Gambino Captain Agreed to Fork Over $1.2 Million, Sentenced To 4½ Years

Gambino Captain Agreed to Fork Over $1.2 Million, Sentenced To 4½ Years

  March 26, 2010    Dapper_Don

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A Staten Island Gambino crime family captain will fork over $1.2 million in penalties and serve up to 4½ years in prison after admitting running a massive sports-betting and loan-sharking ring, Attorney General Andrew Cuomo said yesterday.
Carmine Sciandra, 57, the owner of the Top Tomato chain of specialty supermarkets, pleaded guilty to charges of enterprise corruption Wednesday in a Staten Island courtroom, along with two of his top lieutenants.
Prosecutors said Sciandra presided over a sprawling criminal operation that lent money out at rates of up to 156 percent interest and funneled millions in illegal bets through a Costa Rican wire room.
Sciandra's lawyer, Joseph Benfante, said his client had no direct involvement in the gambling and loan-sharking en- terprise and made nowhere close to $1.2 million.

"In reality he only received a few Christmas gifts, which did not total more than $5,000," said Benfante. "That's all he made out of this indictment."

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/staten_island/vig_up_for_mob_bet_big_W6wMUT61zNtUoKyUka4OZL#ixzz0jICXOCBC