Police arrest 22, seize vehicles, cash, drugs in gambling operation bust, authorities said
App.com
Jun. 25, 2013


About a year and a half ago, Monmouth County detectives got referrals from several credible sources about gambling activity, authorities said.

That investigation grew, and over the last week, detectives arrested 22 people and shut down a gambling ring that was bringing in a $1 million a week, authorities said.

Police seized more than $250,000, two pounds of marijuana, and dozens of prescription pills, according to the acting county prosecutor.

“”We’re paying attention,’’ said acting Monmouth County Prosecutor Christopher J. Gramiccioni. “”We have eyes and ears everywhere.’’

He said detectives from his office and the agencies that worked with them did a fantastic job on the investigation.

“”We are out there, we are active, we are listening and watching and we’re going to find you and root it out, if you are committing criminal activity,’’ he said, adding that he hopes the arrests serve as a deterrent.

After an 18-month investigation by county detectives, state authorities and local police, authorities determined the ring operated in Monmouth, Somerset, Essex and Hudson counties and New York, according to the news release.

According to the Prosecutor’s Office:

Anthony Gagliardi, 38, of Monmouth Beach and Richard Crossan, 54, of Hillsborough, were the leaders of the organizeation and they conspired to promote gambling and launder money.

Police seized about $152,390 from Gagliardi.

Members of the ring also sold marijuana and prescription drugs, and used websites to track betting.

Among those arrested was Anthony Benyola, who public records show is the Toms River deputy director of public works. Authorities said they seized a 2009 BMW 750 series and 2011 Lexus LX5 from his home in Toms River.

Township Administrator Paul J. Shives said Benyola has been suspended with pay.

Last week, police searched the home of Anthony Carlesimo, 40, Long Branch, where they found about two pounds of marijuana, some 50 oxycodone pills and more than $23,000 in cash, according to the Prosecutor’s Office.

On Monday, police confiscated more than 300 Vicodin pills and $77,000 from the Cliffside Park home of Thomas Floriani, authorities said.

The investigation was handled by Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office, the state Department of the Treasury, the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office, the Monmouth County Sheriff’s Office, and Asbury Park, Deal, Freehold Township, Howell, Marlboro, Ocean, Red Bank and Wall police.

On Monday, detectives got additional help from Long Branch, Monmouth Beach, Oceanport, Toms River, and West Long Branch police.

A list of the defendants and their charges:

Crossan, Gagliardi, Carlesimo, Benyola, 43, of Toms River, Floriani, 68, of Cliffside Park, Vincent Fragale, Jr., 58, of Shrewsbury Township, Jordan Huthwaite, 27, of Little Silver, Richard Macciola, 38, of Manalapan, Patrick Martin, 48, of West Long Branch, Joseph Mazzarella, 73, of Manhattan, Anthony Pintabona, 75, of Secaucus, Solomon Saka, 39, of Long Branch, Christopher Thomas, 40, of the Port Monmouth section of Middletown, and Patrick Yerves, 32, of Sea Bright, have all been charged with racketeering conspiracy, promoting gambling, possession of gambling records, financial facilitation of criminal activity – commonly known as money laundering, and conspiracy.

Anthony Carlesimo is also facing eight counts of distribution of a controlled dangerous substance, and ten counts each of possession of CDS and possession with intent to distribute.

William D. Baroska, 54, of Ocean Township, Justin Coppola, 43, of West Long Branch, Anthony DeBlase, 53, of Colts Neck, Steven Demussi, 50, of Dunellen, Peggy Peduto, 39, of Long Branch, and Rosemary Sanchez, 53, of Long Branch, were all charged with distribution of a controlled dangerous substance, possession of CDS and conspiracy.

Louis Carlesimo, Jr., 80, of Long Branch, was charged with promoting gambling, possession of gambling records and financial facilitation of criminal activity.

Jean Pierre DaSilva, 31, of Oceanport, was charged with racketeering conspiracy, financial facilitation of criminal activity, and conspiracy.

Louis Carlesimo Jr. and Peduto were both released on their own recognizance.

Bail source hearings are required for all of the other defendants. Crossan and Gagliardi’s bail is cash-only; the others do not have the option to pay 10 percent of their bail amounts.

Crossan and Gagliardi are being held on $2 million bail.

Carlesimo, Floriani, Mazzarella and Pintabona’s bail is $1 million.

Bail for Fragale and Thomas is $750,000.

DaSilva’s bail is $500,000.

Bail for Benyola, Huthwaite, Macciola, Martin, Saka and Yerves is $200,000.

Baroska, Coppola, DeBlase, Demussi and Sanchez’s bail is $100,000.

Prosecutors say they are searching for three more suspects:

Edward Cichoski, 60, of Wall, a white man, who is 6 feet tall, weighs 200 pounds and has blond hair and brown eyes.

