"Operation Betting it All": $20 Million a Month Gambling Ring Goes Belly Up After Queens DA Arrests 27
Kew Gardens certainly isn't nearly as fun as Vegas. Heck, it makes Atlantic City look like paradise. A 38 month long gambling investigation by the Queens County District Attorney's Office came to a screeching halt yesterday after 27 people were indicted and arrested for Money Laundering, Enterprise Corruption, Promoting Gambling and Conspiracy. Called "Operation Betting it All," the Queens County District Attorney's probe is also seeking $125 million dollars in asset forfeiture from 20 of those defendants after it was determined that the ring allegedly took in $567 million dollars during a 28 month period leading up to the arrests. This is the second gambling investigation conducted by the Queens County District Attorney's Office in recent months. In August, the Queens County District Attorneys Office took down another ring in an 86 count indictment involving perfectwager.com.
In a press release issued by the Queens District Attorney's Office, District Attorney Brown stated that the 131-count indictment filed in Queens County Supreme Court claimed that the gambling ring promoted illegal sports betting in Queens County and elsewhere. The top two defendants – alleged bookmakers Joseph J. Fafone and Eric Davis Harp – set up and ran numerous websites, including betallsportshere.com, justwagers.com, betmsg.com, betonline.com, and betrr.com, as well as toll-free telephone numbers as a means for gamblers to make bets. "The defendants also allegedly controlled a non-traditional 'wire room' in the form of an off-shore, Internet gambling service used by bettors and runners to actually place their wagers. It is alleged that the ring used the off-shore wire room – located in Panama – to maintain the gambling accounts of numerous runners and bettors through the Internet websites in an effort to evade law enforcement detection through traditional methods."
The alleged "book makers" include Joseph J. Fafone and Eric Davis Harp. The alleged "money collectors" include Joseph P. Fafone, Thomas P. Farley, Gail R. Harris, Edward P. Kenny, Lester J. Klein, Louis P. Lippa Jr., Amanda L. Mercer, Robert J. Rasmussen and David Valerio. The alleged "master agents" include Jerry Dicresce, Edward LaRocco, Robert Wehnert and
David Strickland. The alleged "agents/runners" include Robert Aglialoro, Andrew Berg, John Bowling, Louis Cassero, Joseph Catalanotto, Philip Cesario, David Goldman, Jonathan Piansky, Joseph Pontarelli, Michael Rizzi, Matthew Schmalacker, Robert Stampf and Louis Todisco. The alleged "wire room manager" is Mike Sheridan and the alleged "wire room accountant" is Andrew Lepiz. The alleged corporation operating the scheme is JJF Consulting Services.
Although the defendants listed above are paying the price for their alleged betting ways, there is one bet they certainly can count on. They need experienced criminal defense attorneys to work with them to identify and set forth their defense to these charges immediately. Otherwise, if convicted, the defendants face up to 25 years in state prison on the Enterprise Corruption and Money Laundering charges. If convicted of the charges of Conspiracy or Promoting Gambling, the defendants can serve up to 4 years in state prison.
Crotty Saland, LLP is a New York based criminal defense firm handling white collar crimes. Crotty Saland, LLP is founded by two former Manhattan prosecutors who served under Robert Morgenthau. We can be followed on Twitter at DefenseLawyerNY.
