Our People

Fredric Gushin founded Spectrum Gaming Group in 1993 after working 13 years for the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement, where he was promoted to Assistant Director and Assistant Attorney General. At the DGE, Gushin oversaw for the State the openings of 12 Atlantic City casino hotels and managed civil and administrative litigation before the New Jersey Casino Control Commission. He has personally argued more than 50 cases before the Commission.

Gushin has worked with a variety of private-sector and governmental clients since founding Spectrum. He has advised private casino developers on operational and management issues and provided gaming expertise to a number of gaming jurisdictions over the years. He also served as a Commissioner with the Oneida Indian Nation Gaming Commission that regulates the Turning Stone Resort Casino near Syracuse, NY.

Gushin has worked with private sector clients throughout the United States, the Caribbean, South America, Asia and Europe on a wide range of issues. As Assistant Director and Assistant Attorney General of New Jersey’s Division of Gaming Enforcement, he oversaw all compliance related issues regarding New Jersey’s multibillion-dollar gaming industry including security and surveillance, development and compliance with accounting and internal control procedures and development of emergency plans to respond to incidents occurring in casino.

With Spectrum, Gushin has led engagements evaluating casino operations for compliance for private sector and governmental clients. He is a member of the Gerson Lehrman Group Council of Advisors, a global network of experts and industry professionals.

Gushin received his BA from the American University School of Government and Public Administration in 1970, his Juris Doctorate from Rutgers University in 1973, and his Masters from American University in 1979.

Michael Pollock oversees a broad portfolio of Spectrum services, including policy and impact studies for country, state and local governments, and feasibility and market studies for private-sector clients.

Pollock began analyzing the casino industry in 1978 and served as spokesman for the New Jersey Casino Control Commission from 1991 through 1996. He was a close advisor to the chairman, and oversaw the Office of Legislative Liaison. During this period of rapid deregulation, his charge was to maintain public confidence in the integrity of the regulatory system.

Pollock led the efforts in many of Spectrum’s most critical engagements in recent years, including gaming-policy studies in Massachusetts, Connecticut, Indiana, Guam and Korea. He has been examining policy and regulatory issues regarding Internet gaming for nearly a decade, and developed the Spectrum Theorem on the Emergence of Internet Wagering. He served as Conference Chairman of the 2010 Global i-Gaming Summit & Expo in Montreal, and the European iGaming Congress & Expo in Copenhagen.

Pollock is the author of the award-winning book, Hostage to Fortune: Atlantic City and Casino Gambling, published by the Center for Analysis of Public Issues in Princeton. This book examines the impact of casinos on Atlantic City and New Jersey. He has testified before the International Tribunal at The Hague and the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Indian Gaming, and has been a featured speaker at the Congressional Gaming Caucus, a group of U.S. House of Representatives members from gaming jurisdictions. He has also testified before several legislative committees in the United States.

Pollock has won 20 journalism awards, and is the former editorial page editor of The Press of Atlantic City. Pollock is often cited by national and global media outlets, including The New York Times, Star-Ledger, BBC, ABC News and National Public Radio.

He earned his MBA, with high honors, from Rutgers University, and has served as a member of the adjunct faculty of both Rutgers University and Richard Stockton College of New Jersey.

Joseph Weinert has been analyzing the gaming industry since 1996. He researches and directs economic, international and regulatory studies for private- and public-sector clients worldwide. He has been the project leader for numerous studies in multiple domestic jurisdictions, as well as in the Czech Republic, Russia, Slovak Republic, Spain and United Kingdom.

Weinert is a Council Member in the Gehrson Lehrman Group, where he carries the designation of Leader, signifying that he is ranked by clients in the top 5 percent of the group’s network of 250,000 experts worldwide. He founded the Pennsylvania Gaming Congress and helps organize Spectrum’s three other nationally recognized conferences, the East Coast Gaming Congress, the Florida Gaming Summit and the New England Gaming Summit. In addition, he is the Executive Editor of Spectrum’s widely acclaimed newsletter, Gaming Industry Observer.

