An illegal sports gambling ring run out of a high-stakes poker room in an Atlantic City casino was busted Wednesday, authorities said, and 18 people were arrested, including four with mob ties.
Since March 2006, the ring took in $22 million in bets on college and professional football and basketball in the poker room of the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa, said New Jersey Attorney General Anne Milgram.
The off-the-books exchanges of cash and casino chips were unraveled only when an informant told authorities what to look for using the casino's eye-in-the-sky surveillance cameras, Milgram said.
The suspected ringleader of the operation, Andrew Micali, 32, of Ventnor City, New Jersey, is an associate of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, mob boss Joseph "Skinny Joey" Merlino, according to a New Jersey law enforcement official who spoke on condition of anonymity because the criminal complaints do not mention any reputed mob ties. Micali was charged with promoting gambling, money laundering and loan-sharking.
Three associates of Micali also were arrested. Vincent Procopio, 41, of Brigantine, New Jersey, was charged with promoting gambling. Anthony Nicodemo, 36, and Michael Lancellotti, both of Philadelphia, were charged with conspiracy to promote gambling.
"They sought to escape detection by enlisting casino employees in their crimes," Milgram said. "I'm pleased to say they greatly underestimated our vigilance and determination to keep organized crime out of Atlantic City casinos."
Twenty-three people in all are charged, and authorities were seeking five on Wednesday. Most were charged with promoting gambling or money laundering.
Unlike Las Vegas, Nevada, Atlantic City has no legal sports book.
Authorities said the Borgata cooperated with the investigation and let investigators use casino surveillance video. Borgata spokesman Rob Stillwell said the ring involved "rogue employees." No one was arrested on the casino floor, and the integrity of the casino's operations was never compromised, he said. The casino employees charged included poker room supervisors, dealers and a bartender.
The state Casino Control Commission was expected to punish the casino workers, commission spokesman Daniel Heneghan said.
The four men with alleged mob ties, along with Borgata supervisor Joseph Wishnick, 42, of Brigantine, were taken into custody Wednesday. Bail was set at $100,000 for Micali and $50,000 for the others. Wishnick was in custody Wednesday at the Atlantic County Jail. It was not immediately clear whether the others had posted bail or were waiting to be processed at the jail. None could be reached for comment by The Associated Press on Wednesday.
The state Attorney General's Office said lawyers had not come forward for any of the 23 suspects.
If the charges are proven, the case would be among the most serious mob incursions into the Atlantic City casino industry since the first casino opened in 1978.
Milgram said authorities followed the money in the case from the casino to so-called "wire rooms" in Philadelphia. The wire rooms were used to tally the bets and calculate winnings and payouts for the ring.
The ring was publicized mainly by word of mouth among illegal gamblers, who were advised whom to see in the poker room to place their bets.
Authorities said the ring engaged in "massive money laundering" facilitated by casino employees who would not record certain exchanges of cash and gambling chips. This is a common method of money laundering at casinos called "chip washing," Milgram said.
"It involves taking cash, turning it into chips, 'washing' the chips by betting and then turning them in, and taking cash out," she said.
Losing bettors were forced to take out loans from the ring at more than 50 percent interest to cover their losses, authorities said.
In their search Wednesday, authorities seized more than $40,000 worth of cash and Borgata chips from a safe deposit box Micali maintained at the casino. The state also obtained a court warrant freezing Micali's bank account with more than $200,000 in it.
Fear of organized crime led New Jersey to institute tight controls when legal gambling began, but regulations have been loosened over the years.
The anxieties were expressed in a now-famous speech by then-Gov. Brendan T. Byrne when he signed the law authorizing casinos on June 2, 1977: "I've said it before and I will repeat it again to organized crime: Keep your filthy hands off Atlantic City. Keep the hell out of our state!"
This is the second high-profile sports betting charge in New Jersey in the past two years. In 2006, a state trooper, NHL hockey coach Rick Tocchet and a third man were charged with running a sports gambling ring. All later pleaded guilty.
