Connecticut man pleads guilty in gambling case
A North Haven man who helped supervise a mob-connected gambling ring that took sports bets and ran card games between New Haven and Stamford pleaded guilty in federal court Monday to two counts of operating an illegal gambling business.
Michael Pepe, 33, who federal prosecutors described as a supervisor of multiple bookmaking offices for the New York-based Gambino crime family, faces up to five year in prison when he is sentenced in October by U.S. District Court Vanessa L. Bryant.
According to the indictment charging Pepe and 19 other reputed Gambino associates in Connecticut, he supervised offices that took sports bets from gamblers, coordinated the collection of debts from bookies working for the gambling ring and passed profits up the mob hierarchy.
Federal prosecutors also said in court that Pepe also was involved in running an illegal card game at 2965 State Street in Hamden, where the mob 'raked-off" a piece of the action.
As part of his plea bargain deal with the government, Pepe agreed to forfeit $100,000.
Law enforcement authorities said Pepe was associated with a gambling network that generated millions of dollars in profits annually and had agents in Connecticut, New York and Florida.
Most of those charged in the gambling case are accused of collecting bets, transferring the wagers to offshore, Internet-based gambling sites and distributing winnings and losses. The operators also transferred money to pay off operators of the gambling websites, notably the Costa Rica-based http://www.44wager.com, as well as higher-ups in the Gambino organization, authorities said.
The Gambino family has claimed southwest Connecticut as its territory since at least the early 1980s, federal authorities said.
http://www.courant.com/news/connecticut/hc-gambling-bust-0807-20120806,0,5989004.story
Michael Pepe, 33, who federal prosecutors described as a supervisor of multiple bookmaking offices for the New York-based Gambino crime family, faces up to five year in prison when he is sentenced in October by U.S. District Court Vanessa L. Bryant.
According to the indictment charging Pepe and 19 other reputed Gambino associates in Connecticut, he supervised offices that took sports bets from gamblers, coordinated the collection of debts from bookies working for the gambling ring and passed profits up the mob hierarchy.
Federal prosecutors also said in court that Pepe also was involved in running an illegal card game at 2965 State Street in Hamden, where the mob 'raked-off" a piece of the action.
As part of his plea bargain deal with the government, Pepe agreed to forfeit $100,000.
Law enforcement authorities said Pepe was associated with a gambling network that generated millions of dollars in profits annually and had agents in Connecticut, New York and Florida.
Most of those charged in the gambling case are accused of collecting bets, transferring the wagers to offshore, Internet-based gambling sites and distributing winnings and losses. The operators also transferred money to pay off operators of the gambling websites, notably the Costa Rica-based http://www.44wager.com, as well as higher-ups in the Gambino organization, authorities said.
The Gambino family has claimed southwest Connecticut as its territory since at least the early 1980s, federal authorities said.
http://www.courant.com/news/connecticut/hc-gambling-bust-0807-20120806,0,5989004.story
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