Weinert came to Spectrum after 18 years at The Press of Atlantic City, where for his last eight years he was responsible for the newspaper’s intensive coverage of the casino industry. He is a frequent speaker at industry conferences worldwide and has been quoted in prominent media outlets, including The Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, New York Times, Washington Post, USA Today and CNN, among many others. In addition, he has testified before legislative committees in Massachusetts, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

Weinert holds a BA in Journalism from Ohio Wesleyan University and a certificate for completing the Wharton Seminars for Business Writers at the University of Pennsylvania.

Gene Johnson has over 20 years experience in the gaming industry, including more than seven years with Atlantic City casinos. This experience ranges across the areas of MIS, quality assurance, market research, and strategic planning and analysis. Gene holds a BA from Washington College and an MBA from the University of Phoenix. He also holds a CQA certification from the Quality Assurance Institute. He is a member of the American Society for Quality, the American Marketing Association, and the Qualitative Research Consultants Association.

Johnson has extensive experience in online gaming, having conducted a wide variety of research projects including industry profiles, competitive intelligence and analysis, influential attributes of attraction, player satisfaction, online loyalty club content and deployment, wallet share, creative concept testing, player development, software evaluation, website usability, online deposit process improvement, currency preferences, and VIP poker player satisfaction. In addition, Johnson has provided substantial marketing consulting as well as limited lobbying services to internationally based online gaming companies. Clients include the world’s largest online casino operator as measured by advertising spend and the world’s leading listed online gaming provider as measured by stock ownership.

Allison McCoy, Senior Vice President, Marketing, at Spectrum Gaming Group, is a seasoned marketing professional experienced in all facets of branding, promotion, and event management. Her diverse background features significant international experience that includes extensive work with high-budget, high-profile international events such as the Seoul Olympic Games, the Atlanta Olympic Games, and the Turner Goodwill Games.

She has worked in the gaming industry for more than 7 years, previously serving as conference director for Global Gaming Expo (G2E), the pre-eminent conference and tradeshow for the casino and gaming industry. Prior to that, she was international relations director for Peppers and Rogers Group, visionary consultants and inventors of 1to1 strategy for customer relationship management.

At Spectrum, McCoy is responsible for managing and coordinating all aspects of marketing, new business development and strategic partnerships. In addition, she is in charge of the production of Spectrum's acclaimed industry conferences including the East Coast Gaming Congress, Florida Gaming Summit, New England Gaming Summit, and Pennsylvania Gaming Congress.

McCoy holds a bachelors’ degree in International Business from Villanova University.

Michael Diamond has extensive investigative research experience, both in journalism and in government. He joined Spectrum after a 33-year career at The Press of Atlantic City, where he served as a special projects writer, editorial page editor, statehouse correspondent and bureau chief, all while frequently covering gaming-industry issues. He won 23 state and national journalism awards and was an active member in such organizations as the Legislative Correspondents Club, National Conference of Editorial Writers, and Investigative Reporters and Editors.

Diamond left the newspaper in 2005 to become an investigator with the New Jersey Office of Inspector General. He was responsible for reviewing allegations of waste, fraud and corruption.

At Spectrum, Diamond focuses on analyzing the economic and social impacts of legalized gambling and also on regulatory research. He was the project leader for Spectrum’s widely acclaimed 2009 study for the State of Connecticut that analyzed the impacts of all forms of legalized gambling. Diamond also serves as Associate Editor of Spectrum’s analytical newsletter, Gaming Industry Observer.

Diamond graduated from Rider University with a BA degree in Political Science.

Shawn McCloud has nearly two decades of extensive, and progressive, financial, marketing, and operations analysis in the casino gaming and hospitality industry.

