Feds bust offshore gambling ring run by the Genovese family
Leave the gun, take the Metamucil.
A crew of grizzled and graying members of the Genovese crime family was hauled into Brooklyn court Thursday on charges they ran a lucrative off-shore sports gambling ring and engaged in loansharking.
Thirteen men — including alleged made member and ringleader Salvatore “Sallie” DeMeo, 76, one of two septuagenarians of the old-fellas bunch — are accused of running gambling site 4Spades.org based in Costa Rica.
He and other reputed Genovese associates were arrested Thursday morning stemming from a long-term probe into their loansharking and bookmaking activities by the state Attorney General and NYPD.
DeMeo, who has a heart condition, pleaded not guilty to the charges before Judge Danny Chun set bail at $300,000.
Prosecutors said in court that DeMeo served as the “boss” of the multi-million dollar organization and has a criminal history dating back to 1984.
The senior wiseguy landed on the FBI’s “Ten Most Wanted” list after going on the lam in 2000 as feds tried to arrest him on racketeering and bank robbery charges.
Meanwhile, another 76-year-old, Mario Leonardi, allegedly sold more than 30,000 untaxed cigarettes throughout New York with his cohort Gennaro Geritano, 62, authorities said.
Also indicted were Eugene Orefice, 48; Anthony “Buckwheat” Giammarino, 65; Joseph Tommasino, 52; Thomas Alexiou, 55; Rocco Maglione, 46; Windsor Lewis, 66; Vincent Taliercio, 65; Jackie Charlton, 53; Michael Epstein, 48, and John Giglio, 55.
All have pleaded not guilty.
Lewis’ attorney Marissa Benton told the judge that he is a retired corrections officer and has a son in the NYPD.
She added that he’d had double bypass surgery last year and had a pacemaker.
Chun released Lewis on his own recognizance.
“These defendants allegedly went to great lengths to trap their victims with exorbitant rates, all while evading our gambling laws and taking offshore bets,” said AG Eric Schneiderman in a statement.
http://nypost.com/2016/12/15/over-the-hill-mobsters-busted-for-off-shore-gambling-ring/
This was certainly an odd group of guys working in conjunction with each other which goes to show the diversity in organized crime today. Sal Demeo the most powerful of the group is the likely head of this group which included a member of the Genovese family and associates of the Columbo and Gambino families which is no surprise considering the South Brooklyn neighborhood that they ran this operation from has been a stomping ground for members of the Gambino Genovese and Colombo families for decades one of the more reconized arrested from the area was Jerry Geritano who has many relatives involved in organized crime and other criminal activities . Geritano's brother Preston who was killed by his brother in law Andrew Gargulio was a known hit man and extortionist as for Gargulio a quiet man now serving life in prison he was the Genovese families top bookmaker another nephew Benny Geritano has been arrested numerous times the latest for a bar stabbing just a year after he beat a case for stabbing the owner of a Carroll Gardens pizzaria .Sources say Benny was also running a mariquana buissness with his step Brothers police records also show another cousin Jerry Bagels Geritano who is said to have ran a large marijuana buissness and was arrested for possession of cocaine in 1999 and a suspect in several commercial robberies was a close friend of defendant Eugene Orefice and had close ties to Gambino hood Louis Big Lou Fontana who was let go for lack of evidence when Geritano was busted on cocaine possesion and is also a suspect in the commercial bugaries which took place from 1998 to 2005 . Today both Preston and Ciro Jerry Bagels Geritano are desceased. As for this grab bag of defendants busted I don't think but one did time for it .
ReplyDelete30,000 Untaxed Cigarettes ! I guess that sounds better to the feds than 150 cartons.
ReplyDelete