Thursday, June 16, 2005
REPUTED BONANNO CRIME FAMILY CAPO AND CONSIGLIERE AND TEN ALLEGED MOB ASSOCIATES CHARGED IN $10.0 MILLION GAMBLING AND LOANSHARKING RING THAT ALLEGEDLY OPERATED IN QUEENS, BROOKLYN, MANHATTAN AND STATEN ISLAND; SLOW-TO-PAY LOAN SHARKING VICTIMS ALLEGEDLY THREATENED WITH PHYSICAL HARM; REPUTED SOLDIER AND HIS ASSOCIATE ALSO CHARGED WITH POSSESSION OF ILLEGAL WEAPON ARSENAL
Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown, joined by Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly, today announced the indictment of 12 individuals –- including reputed Bonanno crime family capo and acting consigliere Anthony Rabito and reputed soldier Salvatore Scudiero and ten alleged mob associates –- on enterprise corruption and gambling charges involving the operation of a $10.0 million illegal gambling enterprise that ran “wire” rooms in Queens, Brooklyn, Manhattan and Staten Island and also engaged in loan sharking.
According to the District Attorney, a 32-count Enterprise Corruption indictment charges that defendant Scudiero acted as the alleged ring’s enforcer and threatened loan sharking victims who were slow to pay back what they owed with explicit threats of physical violence.
The indictment additionally charges Scudiero and alleged mob associate Frank Esposito with criminal possession of an arsenal of weaponry that included five illegal handguns, hundreds of rounds of ammunition and silencers.
District Attorney Brown said, “The mob uses illegal gambling profits as seed money for its other more insidious forms of corruption, such as labor racketeering, extortion, loan sharking, drug trafficking, auto theft and insurance fraud. The illegal gambling enterprise in this case -- allegedly under the control of the Bonanno crime family -- is accused of having handled millions of dollars in illegal sports-betting wagers involving professional baseball, football, basketball and hockey. The ring is also accused of engaging in loan sharking by making usurious loans at interest rates of over 156 percent per year. The ring’s enforcer, in addition, allegedly threatened to physically harm loan sharking victims who did not promptly pay back what they owed.”
Police Commissioner Kelly said, “Mob-linked gambling has been a persistent problem. These arrests signify that the Police Department and prosecutors will be just as persistent.”
The indictment filed in Queens Supreme Court charges that the mob-run gambling ring operated several wire rooms in Queens that handled illicit wagers averaging $30,000 a day at 64-19 74th Street in Middle Village; 72-18 82nd Street in Glendale and 264-14 East Williston Avenue in Floral Park, all in Queens, and various locations in Brooklyn, Manhattan and Staten Island.
The ring allegedly handled illegal betting action of
about $210,000 a week totaling over $10.5 million during the 18-month span
charged in the indictment. The ring allegedly relied on a hybrid scheme using
multiple wire rooms run by other bookmakers to attempt to insulate upper-ranked
participants from detection by law enforcement.
It is alleged that defendant Rabito received tribute from the operation in
exchange for the protection of the Bonanno crime family and that he participated
in resolving disputes with other organized crime associates.
Detectives assigned to the New York City Police Department’s Organized Crime Control Bureau apprehended the defendants and charged them variously with Enterprise Corruption -- a violation of New York State’s Organized Crime Control Act -- Criminal Usury or “loan sharking,” Criminal Weapons Possession, Promoting Gambling, Possession of Gambling Records and Conspiracy. The defendants face up to 25 years in prison if convicted.
The investigation began in December 2002 when Detective Robert Vetrano assigned to the NYPD’s Organized Crime Investigation Division received information about an illegal betting ring and began a joint investigation with the District Attorney’s Organized Crime and Rackets Bureau.
The investigation included telephonic eavesdropping that intercepted thousands of illicit conversations, physical surveillance and intelligence information from the District Attorney’s Organized Crime and Rackets Bureau and the NYPD’s Organized Crime Control Bureau.
The indictment charges that defendant Rabito, 71, of 85 Herbert Street, Brooklyn profited from the bookmaking operation and received money in exchange for the protection of the Bonanno crime family.
The indictment additionally charges that the ring was run by Salvatore Scudiero, 72, of 50-24 66 Street, Woodside, a reputed Bonanno soldier in Rabito’s crew, and Frank Tramontano, 72, of 109 Tuckahoe Ave, Staten Island, an alleged Bonanno associate. It is alleged that Scudiero and Tramontano together ran the large scale illegal gambling enterprise by managing the ring’s day-to-day operations, settling bettor disputes, authorizing and accounting the debts and pay-outs, laying-off certain bets, supervising numerous, lower-ranking employees and shifting betters and runners between wire rooms run by other bookmakers.
The indictment charges that Thomas Ferrante, 68, of 184 Jacob Street, Woodside, an alleged Bonanno associate, allegedly acted as the “super-controller” of the gambling organization by supervising its multiple wire room locations, clerks and runners. Specifically, the indictment alleges that Ferrante was the controller of all the wire rooms utilized by the enterprise, and that he collected the weekly figures of the runners from various clerks and acted as the conduit between the multiple wire rooms and bookmakers Scudiero and Tramontano.
