Multi-State Sportsbetting Ring Busted by Feds

NY District Attorney Thomas P. Zugibe announced this week that a sportsbetting ring, spreading across several states, was busted by authorities following a 16 month investigation.  Fourteen people were arrested and over $3 million seized, it was reported.

The police say that the gang comprised of men based in West Palm Beach, Florida, but also with operators in states such as New York, took millions of dollars in bets on all types of sports, ranging from baseball to college and professional basketball.

Ten law enforcement agencies, as well as the Organized Crime Unit, took part in a 16 month probe, culminating in the issuing of 60 court authorized search warrants in multiple states.

Speaking of the ring’s operations, Thomas P. Zugibe said: “Such unlawfully earned profits are commonly diverted to more insidious criminal enterprises. In fact, the investigation uncovered evidence that the enterprise had links to organized crime.”

The defendants’ ages ranged from 27 to 64, according to law enforcement authorities, who also said that the sportsbetting ring was considered “large scale”.

Zugibe continued by saying that “Illegal gambling is not a victimless crime. Those who participate in these criminal enterprises often use threats, intimidation and even physical force to collect debts and regularly charge usurious interest rates on outstanding debts.”  It should be noted, however, that no charges of violent crime or extortion were brought against any of the men arrested.

Some of the arrested men in the case were named as: Pasquale “Patsy” Capolongo, West Palm Beach, Florida; Carmine Potenza, Pearl River; Harry Floershiem, Stony Point; Thomas Feeney, Nanuet; Brian Kelly, Pearl River; Richard Simko, Stony Point; Richard Lacava, Pelham Manor; Eric Wachter, Brooklyn; John Tognino, the Bronx; and Robert Wisiak, Queens