Mafia Drugs & Gambling Busts Continue

The Waterfront Commission of New York and New Jersey began decades ago and is still making cases against the mafia in 2016.  This new case grew out of a broader investigation into mafia activities along the waterfront.  They write that they will announce more developments at a later time.

This week they took down a multi family crew that distributed marijuana and oxycodone as well as ran an online sportsbook.  

The operation worked like this. John Kelly and Richard Sinde were the ringleaders and coordinated the business.  They would buy marijuana from legal farms in California and have it shipped to New York, where it is still illegal and can command a higher price.  

California is the wild west of weed.  They have laws that say you can grow it for medical and personal use.  Yet you can also grow as a collective.  You can get a marijuana card for as little $25 for a doctor visit.  You can get a card from the state for $100.  It’s only for medical use, but that is a joke. There are so many stores and growers, why bother arresting anyone anymore. The whole business is in a grey area because it is not legal for recreational use, but that is what many people use it for on a daily basis.  So it is a highly unregulated business.  They could just make it legal and tax the actual business, or they could make it illegal.  

Destiny Saetern and Michael Giammarinaro worked on some of the grow operations in California.  They would purchase marijuana from different growers and pack 5-15lbs into boxes to mail or ship UPS or Fedex to New York.  Often they would pack 100-150lbs into boxes and it would be driven to New York in a van.

Stephen Gallo would pick up the packages in New York and then take them to various warehouse or homes to repackage for distribution.

Michael “Mickey Boy” Paradiso, a Gambino capo who did a long stretch for dealing heroin, was taken down in the investigation.  

Lawrence Dentico, the grandson of Genovese capo “Little Larry” Dentico, ran part of the operation from his home in California.

The marijuana part of the operation brought in $350k a month in sales.  Over a 21 month period they sold $15 million in marijuana.  

They also particiapated in an online gambling operation Bklynsportscenter.com, which brought in millions.  This was run just like all the other mafia operated sportsbooks.  A better can bet online or call a wireroom.  He can bet his limit or what he has posted with a local connected bookie. He is paid on Tuesdays or Wednesdays by the local bookie.  

They also had another profitable side business selling oxycodone pills.  They made an $18k profit just on the pills they sold to an undercover agent at the end of the operation, but it is unknown how much they made on oxycodone deals that were not caught.

This was a pretty well set up business.  They took in the cash in New York and New Jersey. They collected it and it was laundered through Regional Food Brokers Inc.

They ended up taking down about two dozen members and associates of all five New York mafia families. After all the work law enforcement did on this case, have people stopped gambling, smoking weed or taking pills? No.

Sports Betting Fuels the Mafia

Sports betting is the lifeblood of the Mafia.  Just last week, the state of NJ arrested a group of Genovese men for gambling.  The Genovese crew brought in 12 million dollars in sports betting revenue and they cashed millions more in checks.   They take down one gambling group and the next day it is business as usual because people love to bet.  This is another example of wasting our tax dollars, stopping people from providing a service the public wants. The families then use this cash to fund their other enterprises.

One Genovese soldier that was well known around Bay Ridge, Brooklyn was Andy Wilson aka Andrew Gargiulo.  Andy was a bookmaker who ran a huge online book but could be found most days at a real estate office in Bay Ridge.  

Andy was close to Fat Gigi Inglese and I had dinner with the two of them when I lived in Brooklyn.

Andy was a nice soft spoken man who dressed well, so I was surprised to see a few years ago that he was arrested for murder.  

The man he killed, Preston Geritano, was his wife’s brother and at one time was a Gambino associate.  Geritano had an ongoing feud with Bartholomew “Bobby” Boriello and Bobby had even taken shots at him on the streets of Brooklyn but had failed to kill him.

Bobby was very close to John Gotti, in fact he was a favorite driver of the boss of the Gambinos. He would later be assigned to Junior Gotti’s crew and eventually the Capo.

This is where we come full circle because Bobby is another victim of the Mafia Cops.  Vic Amuso and Gaspipe Casso wanted to send a message to John Gotti Sr. So they put Louis Eppolito and Stephen Caracappa on his tail.  They supplied information to Gaspipe who gave the contract to Frank Lasterino.  Lasterino ambushed Bobby in front of his Brooklyn home, shooting him two times in the head and five times in his torso.  The Gambino family immediately blamed Geritano who they had wanted dead.  After Bobby took his shot at Geritano, he went to his friends in the Genovese Family.  There was a sit down between the Gambinos and the Genovese family because Geritano was a Gambino associate.  The Genovese went to bat for him and a deal was struck.  The deal was that Geritano would be released to the Genovese Family and that he would drop the feud with Bobby. If Geritano ever took up the feud again, the Genovese were sworn to kill him themselves.   So when Bobby was killed everyone blamed Geritano.  John Gotti sent Junior Gotti to a sitdown with the Genovese Family.  Junior Gotti met with Barney Bellomo, the Genovese street boss, and demanded that they keep their word.

This is where Andy Garguilo comes into the picture.  Andy owned Amici’s restaurant in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn and Geritano came into the restaurant with a stickball bat and hit Andy with it.  The fight spilled out onto the sidewalk where they were rolling around on the sidewalk.  Geritano was stabbed five time with a hunting knife that Andy carried and was killed.  After his death it would come out that he didn't kill Bobby after all.  Andy would get 20 years for the self defense killing, I guess his luck had ran out.  He had forfeited 1.5 million when he was busted for bookmaking but this time he was really going away.  A side note: Amici’s had been owned by Sammy the Bull at one time.

