Just when you thought they were out…
Eight alleged mobsters and a crooked Long Island cop were busted Tuesday in a wide-ranging gambling scheme that prosecutors pointed to as proof the Mafia hasn’t gone anywhere.
In an unusual alleged arrangement, the members and associates of the Bonanno and Genovese crime families worked together to run a gambling operation out of coffee bar the Gran Caffe in Lynbrook beginning at least a decade ago, in May 2012.
The two organized-crime families also allegedly ran illegal poker games and gambling machines out of several soccer clubs in Queens, Valley Stream and West Babylon and out of a front called “Sal’s Shoe Repair” in Merrick, the feds said.
“Today’s arrests . . . demonstrate that the Mafia continues to pollute our communities with illegal gambling, extortion and violence while using our financial system in service to their criminal schemes,” said Breon Peace, the US attorney for the Eastern District of New York.
Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly added, “This case is further proof that organized crime is alive and well in our communities. This indictment sends a strong message that we are committed to rooting out corruption and organized crime.”
The mobsters and their associates were hit with federal charges including racketeering, money laundering conspiracy, illegal gambling and obstruction of justice.
Among those charged is Carmelo “Carmine” Polito, the alleged acting captain of the Genovese crime family, who was additionally charged with running an illegal online sports-betting operation through a website called “PGW Lines.”
Prosecutors allege that Polito once threatened to “break” a debtor’s “face” before instructing an underling in 2019 to relay the message: “Tell him I’m going to put him under the f–king bridge.”
Nassau County Police Detective Hector Rosario, 49, meanwhile, is accused of arranging police raids at competing gambling dens in exchange for cash from the Bonannos. He’s charged with obstructing a grand jury investigation and lying to the FBI. He pleaded not guilty in Brooklyn federal court Tuesday and was released on a $500,000 bond.
Peace called the alleged dirty cop’s alleged involvement in the scheme “disturbing” and “shameful.”
The detective “betrayed his oath of office and the honest men and women of the Nassau County Police Department when he allegedly aligned himself with criminals,” Peace said.
Five other men — Joseph “Joe Fish” Macario, 68, Salvatore “Sal the Shoemaker” Rubino, 58, Mark Feuer, 59, Agostino Gabriele, 35, and Anthony “Little Anthony” Pipitone, 49, — also were arrested in New York.
They and Polito also pleaded not guilty Tuesday, and were released on bail, ranging in amounts from $150,000 to $2 million.
Alleged Bonanno soldier Vito Pipitone, 40, was taken into custody in Florida on Tuesday.
A ninth defendant, accused Genovese associate Joseph “Joe Box” Rutigliano, 63, of Commack, LI, remains at large.
Authorities allege Rutigliano and Rubino were bagmen for the Genoveses, collecting proceeds and then kicking them up to higher-ranking members, including Polito and Macario.
Gabriele at times collected for the Bonannos, kicking up the cash to higher-ups in that family, including the Pipitones.
The defendants are due back in court on Sept. 13.
nypost.com
Eight alleged mobsters and a crooked Long Island cop were busted Tuesday in a wide-ranging gambling scheme that prosecutors pointed to as proof the Mafia hasn’t gone anywhere.
In an unusual alleged arrangement, the members and associates of the Bonanno and Genovese crime families worked together to run a gambling operation out of coffee bar the Gran Caffe in Lynbrook beginning at least a decade ago, in May 2012.
The two organized-crime families also allegedly ran illegal poker games and gambling machines out of several soccer clubs in Queens, Valley Stream and West Babylon and out of a front called “Sal’s Shoe Repair” in Merrick, the feds said.
“Today’s arrests . . . demonstrate that the Mafia continues to pollute our communities with illegal gambling, extortion and violence while using our financial system in service to their criminal schemes,” said Breon Peace, the US attorney for the Eastern District of New York.
Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly added, “This case is further proof that organized crime is alive and well in our communities. This indictment sends a strong message that we are committed to rooting out corruption and organized crime.”
The mobsters and their associates were hit with federal charges including racketeering, money laundering conspiracy, illegal gambling and obstruction of justice.
Among those charged is Carmelo “Carmine” Polito, the alleged acting captain of the Genovese crime family, who was additionally charged with running an illegal online sports-betting operation through a website called “PGW Lines.”
Prosecutors allege that Polito once threatened to “break” a debtor’s “face” before instructing an underling in 2019 to relay the message: “Tell him I’m going to put him under the f–king bridge.”
Nassau County Police Detective Hector Rosario, 49, meanwhile, is accused of arranging police raids at competing gambling dens in exchange for cash from the Bonannos. He’s charged with obstructing a grand jury investigation and lying to the FBI. He pleaded not guilty in Brooklyn federal court Tuesday and was released on a $500,000 bond.
Peace called the alleged dirty cop’s alleged involvement in the scheme “disturbing” and “shameful.”
The detective “betrayed his oath of office and the honest men and women of the Nassau County Police Department when he allegedly aligned himself with criminals,” Peace said.
Five other men — Joseph “Joe Fish” Macario, 68, Salvatore “Sal the Shoemaker” Rubino, 58, Mark Feuer, 59, Agostino Gabriele, 35, and Anthony “Little Anthony” Pipitone, 49, — also were arrested in New York.
They and Polito also pleaded not guilty Tuesday, and were released on bail, ranging in amounts from $150,000 to $2 million.
Alleged Bonanno soldier Vito Pipitone, 40, was taken into custody in Florida on Tuesday.
A ninth defendant, accused Genovese associate Joseph “Joe Box” Rutigliano, 63, of Commack, LI, remains at large.
Authorities allege Rutigliano and Rubino were bagmen for the Genoveses, collecting proceeds and then kicking them up to higher-ranking members, including Polito and Macario.
Gabriele at times collected for the Bonannos, kicking up the cash to higher-ups in that family, including the Pipitones.
The defendants are due back in court on Sept. 13.
Feds bust Genovese, Bonanno mobsters and dirty NY cop in wide-ranging gambling scheme
Nine members and associates of the Bonanno and Genovese crime families — including a Nassau County police detective — were busted by the feds Tuesday in a wide-ranging racketeering and …
nypost.com