The indictment charges that George Castronova, 56, of 264-14 East Williston Ave, Floral Park and Alexander Noce, 72, of 61-30 63rd Street, Middle Village performed duel roles in the illegal gambling enterprise. Both bookmakers in their own right, they also allegedly acted as controllers of certain individual wire rooms for the enterprise by managing bettors’ accounts and maintaining the runners’ figures for Ferrante, Tramontano and Scudiero, while still operating their own separate bookmaking businesses – with separate bettors and runners -- out of their own respective wire rooms.
The indictment charges that Joseph Castronova, 31, of 64-19 74th Street and David Treccagnoli, 75, of 60-10 77th Street, both Middle Village, acted as clerks at different wire rooms. It is alleged that each clerk performed a variety of duties, including manning traditional wire room locations, accepting wagers by telephone and maintaining gambling accounts for numerous runners and bettors for their controllers.
The indictment charges that Thomas Dimicelli, 57, of 33 Wirt Street, Staten Island, Frank Esposito, 71, of 60-59 Metropolitan Avenue, Ridgewood, Manuel Frese, 76, of 290 Empire Boulevard, Brooklyn and Carl Gueli, 58, of 71 Grace Avenue, Great Neck were “runners” in the gambling ring. It is alleged that each of these “runners” in exchange for a share of the ring’s gambling profits managed his own group of bettors by accepting and relaying bets, or by providing bettors with a phone number to call and the runner’s code enabling them to place bets in a particular wire room, and then settling up their bettor’s won-loss accounts on a weekly basis.
The indictment additionally charges that defendants Scudiero –- an alleged bookmaker and chief debt collector of both gambling and loan sharking debts –- and Esposito -- an alleged runner and Scudiero’s close associate -- possessed numerous illegal handguns, live ammunition and related equipment. The two were charged jointly with criminal possession of a 9 mm Smith and Wesson, a .38 caliber Smith and Wesson, a .32 caliber Smith and Wesson, a .22 caliber Pietro short and a .765 mm. Berretta handgun. One of the handguns was defaced for the purposes of concealment. They also were charged with possession of two silencers and an arsenal of live ammunition.
A companion civil forfeiture action alleges that all of the defendants engaged in a criminal enterprise promoting illegal gambling activities and generated illegal bets amounting to approximately $15 million from March 2003 through July 2004.
A separate 13-count indictment charges defendants George Castronova and his son, Joseph Castronova, with Promoting Gambling in the First Degree, Possession of Gambling Records in the First Degree and Conspiracy. The indictment charges that the Castronovas operated a bookmaking operation out of the East Williston and 82nd Street locations - with George Castronova acting as the bookmaker and Joseph as a wireroom clerk -- an operation independent and distinct from the principal criminal enterprise –- and alleges that it had separate bettors and runners who dealt only with the Castronovas.
The investigation was conducted by Detective Robert Vetrano of the New York City Police Department’s Organized Crime Investigation Division under the supervision of Deputy Inspector Brian O’Neill, Captain Christopher Monahan, Lieutenant Brian Verwoert, Sergeant Felipe Rodriquez and the overall supervision of Chief Douglas Ziegler and Deputy Chief Kevin T. McBride.
The criminal prosecution is being handled by Assistant District Attorneys Catherine C. Kane and Caryn E. Goldstein of the District Attorney’s Organized Crime and Rackets Bureau under the supervision of Assistant District Attorneys Gerard A. Brave, Bureau Chief, and Marc P. Resnick, Deputy Bureau Chief, and the overall supervision of Executive Assistant District Attorney for Investigations Peter A. Crusco and Deputy Executive Assistant District Attorney for Investigations Linda M. Cantoni.
The civil action is being litigated by Assistant District Attorney David S. Zadnoff of the District Attorney’s Special Proceedings Bureau under the supervision of Assistant District Attorneys Anthony M. Communiello, Bureau Chief, and Oscar W. Ruiz, Deputy Bureau Chief, and the overall supervision of Executive Assistant District Attorneys Crusco and Cantoni.
It should be noted that indictments are merely an accusation and that defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty.
DEFENDANT INFORMATION
1- Anthony Rabito, 71, 85 Herbert Street, Brooklyn;
2- Salvatore Scudiero, 72, 50-24 66th Street, Woodside, Queens;
3- Frank Tramontano, 72, 109 Tuckahoe Avenue, Staten Island;
4- Thomas Ferrante, 68, 184 Jacob Street, Elmont, Nassau;
5- George Castronova, 56, 264-14 E. Williston Ave, Floral Park, Queens;
6- Joseph Castronova, 31, 78-20 81st Street, Glendale, Queens;
7- Alexander Noce, 72, 61-30 63rd Street, Middle Village, Queens;
8- David Treccagnoli, 75, 60-10 77th Street, Middle Village, Queens;
9- Thomas Dimicelli, 57, 33 Wirt Street, Staten Island;
10- Frank Esposito, 71, 60-59 Metropolitan Avenue, Ridgewood, Queens;
11- Manuel Frese, 76, 290 Empire Boulevard, Brooklyn;
12- Carl Gueli, 58, 71 Grace Avenue, Great Neck, Nassau;