Thanks to CNN
Friday, November 16, 2007
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Wiseguy Widow Fingers Crime Boss
The widow of wiseguy William (Wild Bill) Cutolo did Tuesday what prosecutors wanted her to do - she placed Colombo crime boss Alphonse Persico at the center of the crime.
Then things started unraveling for Marguerite (Peggy) Cutolo when defense lawyers suggested her husband was still alive and that she had stashed away up to $2.7 million in loanshark profits.
"I'm not lying," a visibly upset Cutolo said in Federal Court in Central Islip, L.I. "I've been distressed and depressed for eight years because I don't know where my husband was. My husband would have never run away."
She left witness protection to testify against (Allie Boy) Persico and former underboss John (Jackie) DeRoss, who are charged with her husband's murder - and whose first trial ended in a mistrial. Prosecutors say the gangsters orchestrated the murder because they believed Wild Bill was trying to take over the Colombo family.
Under questioning from prosecutors, Peggy Cutolo insisted her husband kept nothing from her. On the day he vanished, she said, "I knew he was meeting Allie Boy."
She said Cutolo's meeting with Persico in Bay Ridge on May 26, 1999, was unusual because on Wednesdays he usually visited his union office in Manhattan, got his weekly haircut at Bruno's in Bensonhurst, and dined with his crew at the Friendly Bocce Club in Brooklyn.
Cutolo was DeRoss' best man at his wedding. After he disappeared, DeRoss was more concerned about finding the piles of cash Cutolo stashed in their Staten Island mansion than finding her husband, the widow testified.
Peggy Cutolo admitted she hid $1.65 million in an air conditioning vent and moved it when the AC went on the fritz and the repairman - DeRoss' nephew - came to fix it. She said she took the money with her when she went into witness protection in February 2001. "My husband told me, 'If anything happened to me, you give them nothing,'" she testified.
When DeRoss' lawyer, Robert LaRusso, produced ledgers indicating Cutolo had $2.7 million at the time of his disappearance, the flustered widow explained her husband kept two sets of books - one for Colombo money, one for his money. "I just know what I counted," she said.
Asked what happened to the cash, Peggy Cutolo said, "The government let me have the money. I had to take care of the kids."
Thanks to John Marzulli and Corky Siemaszko
Then things started unraveling for Marguerite (Peggy) Cutolo when defense lawyers suggested her husband was still alive and that she had stashed away up to $2.7 million in loanshark profits.
"I'm not lying," a visibly upset Cutolo said in Federal Court in Central Islip, L.I. "I've been distressed and depressed for eight years because I don't know where my husband was. My husband would have never run away."
She left witness protection to testify against (Allie Boy) Persico and former underboss John (Jackie) DeRoss, who are charged with her husband's murder - and whose first trial ended in a mistrial. Prosecutors say the gangsters orchestrated the murder because they believed Wild Bill was trying to take over the Colombo family.
Under questioning from prosecutors, Peggy Cutolo insisted her husband kept nothing from her. On the day he vanished, she said, "I knew he was meeting Allie Boy."
She said Cutolo's meeting with Persico in Bay Ridge on May 26, 1999, was unusual because on Wednesdays he usually visited his union office in Manhattan, got his weekly haircut at Bruno's in Bensonhurst, and dined with his crew at the Friendly Bocce Club in Brooklyn.
Cutolo was DeRoss' best man at his wedding. After he disappeared, DeRoss was more concerned about finding the piles of cash Cutolo stashed in their Staten Island mansion than finding her husband, the widow testified.
Peggy Cutolo admitted she hid $1.65 million in an air conditioning vent and moved it when the AC went on the fritz and the repairman - DeRoss' nephew - came to fix it. She said she took the money with her when she went into witness protection in February 2001. "My husband told me, 'If anything happened to me, you give them nothing,'" she testified.
When DeRoss' lawyer, Robert LaRusso, produced ledgers indicating Cutolo had $2.7 million at the time of his disappearance, the flustered widow explained her husband kept two sets of books - one for Colombo money, one for his money. "I just know what I counted," she said.