McCloud has held various analytical roles throughout his career and his collective experiences span through all facets of gaming resort operations – covering all casino gaming, marketing, food & beverage, hotel/rooms, and all other general and administrative areas of organization - and his active involvement in operations has been performed at all levels - from front-line to executive/corporate levels – which gives him comprehensive knowledge, and a thorough understanding, of the full-circle of casino gaming and hospitality industry operations.

McCloud has extensive experience in customer database analytics; evaluation and formulation of database marketing programs, promotional offers, and marketing campaigns; strategic marketing planning; competitive marketing analysis and research; creating and implementing performance goals and related benchmarking tools and standards; creation of yield management models and related reporting; financial and strategic planning; budgeting and forecasting models; planning, organizing, and preparation of operating and capital budgets; labor performance and payroll analysis; establishment of effective complimentary guidelines and related reporting; preparation of litigation support and valuation models; research and preparation of economic impact, feasibility, and market impact studies relating to a multitude of gaming operations and jurisdictions; along with the creation of a multitude of ad-hoc analyses, management tools, and presentations.

McCloud has held the positions of Vice President of Strategic Planning and Analysis with The Cordish Company / Gomes+Cordish Gaming Management; Vice President of Analysis with Spectrum Gaming Group; Executive Director of Financial & Marketing Analysis with Tropicana Casino and Resort in Atlantic City; and also a variety of finance related and analytical roles with both the Tropicana and Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City.

McCloud resides in southern New Jersey with his wife and daughter. He is a graduate of The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey earning a Bachelor of Arts in Economics, and is currently attending Fairleigh Dickinson University pursuing a Master of Science in Hospitality & Tourism Management.

Steven M. Ingis, Legal Advisor, is an attorney with 26 years of experience in casino gaming regulation. Prior to Spectrum, he was employed by the New Jersey Casino Control Commission from 1982 until his recent retirement in September, 2008. As Assistant General Counsel for the Commission, Ingis managed the Licensing Unit in the Office of the General Counsel, and was responsible for all casino employee and entity licensing matters.

During his tenure with the Commission, Ingis advised the agency in many of the Commission’s most notable licensing matters and represented the Commission in numerous court cases, including the recent denial of Tropicana Casino Hotel’s license renewal application. In this regard, he successfully argued the appeal from the Commission’s decision in the New Jersey Appellate Division.

For Spectrum, Ingis has been the lead attorney conducting license investigations and preparing the investigative reports in Maryland, Maine, Puerto Rico, and St. Lucia. He assisted in drafting the table games legislation in Delaware and testified regarding the regulation of casino gaming before legislative committees in New Hampshire and Pennsylvania.

Prior to joining the Casino Control Commission, Ingis served as an Assistant Morris County Prosecutor and a Deputy Attorney General in the New Jersey Division of Criminal Justice, in addition to being employed in private practice.

Ingis holds a BA in History with honors from Stony Brook and a law degree from New York University.

Francisco “Paco” Nolla is a charter member of the International Association of Gaming Attorneys with extensive experience in management, development, regulation, licensing and consulting of the gaming, hospitality, entertainment, cruise ports and tourism industries.

Nolla began his gaming regulatory career by serving as an Assistant to the Director of the Legal Department in the Government of Puerto Rico’s Tourism Company where he supervised the applications and recommendations for tax exemptions for hotels in Puerto Rico. He was also the advisor to the Gaming Department for all matters related to casino enforcement, regulation, and licensing.

He later served as the Director of Law Enforcement for the Puerto Rico Gaming Department where he was responsible for the casino operations, supervision, licensing, Investigations, personnel training, and slot machine operation (at the time owned by the Government).

Nolla also served as liaison with the New Jersey Casino Control Commission, and the Nevada Gaming Control Board.

After leaving his Government duties he was hired as Vice President for Casino operations for the largest casino in Puerto Rico, The Condado Holiday Inn & Sands Casino. Later Nolla was the Director of Administration for the Condado Plaza Casino, and General Manager of the Palmas del Mar Casino.

