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NEW YORK SPORTS BETTING ACCUSEDS TOP 50 (Update)
Former Assemblyman charged
The total of persons charged in what is probably New York's largest
sportsbetting bust yet (see previous InfoPowa reports) has topped
50 with the prosecution of a former New Jersey Assemblyman this
week.
The arrests took place recently across New York, New Jersey and
Connecticutt and several media reports are now claiming that the
gambling ring took as much as $500 million in wagers since 2005
for a Costa Rican based sports betting website. Over 300 police
personnel were involved in the operation, code-named Thunderbird
which raided more than 70 addresses belonging to everyone from restaurant
and strip club owners to legal secretaries.
The operation was the culmination of months of surveillance and
investigation with teams well briefed and equipped with search warrants
and orders to freeze assets, seize evidence and arrest those suspected
of working within the sports gambling enterprise.
Authorities have estimated that during monitoring between August
2005 and February of this year, over $500 million in bets were placed
and over $35 million was lost to the operation.
Former Assemblyman Raul Garcia (43) a Union City resident and its
former mayor, became the 51st defendant charged when he surrendered
to authorities. Garcia made an initial appearance before Superior
Court Judge Paul Chaiet before the weekend on four charges related
to his alleged role promoting gambling and collecting bets.
At a March 28 press conference in Freehold, Monmouth County Prosecutor
Luis Valentin detailed the workings of the operation, which was
based out of a "wireroom" in Costa Rica. Bettors were
able to place wagers by logging on to Web sites with a user name
and password or by calling toll-free phone numbers.
Although the operation's Internet presence was maintained overseas,
dozens of employees in New Jersey known as managers, agents, controllers
and runners were used to take bets and make collections, sometimes
using the threat of force, Valentin said. No individual bettors
have been charged in the sting, he said.
"Illegal gambling is a quality-of-life crime that may seem
harmless, but is often perpetrated by organised and sometimes violent,
criminal enterprises," State Police Lt. Col. Gayle Cameron
said in a press release. "This racketeering operation had no
government oversight and paid no taxes. It took from society without
returning anything."
In New Jersey, three men alleged to have been the principals in
the operation were charged with financial facilitation of criminal
activity, a first-degree crime that carries a maximum of 20 years
in jail and up to $200 000 in fines. The Prosecutor's Office identified
the three partners as Joseph Pasquale (50) of Brick, Richard Crossan
(48) of Hillsborough, and Ralph Santoro (50) of Bridgewater.
Over $2 million in cash, 32 firearms and 14 vehicles were seized
in the raids, as well as another $300 000 from frozen banks accounts.
All of the searches took place without incident.
Pasquale felt the brunt of the sting harder than any other suspect,
since $1.5 million of the total $2 million in cash seized in the
sting reportedly came from his home. In addition, authorities seized
his 28-foot Thunderbird yacht (the inspiration for the name Operation
Thunderbird) named "Risky Business", and placed a forfeiture
order on his bayfront home. His wife, Carol (56) was also charged
in the investigation.
Most defendants were charged with racketeering and conspiracy to
commit financial facilitation of criminal activity, second-degree
crimes that carry a maximum 10-year sentence and up to a $150 000
fine. Some face charges of promoting gambling, a third-degree crime
that carries five years and up to $35 000 in fines.
Bail was set at $100 000 for each of the defendants except Crossan,
Santoro and Joseph Pasquale, whose bail was set at $1 million.
Valentin said that although his office had struck a "powerful
blow" at the heart of the gambling enterprise, the investigation
was ongoing and there were more arrests to come.
"We're not done by any stretch," he said.
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