Asked what happened to the cash, Peggy Cutolo said, "The government let me have the money. I had to take care of the kids."
Thanks to John Marzulli and Corky Siemaszko
Two Men Accused in Mob Killing
Prosecutors opened their murder case yesterday against two men accused of hiring assassins to kill an associate of the Genovese crime family in 1994.
The defendants, Carmine Polito and Mario Fortunato, had been found guilty of similar charges in federal court, but that conviction was overturned. A federal appeals court ruled that prosecutors had failed to prove the men had committed the crime to increase their underworld status. In June, a state appeals court ruled that the men could stand trial again in State Supreme Court in Brooklyn. Two of the confessed assassins are expected to testify, but the star witness is a man who was also shot in the attack. That witness, Michael D’Urso, has confessed to his own violent and diverse range of crimes, committed before he became a government informer.
Thanks to Michael Brick.
The defendants, Carmine Polito and Mario Fortunato, had been found guilty of similar charges in federal court, but that conviction was overturned. A federal appeals court ruled that prosecutors had failed to prove the men had committed the crime to increase their underworld status. In June, a state appeals court ruled that the men could stand trial again in State Supreme Court in Brooklyn. Two of the confessed assassins are expected to testify, but the star witness is a man who was also shot in the attack. That witness, Michael D’Urso, has confessed to his own violent and diverse range of crimes, committed before he became a government informer.
Thanks to Michael Brick.
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Mobsters at the Apalachin Mob Meeting
The Apalachin Meeting was a historic summit of the American mafia held on November 14, 1957 at the home of mobster Joseph "Joe the Barber" Barbara in Apalachin, New York.
It was attended by roughly 100 mafia crime bosses from the United States, Canada and Italy. Expensive cars with license plates from around the country aroused the curiosity of the local and state law enforcement, who raided the meeting, causing mafiosi to flee into the woods and the surrounding area of the Apalachin estate.
The direct and most significant outcome of the Apalachin meeting was that it helped to confirm the existence of a National Crime Syndicate, which some - including J. Edgar Hoover, head of the Federal Bureau of Investigations - had long refused to acknowledge.
Mob Members at Apalachin
1. Dominick Alaimo: Member of the Barbara family.
2. Joseph Barbara: Boss of his own family. Presently called the Bufalino family.
3. Joseph Bonanno: Boss of his own New York family; deposed in 1964.
4. John Bonventre: Uncle of Bonanno, former underboss to Bonanno. Had retired to Italy prior to Apalachin and probably couldn't resist meeting old friends.
5. Russell Bufalino: Underboss to Barbara. Became head of the Bufalino family when Barbara died in 1959. A suspect in the Jimmy Hoffa disappearance in 1975. Bufalino controlled organized crime in the Scranton-Wilkes-Barre area and upstate New York, including Utica. He died in 1994.
6. Ignatius Cannone: Member of the Barbara family.
7. Roy Carlisi: Member of the Magaddino family from Buffalo.
8. Paul Castellano: Capo in the Gambino family. Took over as boss when Gambino died in 1976. Whacked by John Gotti in 1985.
9. Gerardo Catena: Underboss to Vito Genovese. Later helped run the family when Genovese went to prison.
10. Charles Chivi: Member of the Genovese family.
11. Joseph Civello: Boss of Dallas family.
12. James Colletti: Boss of the Colorado family. Partner of Joe Bonanno in the cheese business.
13. Frank Cucchiara: Member of the New England family. Most commonly called the Patriarca family.
14. Dominick D'Agostino: Member of the Magaddino family.
15. John DeMarco: Capo or perhaps underboss in the Cleveland family then run by John Scalish.
16. Frank DeSimmone: Boss of the Los Angeles family; he was a lawyer.
17. Natale Evola: Capo in the Bonanno family; later became boss of the family circa 1970.
18. Joseph Falcone: Member of Barbara or Magaddino family.
19. Salvatore Falcone: Member of Barbara or Magaddino family.
20. Carlo Gambino: Had just ascended to the head of the Gambino family after Albert Anastasia was whacked in October 1957.
