April 29, 1999

ELEVEN ARRESTED; LUCRATIVE MULTI-COUNTY POLICY RING SMASHED; TEN LOCATIONS RAIDED; OVER $200,000 IN CASH AND RECORDS SEIZED.

Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown, joined by New York City Police Commissioner Howard Safir, announced today that a lucrative gambling ring operating in Queens, Manhattan, Nassau and Rockland counties has been smashed with the arrest of eleven people and the seizure of a huge quantity of policy slips and gambling records and over $200,000 in cash.

District Attorney Brown said, "These raids are part of Law Enforcement's continuing efforts to strike at criminal activity wherever it emerges. Although some believe that gambling is a victimless crime, the immense profits derived from gambling invariably end up in the hands of organized crime and are used to bankroll other criminal activity."

"Early yesterday morning," said District Attorney Brown, "detectives and police officers assigned to the Queens Vice Enforcement Squad armed with search warrants obtained by Assistant District Attorneys in my Organized Crime and Rackets Bureau, raided ten locations in the metropolitan area including the bank of a lucrative policy betting operation and the Rockland County home of the ring's alleged banker, Henry Enriquez, who is being sought. The operation's alleged bank, located at 712 West 176th Street in Manhattan, contained voluminous policy wager records reflecting thousands of wages and thousands of dollars wagered along with five fax machines over which the bank received faxed lists of wagers from the operations eleven comptrollers who were arrested at the various locations. In addition, the alleged banker's Rockland County home at 200 Summit Park Road in Spring Valley was raided and detectives found $200,000 in cash. Additional fax machines, gambling records and a .380 handgun were also found."

New York City Police Commissioner Howard Safir said, "This successful investigation, including the 11 arrests, is the result of this City's commitment and relentless pursuit in shutting down illegal gambling operations. These arrests have effectively dismantled a large network of illegal gambling operations that will no longer profit at the expense of law abiding New Yorkers."

The other locations from which policy slips and other gambling paraphernalia were seized yesterday were: 3542 Broadway, 615 Fort Washington Avenue, Apt. 6G, and 245 Fort Washington Avenue, Apt. 4B, in Manhattan and 144-19 111th Avenue, Jamaica, 142-47 Rockaway Blvd., Apt. 1R, South Ozone Park, 862 Nassau Road, Uniondale, 134 Hudson Street, Roosevelt, and 39 West Centennial Avenue, Roosevelt.

Arrested and charged with conspiracy, possession of gambling records and promoting gambling were: Pedro Sanchez Rojas, 69, of 134 Hudson Avenue, Roosevelt, N.Y., Allen Jeane Love, 54, of 39 W. Centennial Avenue, Roosevelt, N.Y., Hiram Torres, 56, of 54 Lakewood Avenue, Nassau County, N.Y., William Jeffers, 61, of 128-14 140th Street, Jamaica, N.Y., Rose McCabe aka "Yvette", 48, of 2254 Cedar Avenue, Apt. 2A, Bronx, N.Y., Sabrina Santana, 43, of 45 Overlook Terrace, N.Y., N.Y., Maria Reyes, 43, of 600 W. 218, Apt. 4J, N.Y.,N.Y., Adalberto Lopez, 62, of 3503 Givernaud Terr. Brooklyn, N.Y., Lillian Mejia, 37, of 2400 Walton Avenue, Apt. 2B, Bronx, N.Y., Angelo Alvarez, 56, of 2 Tobi Lane, New City, N.Y. and Inez Powell, 51, of 144-19 111 Avenue, Jamaica, N.Y. The defendants face up to four years in prison if convicted of the charges.

The investigation and arrests were carried out by members of the Queens Vice Enforcement Squad including Det. Terrence O'Malley. The Vice Enforcement Squad is under the supervision of Captain Brian McCarthy and the overall supervision of Deputy Inspector Michael Brooks, commanding officer of the Vice Enforcement Division.

Assistant District Attorney Steven Siegel of the District Attorney's Organized Crime and Rackets Bureau which is under the supervision of Assistant District Attorney Brian J. Mich and the overall supervision of Executive Assistant District Attorney for Investigations Robert D. Alexander is in charge of the cases.

It should be noted that an arrest is merely an accusation and that a defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty.