

That decisions sinks Sonic Service Inc.’s deal with the Parx Casino, even though the firm’s sole owner, Michael Giammarino, insists he has disassociated from his relative and didn’t even know he was involved with the Mafia.

As Judge P. Kevin Brobson noted in the state court’s opinion, Giammarino’s stepfather is John Brescio, who authorities claim is a captain in the Genovese crime family.

The Commonwealth Court ruling backs a finding by the state Gaming Control Board that allowing Sonic Services to work with Parx would “tarnish the integrity of gaming to the public.”

Brescio isn’t the only person with a criminal record mentioned in Brobson’s opinion.

According to the judge, Sonic was registered as a gaming service provider in 2016. It had a deal to help Parx, located in Bensalem, to establish an on-site pizzeria.

That registration was pulled by the board last November after its Bureau of Investigation Enforcement, acting on a complaint, uncovered the Giammarino-Brescio connection. Investigators found Brescio had created a trust involving a pizzeria in New York City for which Giammarino was named as the sole beneficiary.

Brobson wrote that Parx officials began exploring new dining options in 2014 and approached a regular customer, Joseph DeSimone, for advice because of his connections in the Big Apple’s restaurant industry.

Casino officials didn’t know DeSimone reputedly was a member of the Bruno/Scarfo crime family of Philadelphia whose street name is “Joe Fudge,” the judge noted. He said DeSimone’s contacts led Parx officials indirectly to Lombardi’s, the pizzeria Giammarino manages and to which Brescio was connected, in New York’s Little Italy section.

Brescio gave the casino officials a tour of the eatery and served them pizzas, Brobson noted. The deal later was struck with Sonic. Parx revoked that contract after the gaming board probe reported the possible organized crime connection, although Parx paid Sonic $155,000 for services rendered up to that time, the judge noted.

Commonwealth Court heard the case on an appeal Sonic/Giammarino filed challenging the gaming board’s revocation of Sonic’s gaming service provider registration.

Brobson agreed with the gaming board that the Giammarino-Brescio connection bars Giammarino from working with Parx, despite Giammarino’s testimony that his interactions with his stepfather have been “very limited.” Giammarino claimed he has cut any business and financial ties with Brescio as well.

Brobson cited Giammarino’s testimony to the gaming board that, “I don’t socialize with the guy. I don’t have any business dealings with him, all I do is go to work and I run the (Lombardi’s) business.”

The state judges weren’t persuaded.

“Brescio’s relationship with Giammarino…seems to present layers of business and personal connections between the two men,” Brobson wrote. “There is substantial evidence to support the (gaming) board’s finding that Giammarino and Brescio were associates at least at all times relevant to the investigation.”