In Dominican Republic he performed different positions as Consultant for the Casino Commission, where he drafted the slot machines law, consulted for the Lina Hotel & Casino, and acted as Vice president of operations for the Jack Tar Village Casino.

While working as Vice President for Development in Latin America for Carnival Hotels & Casinos Nolla was in charge of the team that developed the master plan for casinos and privatization recommendations for casinos to the Government of Panama.

He also advised the casino gaming industry and examined the legal, operational, licensing and law enforcement aspects of casino gaming in numerous Caribbean and Latin America countries including Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, Costa Rica, Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, Panama, Colombia, Aruba, Curacao and Mexico.

Nolla previously served as Carnival Corporations Vice President of the Port Development Group where he assisted in the development and construction of the company’s first owned and managed cruise port and retail mall in Cozumel, Mexico.

Nolla holds a Juris Doctor Degree from Inter-American University in Puerto Rico and Bachelor Degree in Economic Science from the University of Puerto Rico.

He is currently Spectrum’s Miami-based consultant specializing in hotel-casinos, cruise ports development and tourism, and destination development throughout the Caribbean, Latin America and Mexico.

Norman MacKillop has 23 years experience as a senior police officer in the Royal Hong Kong Police Force, mainly in the field of organized crime and triads and international narcotic trafficking. His police experience culminated in serving as the Commander of the Anti-Smuggling Task Force, leading police, customs and military personnel investigating and combating Hong Kong-China cross-border smuggling.

MacKillop is a law graduate of Manchester University and a Barrister of Grays Inn London and has been called to the Bar in Hong Kong. After leaving the police in 1996, prior to the handover of Hong Kong sovereignty to China, he spent five years practicing law in England as a Barrister, where he prosecuted and defended in the civil and criminal courts at all levels, including murder, proceeds of crime, international credit card fraud and civil litigation.

MacKillop was appointed Senior Regulatory Inspector of the Alderney Gambling Control Board in 2002, where he was engaged in conducting due diligence investigations of major gaming corporations, assisting in drafting legislation and compliance regulations and providing legal advice to the CEO. He devised an audit program for internet gaming licensees and conducted the first series of compliance audits of that type. He was appointed Director of Investigations for Venetian Macau Ltd. in 2005 and joined Spectrum in July 2007.

MacKillop has resided in Asia for much of the past 30 years and speaks fluent Cantonese. He holds a Masters Degree in Criminal Justice from Exeter University in England, specializing in the study of Chinese Secret Societies and Terrorism.

Stephen Brammell received his undergraduate degree (B.B.A.) from the University of Oklahoma and his law degree (J.D.) from Georgetown University in Washington, DC. Upon graduation from Georgetown, he entered private practice with the law firm of Conner & Winters in Tulsa, OK, where he concentrated on corporate law and transactional matters.

Brammell was an attorney with Harrah’s Entertainment Inc. and its predecessor companies, Holiday Corporation and The Promus Companies, until retiring in 2008. In his most recent position with Harrah’s, he was the company’s Senior Vice President and General Counsel. As the company’s chief legal officer and a member of the company’s senior executive group, he was responsible for overseeing the company’s legal, regulatory and compliance affairs as well as helping set the strategic direction of the Company.

During his career with Harrah’s, Brammell counseled the company on virtually every major transaction and gaming development project undertaken in the last 20 years. In the course of his work at Harrah’s, his focus was primarily on matters in North America, but he was also involved in the Company’s gaming expansion activities in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia and South America.

Formerly a member of the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement (DGE) with twenty-nine years of casino regulatory experience and former Deputy Chief for Regulatory Enforcement, Rich Carretta has been an Associate with Spectrum for a little over nine years.

As deputy chief for regulatory enforcement, Carretta and his staff have developed many cases resulting in significant sanctions against casino operators for compliance failures.

