The Other Mob Case

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February 08, 2008 2:10 PM

Alongside the landscape-changing federal conspiracy case that charged 62 mobsters with crimes over a 30-year span, New York's Queens County Prosecutor announced the indictment of 26 alleged mob associates and alleged Gambino capo Nicholas Corozzo on charges of operating a highly sophisticated illegal gambling enterprise "that booked nearly $10 million in wagers over a two-year period on professional and college basketball and football, professional baseball and hockey and other sporting events."

According to district attorney Richard Brown, 20 of the defendants were in custody and six were being sought.

At the press conference announcing his indictments alongside the federal case, Brown called illegal gambling "the bread and butter moneymaker" for organized crime. In a written statement, he said the profits from gambling provided "the fuel that allows organized crime to operate."

"Today's arrests close down a highly lucrative gambling operation that benefited the Gambino crime family to the tune of millions of dollars each year and send a loud and clear message that law enforcement will keep up the pressure," Brown said.

In his own remarks, New York City Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly noted that New York City detectives "today arrested top Gambino crime family members and scores of other organized crime suspects for murders that spanned three decades and for gambling that helped fuel the bloodshed." The NYPD was involved in both the federal and the state cases. "Detectives have long memories, as was evident in these investigations," Kelly said. The defendants in the state's 25-count enterprise corruption case are charged with violation of New York State's Organized Crime Control Act as well as promoting gambling, criminal usury, grand larceny and conspiracy. The defendants face up to 25 years in prison, if convicted.

Read about the arrests of top Gambino crime family members.