21. Michael Genovese: Believed to be underboss of the Pittsburgh family.
22. Vito Genovese: Had just recently ascended to the head of the Genovese family after previous boss, Frank Costello, was wounded in a murder attempt and then retired.
23. Anthony Guarnieri: Capo in the Barbara family.
24. Bartolo Guccia: Believed to be member of the Barbara family or an associate of the family.
25. Joseph Ida: Boss of Philadelphia. He retired shortly after Apalachin.
26. James LaDuca: Capo in the Magaddino family; related by marriage to Magaddino.
27. Samuel Laguttuta: Member of the Magaddino family.
28. Louis Larasso: Capo in the New Jersey family then led by Phil Amari. Became underboss to Nick Delmore when he took over for Amari in 1957. He was whacked in the 1990s.
29. Carmine Lombardozzi: Capo in the Gambino family.
30. Antonio Magaddino: Capo in the Magaddino family and brother of boss Stefano Magaddino.
31. Joseph Magliocco: Underboss of the Joseph Profaci family, which is now the Colombo family.
32. Frank Majuri: Underboss in the New Jersey family of Phil Amari. Slid down to capo when Amari retired later in 1957 and was replaced by Nick Delmore. Bumped up later to underboss in the regime of Sam DeCavalcante in the 60s after Delmore died.
33. Rosario Mancuso: Member of Barbara or Magaddino family.
34. Gabriel Mannarino: Capo in the Barbara family.
35. Michael Miranda: Capo in the Genovese family.
36. Patsy Monachino: Member of the Barbara or Magaddino family.
37. Sam Monachino: Member of Barbara or Magaddino family.
38. John Montana: Underboss in the Magaddino family, demoted after Apalachin.
39. Dominick Olivetto: May have been a member of the New Jersey family.
40. John Ormento: Capo in the Luchese family. Not too long after Apalachin, he got yet another narcotics conviction and spent the rest of his life in prison.
41. James Osticco: Capo in the Barbara family.
42. Joseph Profaci: Longtime boss of his own family until his death in 1962. Family is now called the Colombo family.
43. Vincent Rao: Consigliere (counselor) in the Luchese family.
44. Armand Rava: Member of the Gambino family. Was whacked not long after Apalachin because he was an ally of the slain Albert Anastasia.
45. Joseph Riccobono: Consigliere in the Gambino family.
46. Anthony Riela: Capo in the Bonanno family.
47. Joseph Rosato: Member of the Gambino family.
48. Louis Santos (Santo Trafficante): Boss of the Tampa family.
49. John Scalish: Boss of the Cleveland family.
50. Angelo Sciandra: Capo in the Barbara family.
51. Patsy Sciortino: Member of Barbara or Magaddino family.
52. Simone Scozzari: Underboss in the L.A. family.
53. Salvatore Tornabe: Member of the Profaci (now Colombo) family; died Dec. 30, 1957.
54. Patsy Turrigiano: Member of Barbara or Magaddino family.
55. Costenze Valente: Probable member of the Buffalo family. The debate is whether Rochester was an independent family or simply a part of the larger Buffalo family.
56. Frank Valente: Probable member of the Buffalo family.
57. Emanuel Zicari: Member of the Barbara family.
58. Frank Zito: Boss of the Springfield, Illinois family.
59. Joe Barbara Jr. Was not at the meeting, although he was probably going to be. He arrived from the family bottling works after the troopers were set up and is not listed as an attendee.
60. Stefano Magaddino: Some clothes of the Buffalo boss were found in a car stashed in a barn at Barbara's home a day or two after Nov. 14, 1957.
61. Joe Zerilli: Detroit boss used his license to rent a car in Binghamton shortly after the fiasco.
62. John LaRocca: Pittsburgh boss was registered at an area motel but was never caught.
63. James Lanza: Like LaRocca, the San Francisco boss was registered at a local motel but never caught.
64. Nick Civella, the Kansas City boss and soldier J. Filardo were tentatively identified as the two men who called a cab from a local business.
