Mass. AG names head of gambling watchdog unit

BOSTON (AP) -- Attorney General Martha Coakley has named a veteran prosecutor to head a new unit that will keep watch over the casino industry as it takes shape in Massachusetts.

Patrick Hanley will serve as chief of the Gaming Enforcement Division. The unit was created by the 2011 law that will allow up to three resort casinos and one slots parlor to open in the state.

Hanley has been with the attorney general's office since 2008, most recently as senior counsel in the Enterprise and Major Crimes Division.

Coakley says Hanley has prosecuted violent street gangs in Boston and helped lead an investigation that resulted in indictments against 31 people, including an alleged mob captain, who were tied to an organized and violent criminal enterprise in eastern Massachusetts.