Casino conglomerate Pinnacle Entertainment announced that Anthony Sanfilippo has been appointed president and CEO. The company operates several casinos around the US, including Lumiere Place in St. Louis, Missouri, and L’Auberge du Lac near Lake Charles, Louisiana. Last November, CEO and president Daniel Lee resigned after an incident with St. Louis County Council members over new zoning laws that could have an effect on the location of a new casino in the area.

According to local media reports, Lee confronted St. Louis County Councilman Steve Stenger about a proposed competing casino in North St. Louis County. Lee allegedly told Stenger that the councilman was making a grave political mistake by approving the amended zoning laws that would allow for the new casino to be built in his area. As a result of the unflattering press, as well as a number of other incidents, Lee turned in his resignation as Pinnacle CEO.

Pinnacle also suffered a setback after it acquired the struggling President Casino two years ago. The riverboat gaming establishment, one of the first casinos opened along the historic St. Louis riverfront, has not met revenue expectations and has earned the scrutiny of the Missouri Gaming Commission. Last week, Pinnacle agreed to forfeit their gaming license for the President and close the casino on 1 July.

Sanfilippo brings more than a quarter-century of experience in the gaming industry to the job. He served as an executive with Las Vegas casino giant Harrah’s, hosts of the World Series of Poker, until June 2008. He also was the president and CEO of Multimedia Games, a software development firm that specializes in slot machines.

The firm’s board of directors elected John Giovenco as interim chief executive and Richard Goeglein as interim chairman after Lee’s abrupt resignation. Goeglein will still serve as a non-executive chairman of the board.