65. Neil Migliore: A soldier in the Luchese family, Migliore allegedly was involved in a traffic accident in Binghamton the day after the fiasco. The speculation was that he came to pick up Tommy Luchese.
66. Tommy Luchese: Boss of his own family. He was never caught, though logic says he would have attended.
67. Carmine Galante: One of Barbara's housekeepers, tentatively identified as Bonanno's new underboss, was one of several men still at Barbara's a day after the Apalachin fiasco.
Many other mob powers, including the Chicago delegation, were on their way to Barbara's and lucked out by arriving late and were able to avoid the fiasco.
It was attended by roughly 100 mafia crime bosses from the United States, Canada and Italy. Expensive cars with license plates from around the country aroused the curiosity of the local and state law enforcement, who raided the meeting, causing mafiosi to flee into the woods and the surrounding area of the Apalachin estate.
The direct and most significant outcome of the Apalachin meeting was that it helped to confirm the existence of a National Crime Syndicate, which some - including J. Edgar Hoover, head of the Federal Bureau of Investigations - had long refused to acknowledge.
Mob Members at Apalachin
1. Dominick Alaimo: Member of the Barbara family.
2. Joseph Barbara: Boss of his own family. Presently called the Bufalino family.
3. Joseph Bonanno: Boss of his own New York family; deposed in 1964.
4. John Bonventre: Uncle of Bonanno, former underboss to Bonanno. Had retired to Italy prior to Apalachin and probably couldn't resist meeting old friends.
5. Russell Bufalino: Underboss to Barbara. Became head of the Bufalino family when Barbara died in 1959. A suspect in the Jimmy Hoffa disappearance in 1975. Bufalino controlled organized crime in the Scranton-Wilkes-Barre area and upstate New York, including Utica. He died in 1994.
6. Ignatius Cannone: Member of the Barbara family.
7. Roy Carlisi: Member of the Magaddino family from Buffalo.
8. Paul Castellano: Capo in the Gambino family. Took over as boss when Gambino died in 1976. Whacked by John Gotti in 1985.
9. Gerardo Catena: Underboss to Vito Genovese. Later helped run the family when Genovese went to prison.
10. Charles Chivi: Member of the Genovese family.
11. Joseph Civello: Boss of Dallas family.
12. James Colletti: Boss of the Colorado family. Partner of Joe Bonanno in the cheese business.
13. Frank Cucchiara: Member of the New England family. Most commonly called the Patriarca family.
14. Dominick D'Agostino: Member of the Magaddino family.
15. John DeMarco: Capo or perhaps underboss in the Cleveland family then run by John Scalish.
16. Frank DeSimmone: Boss of the Los Angeles family; he was a lawyer.
17. Natale Evola: Capo in the Bonanno family; later became boss of the family circa 1970.
18. Joseph Falcone: Member of Barbara or Magaddino family.
19. Salvatore Falcone: Member of Barbara or Magaddino family.
20. Carlo Gambino: Had just ascended to the head of the Gambino family after Albert Anastasia was whacked in October 1957.
21. Michael Genovese: Believed to be underboss of the Pittsburgh family.
22. Vito Genovese: Had just recently ascended to the head of the Genovese family after previous boss, Frank Costello, was wounded in a murder attempt and then retired.
23. Anthony Guarnieri: Capo in the Barbara family.
24. Bartolo Guccia: Believed to be member of the Barbara family or an associate of the family.
25. Joseph Ida: Boss of Philadelphia. He retired shortly after Apalachin.
26. James LaDuca: Capo in the Magaddino family; related by marriage to Magaddino.
27. Samuel Laguttuta: Member of the Magaddino family.
28. Louis Larasso: Capo in the New Jersey family then led by Phil Amari. Became underboss to Nick Delmore when he took over for Amari in 1957. He was whacked in the 1990s.
