Gambino Mobsters Charged With Running Craigslist Teen Prostution Ring
The Mafia is alive and kicking - and pimping out teenage girls for sex on Craigslist.
Authorities on Tuesday charged seven reputed members of the Gambino crime family with running an interstate sex-trafficking ring - calling it a "new low" for the mob.
Another seven wiseguys - including the family's current boss, Daniel Marino - were also busted for a litany of crimes, some dating back to the era when John Gotti was in charge.
Authorities said the prostitution service was a first for an organized crime crew.
"No crime seems too depraved to be exploited if it was a money-maker, including the sexual exploitation of a 15-year-old," said FBI Special Agent-in-Charge George Venizelos.
Allged Gambino soldier Thomas Orefice is accused of hatching the scheme to recruit young women from various strip clubs to work as prostitutes.
Prosecutors say Orefice advertised the girls, ranging in age from 15 to 19, on Craigslist with ads that included the phone number of Gambino madam Suzanne Porcelli.
Porcelli set up the appointments, and Orefice's crew members drove the women to their bookings, waited for them and took half the cash, prosecutors say.
As a sideline, Orefice made these same women available to gamblers who played poker at his illegal high-stakes games, prosecutors charge.
The indictment also includes charges of murder, narcotics trafficking, loansharking, extortion and an aborted jury tampering scheme for Gotti's 1992 trial.
"Rumors of the Mafia's demise are greatly exaggerated," Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said.
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