Mob Rat "Petey Cap", Wife Seized for Gaming

Friends of ours: Peter Caporino, Genovese Crime Family

Mob rat Peter Caporino is behind bars again on gambling charges stemming from a Hudson County ring and is being held without bail pending a hearing where prosecutors will ask a judge to undo the leniency he received for cooperating with the FBI, officials said yesterday.

Caporino, 70, of Hasbrouck Heights , was arrested Thursday night at his home and charged with leading an organized crime network, promoting gambling and possession of gambling records, Hudson County Assistant Prosecutor Thomas Carroll said yesterday.

His wife, Ann Caporino, 68, was also arrested and charged with possession of gambling records, Carroll said. Andy Rush, 70, of Liberty Avenue in North Bergen , was arrested at his home and charged with conspiracy to promote gambling, Carroll said.

The charges are in connection with an illegal lottery in Jersey City and Hoboken , said Carroll, who would not give details on the operation but said lottery records were found at the Caporino house.

In 2002, Caporino, known as "Petey Cap," pleaded guilty to money laundering involving illegal gambling proceeds and was sentenced to five years in prison, Hudson County Prosecutor Edward DeFazio said. That sentence was suspended because he agreed to wear a wire for the feds in an investigation into gambling, extortion and loansharking rackets in Hudson County . It led to the prosecution of 15 people reputedly associated with the Genovese crime family.

Caporino, who had been feeding information to the feds for years but had not previously worn a wire, was arrested again on Aug. 16 by Jersey City police in Hoboken and charged with promoting gambling and possession of gambling records.

Police said he had $6,500 in cash and records of at least $50,000 in gambling receipts when he was busted. After that arrest, DeFazio said his office would revisit that 2002 sentence, saying, "We have had a conversation with the federal authorities and they say Caporino is on his own."

At DeFazio's request, a judge has ordered Caporino held without bail at the Hudson County jail in Kearny pending a hearing next week, at which prosecutors will ask the judge to reverse the suspension of that five-year-sentence. If granted, that could put Caporino in jail for a long while, and the 70-year-old will then face up to 10 years if convicted on the most recent charges.

When arrested, Caporino was out on a $500,000 bail that was posted by his wife with $50,000 cash. An additional bail of $500,000 has been set since his arrest Thursday, but that is moot at this point. If he is allowed to bail himself out after next week's hearing, officials will not accept the money until after determining it has not come from nefarious activities.

Rush and Peter Caporino have long records of gambling related convictions and this isn't the first time Ann Caporino is been behind bars, either. She was arrested with her husband in 2002 but was not prosecuted as part of his deal with the feds.

Thanks to Michaelangelo Conte