29. Carmine Lombardozzi: Capo in the Gambino family.
30. Antonio Magaddino: Capo in the Magaddino family and brother of boss Stefano Magaddino.
31. Joseph Magliocco: Underboss of the Joseph Profaci family, which is now the Colombo family.
32. Frank Majuri: Underboss in the New Jersey family of Phil Amari. Slid down to capo when Amari retired later in 1957 and was replaced by Nick Delmore. Bumped up later to underboss in the regime of Sam DeCavalcante in the 60s after Delmore died.
33. Rosario Mancuso: Member of Barbara or Magaddino family.
34. Gabriel Mannarino: Capo in the Barbara family.
35. Michael Miranda: Capo in the Genovese family.
36. Patsy Monachino: Member of the Barbara or Magaddino family.
37. Sam Monachino: Member of Barbara or Magaddino family.
38. John Montana: Underboss in the Magaddino family, demoted after Apalachin.
39. Dominick Olivetto: May have been a member of the New Jersey family.
40. John Ormento: Capo in the Luchese family. Not too long after Apalachin, he got yet another narcotics conviction and spent the rest of his life in prison.
41. James Osticco: Capo in the Barbara family.
42. Joseph Profaci: Longtime boss of his own family until his death in 1962. Family is now called the Colombo family.
43. Vincent Rao: Consigliere (counselor) in the Luchese family.
44. Armand Rava: Member of the Gambino family. Was whacked not long after Apalachin because he was an ally of the slain Albert Anastasia.
45. Joseph Riccobono: Consigliere in the Gambino family.
46. Anthony Riela: Capo in the Bonanno family.
47. Joseph Rosato: Member of the Gambino family.
48. Louis Santos (Santo Trafficante): Boss of the Tampa family.
49. John Scalish: Boss of the Cleveland family.
50. Angelo Sciandra: Capo in the Barbara family.
51. Patsy Sciortino: Member of Barbara or Magaddino family.
52. Simone Scozzari: Underboss in the L.A. family.
53. Salvatore Tornabe: Member of the Profaci (now Colombo) family; died Dec. 30, 1957.
54. Patsy Turrigiano: Member of Barbara or Magaddino family.
55. Costenze Valente: Probable member of the Buffalo family. The debate is whether Rochester was an independent family or simply a part of the larger Buffalo family.
56. Frank Valente: Probable member of the Buffalo family.
57. Emanuel Zicari: Member of the Barbara family.
58. Frank Zito: Boss of the Springfield, Illinois family.
59. Joe Barbara Jr. Was not at the meeting, although he was probably going to be. He arrived from the family bottling works after the troopers were set up and is not listed as an attendee.
60. Stefano Magaddino: Some clothes of the Buffalo boss were found in a car stashed in a barn at Barbara's home a day or two after Nov. 14, 1957.
61. Joe Zerilli: Detroit boss used his license to rent a car in Binghamton shortly after the fiasco.
62. John LaRocca: Pittsburgh boss was registered at an area motel but was never caught.
63. James Lanza: Like LaRocca, the San Francisco boss was registered at a local motel but never caught.
64. Nick Civella, the Kansas City boss and soldier J. Filardo were tentatively identified as the two men who called a cab from a local business.
65. Neil Migliore: A soldier in the Luchese family, Migliore allegedly was involved in a traffic accident in Binghamton the day after the fiasco. The speculation was that he came to pick up Tommy Luchese.
66. Tommy Luchese: Boss of his own family. He was never caught, though logic says he would have attended.
67. Carmine Galante: One of Barbara's housekeepers, tentatively identified as Bonanno's new underboss, was one of several men still at Barbara's a day after the Apalachin fiasco.
Many other mob powers, including the Chicago delegation, were on their way to Barbara's and lucked out by arriving late and were able to avoid the fiasco.
Monday, November 12, 2007
Full American Gangster Trailer
American Gangster is a 2007 crime film written by Steve Zaillian and directed by Ridley Scott. The film stars Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe. Washington portrays Frank Lucas, a real-life heroin kingpin from Manhattan who smuggled the drug into the country in the coffins of American soldiers returning from the Vietnam War. Crowe portrays Richie Roberts, a detective who brings down Lucas's drug empire.
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