The Mafia and bookmaking will continue to go on no matter how many men are busted and sent away.

The LIFE BLOOD OF ORGANIZED CRIME.

So you would like to start your own Sports Book. That can be hard unless you live in Nevada, Atlantic City or on a Reservation.  Plus, you will need millions to get it started. The good news is you can still start your own Book, and it is being done everyday all over the country.   

The best advice I can give you regarding gambling is never gamble. Its a sucker's play, the house always wins. You may have a good run, but it will grind you down.  The best Bookies never play EVER.

What action will you take?  The old Mafia Bookies took bets on Horses.  Today unless they are huge races, don't waste your time. There are four races: the Kentucky Derby, the Belmont Stakes, the Preakness and the Breeder’s Cup. Those you can take action on, but use track odds and you will also take in some smaller bets but it will be easy and it pays. In New York they had the OTB (Off Track Betting) and somehow they lost money!  It is kind of like the Lottery.  For years Organized Crime made a ton of cash in the Numbers games.  Now that states run them, they cost millions and they do not give as much to schools as they say.

In America, Football is king.  That goes for NFL and College games. Then there is Baseball. I love to take action on Baseball because the game is slow and I enjoy it.  A lot of Bookies close up shop for Baseball season. Hockey is a game not many people bet on in Los Angeles, but hey, why not, and if you live in a cold climate take the action.  Boxing is another sport that has few bettors unless it is a big pay-per-view fight.  Where you live will determine how much boxing action you should take.  The new fast growing sport of MMA is great for bookies.  It is fast paced and there is a clear winner.  You can take action on many aspects not just a knock out, but a Submission a kick etc...Then you also have Golf, Soccer and Nascar.  

What types of Bets?

The Straight Bet- The most basic of bets.  Lets say it is the Los Angeles Lakers vs San Antonio Spurs. Who cares who wins the game.  If I bet a straight bet, I only care who covers. The Lakers score 102 and The Spurs score 98.  Whoever took the Spurs wins! The Lakers did not cover the spread! The Lakers need to score 103 to win by 4.5 points. Some of your bettors may want to buy for 10 dollars on every 100 on top of the vig.  This would have paid off in this case.

• San Antonio -4.5 -110
• LA Lakers +4.5 -110

Moneyline- This means you just bet the team that wins.  It is simple but it does not pay off well.

• San Antonio   -190
• LA Lakers   +160

Over/Under- This is very simple. It is the total scores combined.  

• Over +187.5 -110
• Under

Parlays- This means the player will bet multiple games and teams and all his picks must win.  It pays off big but it is difficult to win.  It will make you money.

Teasers are great because again the player has to win both games he plays and pay juice!

Exotics-These are bets like who wins the coin toss, first round knock out etc.  

There are many more types of bets. Things to remember regardless of what action you decide to take: the gambler will always lose.  The edge is always with the house.  If a player is on a roll and wins 50k in a week, pay him. My rule as a bookie was always pay, no matter what.  When I give him that payout, I will put anything on it I would soon earn it right back, plus double, because he will keep chasing that big win.

I liked to settle up on Tuesdays.  I was taught that way, so I did it.  Most action was taken over the weekends. If someone lost, he will want to recoup some of his lost money, hence Monday Night Football is so popular!

I would only have my guys meet players if we were owed a thousand or more or if we owed it.  Some smaller books have different numbers, those were mine.

Today gambling has changed so much. There is no need to get a bunch of hardlines or a telephone system for a room.  You can get an 800 number for cheap and have it forwarded to a cell phone and then roll over to another.  A lot of guys use Offshore rooms, I did use those but sometimes the people working were hard to understand and were not that good.  

Getting set up Online combined with local Agents is the best for what I needed. I had a site and I had other bookies as Agents they would get their clients to post (deposit)  Then I would credit their account or they would tell me what to credit their clients. That way the could go online and bet whenever they wished.  If they lost or won they would meet their guy on settlement day and collect.  It is the same as a regular local bookie only now they have an option.  Plus with the service they can see the lines for all the games.  You used to have to call and ask what the line was at the time.  The papers print it but it may change.

Book Making is easy and it makes huge money.  You just have to balance your books and you will never lose because you get the vig no matter who wins, that is the fee you take for the bet.  If you are a Bookie it is up to you to look over your players.  If you have a guy who is a waiter and is married to a waitress you cannot allow him to bet more than a hundred or so.  If he gets in over his head its lost.  If a guy owns a couple of used car lots he can bet up to 10k because he can pay.  If someone gets in over their head, cut their debt and get a payment.  It is stupid to threaten players for a debt. Its all "Air" money anyway.  In other words you are not out any product.  If you sell cocaine, you bought it so you are out that money.  If you front it and do not get paid then you are out real hard money.  So if a player does not pay just write it off.  I used to just say oh well now you cannot bet with us or anyone I know.  The business is real small and if you let people know a player is a deadbeat it works!  A Gambler that cannot gamble is lost.  Gambling is a great business and it supplies the cash for so many things.  It also goes hand in hand with my other former favorite way to make money, Shylocking or Loan Sharking.  The funny thing is, even today I see these payday loan places and they charge the same rates! Usary!  More on this another time.