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Two alleged Jersey mobsters sentenced for role in online sports betting operation
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Two alleged members of the New Jersey-based Genovese crime family were sentenced today for their role in a high-tech sports betting operation operating out of Costa Rica that used mob muscle to collect gambling losses. (Tomohiro Ohsumi/Bloomberg)
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Ted Sherman | The Star-Ledger By Ted Sherman | The Star-Ledger
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on August 05, 2014 at 4:50 PM, updated August 06, 2014 at 1:39 AM
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NEWARK It was a high-tech offshore sports betting operation run by a bunch of alleged old school Jersey wiseguys.
Today, two men tied to the scheme 75-year-old "Uncle Patsy," aka Pat Pirozzi, and 49-year-old John Breheney, better known as "Johnny Fugazi" or "Fu" were sentenced in Newark federal court for their role in the sophisticated, mob-backed internet gambling scheme based out of Costa Rica.
And a third individual, Eric Patten, 37, of Bayonne, pleaded guilty to conspiracy.
The three were among 13 arrested in May 2012 in what federal prosecutors called a multi-million-dollar sports betting ring out of northern New Jersey involving the Genovese crime family.
According to the U.S. Attorneys Office, the operation was headed by Joseph "Pepe" Lascala, 80, of Monroe, the alleged "capo" and a made member of the Genovese family. The group took sports bets through a password-protected website called Beteagle.com, principally owned by Joseph Graziano, 77, of Springfield.
"Youre in the wrong business now, you know?" Graziano remarked on one surveillance recording included in the original criminal complaint. "You should be in the sports business. ... Theyre gonna build it up to, like, (expletive) no end."
Those running the operation were given access to Beteagle. Known as "agents" of the betting operation, prosecutors said they were essentially bookies, with a stable of bettors who were able to place their wagers online.
But the group with alleged nicknames that included "Frankie the Flea," "The Worm" and "Harpo" depended on old-fashioned mob muscle to go after those who failed to pay their gambling losses, charging high interest and using threats to collect debts incurred on events like pro football games.
In one meeting, also captured on surveillance tape, Breheney spoke with an informant about one individual who owed money.
"Theres no escape routes here," he said, according to the 2012 criminal complaint. "The only thing you can do is pay the money. ... These are gangsters."
Graziano has already pleaded guilty to his role in the operation, as have seven others, who are all awaiting sentencing. Lascala is still awaiting trial.
Law enforcement officials said the mob has increasingly looked to expand its reach with the internet.
"While traditional organized crime has been severely diminished by law enforcement efforts, there are still pockets of activity to be rooted out," said U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman. "In just the past week, nine defendants have either pleaded guilty or been sentenced in this scheme, which married new technology to an old school, illegal sports gambling operation. Whether you track the bets with a notebook and pencil or a smartphone and laptop, bookmaking is still illegal."
Two years ago, 20 people including alleged associates of the Gambino crime family were charged by the U.S. Attorneys Office in Connecticut in connection with an illegal internet sports bookmaking operation known as 44wager.com, also based in Costa Rica.
GETTING STARTED
In 2009, New York authorities busted up an alleged half-billion-dollar internet betting ring, with indictments against 30 suspects some also tied to the Gambino crime family. The off-shore sports betting operation took in an average of $20 million a month from more than 8,000 gamblers, officials reported.
And last year, the U.S. Attorneys Office in Manhattan charged 34 people with alleged ties to Russian organized crime with operating an international bookmaking organization that laundered tens of millions of dollars from Russia and Ukraine through Cyprus and into the U.S.
The New Jersey gambling operation was lucrative, court filings indicated.
In the surveillance recordings, Graziano bragged about his net take out of the Costa Rica operation.
"I got 49 people. ... These kids get two thousand each," he said. "If at the end of the year I can make two million and I gotta give away, like four or five hundred (expletive), thats a million and a half, you know. My money."
But Breheney, further down in the food chain, saw a lot less. According to the court filings, he complained about his obligation to "kick up" money to Pepe Lascala.
'THE RIGHT-HAND MAN'
"I got obligations," he told an informant, according to a surveillance recording. "I gotta give Pep money every week. I give him part of my business."
Breheney, of Little Egg Harbor, pleaded guilty last October to racketeering conspiracy by participating in the activities of the Genovese crime family, and tax evasion. In a proceeding today before U.S. District Judge Claire Cecchi in Newark, he was sentenced to 38 months in prison and a $16,000 fine and forfeited $400,000.
Pirozzi, of Suffern, N.Y., identified in the criminal complaint as "the right-hand man" to Lascala, pleaded guilty in October to racketeering conspiracy charges. He was sentenced to 22 months in prison.
Attorneys for the two did not return calls for comment.
Patten faces up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine when he is sentenced in December.
RELATED COVERAGE
Feds in N.J. bust illegal online gambling ring
Operators of illegal gambling website admit to conspiring with organized crime family
New Counterfeit 100 U.S. Dollar Bank Notes Super S At Matsumura Technology Co.