During his career with the DGE, he was selected to assist the New South Wales government of Australia in its first casino opening, presented seminars on casino accounting and internal control, and provided testimony during regulatory legal proceedings.

As an associate with Spectrum, Carretta has conducted operational reviews of several Native American casino operations, assisted in the opening of the Four Winds Casino in New Buffalo, Michigan, developed regulations for the Puerto Rico Board of Tourism, and participated in opening table games operations at West Virginia racetracks.

Patty DiFlorio is a former Manager of the Casino Accounting and Operations Unit of the NJ Casino Control Commission. The Unit is responsible for evaluation of Internal Control Procedures and regulatory compliance for all Atlantic City Casinos on an ongoing basis and during mock openings. The unit also works closely with Commission attorneys to amend and update the NJ Regulations related to Internal Controls, Gaming Equipment and Rules of the Games.

With Spectrum, DiFlorio has worked with West Virginia Government officials in finalizing Minimum Internal Control Standards and led a team in evaluating procedures during various trial openings. She has also done compliance reviews and financial stability evaluations for other jurisdictions.

DiFlorio has been a tax preparer and advisor for 19 years dealing mostly with individual and small business tax returns.

DiFlorio graduated with honors from The College of NJ with a BS in Accounting and is a licensed CPA in the State of NJ.

Bill LaPenta is a casino and hotel industry professional with more than 20 years of operations management and analysis experience, providing critical business decision support, planning, analysis, and performance management tools to casino hotel and resort operators.

Previously, LaPenta served as Strategic Performance Manager for the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa in Atlantic City, where he led development of its statistical database, competitive and performance metrics reporting, and variable daily budgeting systems. He is additionally well versed in ROI and profitability studies, as well as labor analysis and controls for all aspects of casino and hotel resort operations.

LaPenta has held gaming licenses in Illinois, Louisiana, New Jersey and Washington.

LaPenta holds a BA in Psychology with honors from West Chester University, and has continued graduate study in sociology, economics, and finance.

Paul Miltenberger has 13 years experience in the regulated gaming industry, including land-based, online, mobile and iDTV. He had successful startup experience with both Silicon Gaming Inc. and WagerWorks Inc., both of which operated in legal regulated markets and were sold to International Game Technology.

Miltenberger was a cofounder of WagerWorks and led the creation of the company, including the initial business plan, securing seed capital, establishing strategic partnerships, leading all financing efforts, IPO preparation and road show, and sale of the company to IGT for $90 million. At WagerWorks, his positions included Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer. After the company merged with IGT, Miltenberger’s positions included Vice President for Strategy and Business Development and, previously, Managing Director in the United Kingdom office.

Miltenberger also worked at Silicon Gaming, a developer of innovative gaming devices and which also developed the WagerWorks subsidiary. At Silicon Gaming, he held the positions of Vice President for Business Development, Vice President for Sales, and Director for Sales Operations.

Miltenberger has a BA in Finance and an MBA from Santa Clara University.

Wayne Marlin has wide-ranging casino regulatory, government affairs and business development experience in the public, not-for-profit and private sectors.

Marlin served as Legislative Liaison and Public Information Officer for the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement. He coordinated New Jersey’s first major reform of the Casino Control Act as well as several other key casino regulatory legislative initiatives. Marlin also has extensive regulatory experience in Casino Operations, Audit and Internal Controls and Casino Licensing.

Marlin held several senior executive staff public policy development positions in New Jersey state government including Special Assistant to the Attorney General and Director of Legislative Policy for the Department of Labor and Workforce Development. He is responsible for the successful effort to establish a permanent funding mechanism for one of the state’s most prominent programs, the Workforce Development Partnership Program.

At Spectrum, Marlin serves as Director of Government Affairs and Associate Regulatory Editor of Spectrum’s National Gaming-Regulatory Digest, a Gaming Industry Observer premium subscription publication.

Marlin graduated from the University of New Mexico with a BA degree in Political Science.