Gambino Family Associate Michael Scarpaci Pleads Guilty To Gambling Winnings From Stock Fraud

Gambino Family Associate Michael Scarpaci Pleads Guilty To Gambling Winnings From Stock Fraud

  December 30, 2010    Dapper_Don

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Don Carlo Gambino

A reputed Gambino crime-family associate who headed an elaborate, $20 million stock scheme admitted this morning that he wagered some of his proceeds in illegal gambling operations.
Michael Scarpaci, 34, pleaded guilty to racketeering tied to his roles in an Internet sports-betting ring and high-stakes poker games.
He agreed to serve up to 30 months behind bars in addition to the five years he faces for running the bogus "Gryphon Financial" investment firm, which duped investors through a "boiler room" located in a Staten Island strip mall.
During a hearing in Manhattan federal court, the recovering alcoholic and drug addict said he steered fellow bettors to his Web-based, off-shore sports bookie and also recruited players to join him at card games in Manhattan hotels.

The gambling charges against Scarpaci -- who was briefly released from jail for his daughter's April baptism -- were contained in a sweeping indictment that led to the arrests of 14 mobsters earlier this year.
Scarpaci, however, didn't admit any involvement with the Mafia, with defense lawyer Joseph Corrozzo insisting that "the people he was dealing with were lifelong friends from growing up in Brooklyn."
Corozzo appeared with Scarpaci after beating prosecution attempts to disqualify him on grounds that he serves as "house counsel" to the Gambinos, in which his father, Joseph, is the reputed consigliere, and his uncle Nicholas is a reputed capo.
Afterward, Corozzo described Scarpaci as "a good man who made a mistake."
"Good men make mistakes, they accept responsibility for it and they get punished," Corozzo said. "That's our system of justice, and that's what Mr. Scarpaci is doing."

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/manhattan/mobbed_up_stock_scammer_pleads_guilty_erWkgIyeb4MC0eAWOuZ8qN#ixzz19d1POcsC