Two alleged members of the New Jersey-based Genovese crime family were sentenced today for their role in a high-tech sports betting operation operating out of Costa Rica that used mob muscle to collect gambling losses. (Tomohiro Ohsumi/Bloomberg)
Ted Sherman | The Star-Ledger By Ted Sherman | The Star-Ledger
Email the author | Follow on Twitter
on August 05, 2014 at 4:50 PM, updated August 06, 2014 at 1:39 AM
0
NEWARK It was a high-tech offshore sports betting operation run by a bunch of alleged old school Jersey wiseguys.
Today, two men tied to the scheme 75-year-old "Uncle Patsy," aka Pat Pirozzi, and 49-year-old John Breheney, better known as "Johnny Fugazi" or "Fu" were sentenced in Newark federal court for their role in the sophisticated, mob-backed internet gambling scheme based out of Costa Rica.
And a third individual, Eric Patten, 37, of Bayonne, pleaded guilty to conspiracy.
The three were among 13 arrested in May 2012 in what federal prosecutors called a multi-million-dollar sports betting ring out of northern New Jersey involving the Genovese crime family.
According to the U.S. Attorneys Office, the operation was headed by Joseph "Pepe" Lascala, 80, of Monroe, the alleged "capo" and a made member of the Genovese family. The group took sports bets through a password-protected website called Beteagle.com, principally owned by Joseph Graziano, 77, of Springfield.
"Youre in the wrong business now, you know?" Graziano remarked on one surveillance recording included in the original criminal complaint. "You should be in the sports business. ... Theyre gonna build it up to, like, (expletive) no end."
Those running the operation were given access to Beteagle. Known as "agents" of the betting operation, prosecutors said they were essentially bookies, with a stable of bettors who were able to place their wagers online.
But the group with alleged nicknames that included "Frankie the Flea," "The Worm" and "Harpo" depended on old-fashioned mob muscle to go after those who failed to pay their gambling losses, charging high interest and using threats to collect debts incurred on events like pro football games.
In one meeting, also captured on surveillance tape, Breheney spoke with an informant about one individual who owed money.
"Theres no escape routes here," he said, according to the 2012 criminal complaint. "The only thing you can do is pay the money. ... These are gangsters."
Graziano has already pleaded guilty to his role in the operation, as have seven others, who are all awaiting sentencing. Lascala is still awaiting trial.
Law enforcement officials said the mob has increasingly looked to expand its reach with the internet.
"While traditional organized crime has been severely diminished by law enforcement efforts, there are still pockets of activity to be rooted out," said U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman. "In just the past week, nine defendants have either pleaded guilty or been sentenced in this scheme, which married new technology to an old school, illegal sports gambling operation. Whether you track the bets with a notebook and pencil or a smartphone and laptop, bookmaking is still illegal."
Two years ago, 20 people including alleged associates of the Gambino crime family were charged by the U.S. Attorneys Office in Connecticut in connection with an illegal internet sports bookmaking operation known as 44wager.com, also based in Costa Rica.
GETTING STARTED
In 2009, New York authorities busted up an alleged half-billion-dollar internet betting ring, with indictments against 30 suspects some also tied to the Gambino crime family. The off-shore sports betting operation took in an average of $20 million a month from more than 8,000 gamblers, officials reported.
And last year, the U.S. Attorneys Office in Manhattan charged 34 people with alleged ties to Russian organized crime with operating an international bookmaking organization that laundered tens of millions of dollars from Russia and Ukraine through Cyprus and into the U.S.
The New Jersey gambling operation was lucrative, court filings indicated.
In the surveillance recordings, Graziano bragged about his net take out of the Costa Rica operation.
"I got 49 people. ... These kids get two thousand each," he said. "If at the end of the year I can make two million and I gotta give away, like four or five hundred (expletive), thats a million and a half, you know. My money."
But Breheney, further down in the food chain, saw a lot less. According to the court filings, he complained about his obligation to "kick up" money to Pepe Lascala.
'THE RIGHT-HAND MAN'
"I got obligations," he told an informant, according to a surveillance recording. "I gotta give Pep money every week. I give him part of my business."
Breheney, of Little Egg Harbor, pleaded guilty last October to racketeering conspiracy by participating in the activities of the Genovese crime family, and tax evasion. In a proceeding today before U.S. District Judge Claire Cecchi in Newark, he was sentenced to 38 months in prison and a $16,000 fine and forfeited $400,000.
Pirozzi, of Suffern, N.Y., identified in the criminal complaint as "the right-hand man" to Lascala, pleaded guilty in October to racketeering conspiracy charges. He was sentenced to 22 months in prison.
Attorneys for the two did not return calls for comment.
Patten faces up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine when he is sentenced in December.
RELATED COVERAGE
Feds in N.J. bust illegal online gambling ring
Operators of illegal gambling website admit to conspiring with organized crime family
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