Pasquale Dellomo, 41, of Miami, Fla., a white man, who is 5 feet, 7 inches tall, weighs 180 pounds and has brown hair and brown eyes.

Nuno C. Oliveira, 38, of Asbury Park, a white man, who is 5 feet, 8 inches tall, weighs 150 pounds and has black hair and brown eyes.




http://www.app.com/article/20130625/NJNE...uthorities-said

Any names look familiar (Skinny?). Richard Crossan and Thomas Floriani are guys I've seen involved in a few other big Jersey gambling busts over the past decade.

Bigger photos of their mugs...

http://www.moremonmouthmusings.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/operation-shore-bet.pdf

Press release -

http://prosecutor.co.monmouth.nj.us/press/2013/062513.pdf

. thats ninny. Carlasimo is with Little Larry tho

,

Ninnys son just recently got in trouble for the same thing, with the weed and coke. He sounds like a new joey vollaro. Father controls one of the states biggest books and he wants to run around and be a thug.

Thanks, Skinny.

Peggy's kind of cute.... but I think it's an old pic...

so many italo-americans it means there are some of the crime family behind i bet who? the west side or the lucchese?

Skinny said above that the operation was tied to Genovese captain Ludwig "Ninny" Bruschi, though one of the guys in the case is with another Genovese captain (Larry Dentico). I find it believable considering what we've seen involving the Bruschi and Dentico crews' gambling operations in the past, including them working together, as well as the scope extending throughout New Jersey and even down to Philadelphia.

Interesting as I wonder if the luchesse bust in 2008 has resulted in west side picking up alot of their gambling and shy biz . That NJ crew had some big books

Does anyone know what website these guys were using ? I used a few books back then, Catalina sports i think was the big perna book at the time

I haven't seen the Perna's or Tacetta much since that bust, they were regs at godfather bar & restaurant . The old man never used a cell but his kids did and I'm sure they will never use one again . God knows when that trial will end and I hope they get off as a few people i know got caught up in that crap, all they did was manage a few guys action , not too mention them trying to ruin a good restaurant. It's a joke how many lives the Feds try to ruin for a lil gambling that's quasi legal already anyway. Why gambling agents aren't re assigned to combat the Mexican cartels brings the FBI stupidity back to the Hoover communism days.

Either way the west side and luchesse run NJ gambling and make alot of $ doing it , and I can't see this biz ever being stopped . With everything running thru costa rica at a cost of maybe $50-$100 per account, the profit margins got to be real good

Well, for one thing, that's what the DEA is for. Also, as we've recently found out, the FBI agents devoted to chasing the LCN are at Hoover-era levels.

That's a good point and im in agreement with it but they are still using millions to work and prosecute these cases. I dont have much respect for the FBI priorities and resource allocation but the DEA is even more of a joke.

To a large extent , violence isn't used much in the gambling and shy biz anymore so who cares , these agents should be in some areas on BK or Newark that are literally war zones , I'm talking some real out of this world places but what do I know , that's just me , nobody cares about busts in those areas.

Honestly many contractors feel the mob has a real role in the construction biz and are basicly doing what the govt should be doing , making sure the process is orderly . Now stealing benefits from the working man is despicable and guys doing that should go to jail but I have alot of friends in the carpenter union and many of the contractors value what the these guys do and it's probably why they still have alot of control in the NYC construction industry and unless the govt steps in and helps with the process of construction , that racket will never be eradicated

As cliche as it is, gambling really is the "lifeblood" of the mob. The main day-to-day revenue stream for the same organization that commits more serious crimes, including drug dealing, assault, and murder. Whatever one thinks of gambling, in and of itself, when it's organized crime-backed gambling, that's hard to defend or waive away. And before anyone mentions the state, I agree that it's hypocritical. The state should not be in the gambling business at all.

As for the construction business, yes, the contractors are often willing participants in labor racketeering schemes. But it's the rank-and-file, dues paying union members who get screwed over. Not to mention the citizenry in general through mob-influenced inflated costs.

Your 100 percent correct i myself have a union job in nyc, im a welder so its in the construction ballpark, but it pisses me off when i hear about no show jobs and kick backs cause its always the lowly worker footing the bill, and ivy your definatly right about that last part about mob inflation, if the mob causes the project whether it be a house, apts, or commercial buildings to cost more you think the contractor is just going to eat that expense no hes gonna jack the price up. I think it was gravano that gave a great interview about hoe oc affected every1s life everyday without them knowing it between the garbage being picked up, the clothes they buy. Everything.

I work in Manhatten and it still amazes me when seeing all those businesses / store fronts paid the mob . I know Gotti was on tape saying how J Brown turned shit into candy. The amount of $ the mob made from that racket must have been staggering .

The garbage racket still goes on , all those guys that were huge in NYC and got banned in the late 90s just moved shop to NJ /Pa and upstate NY or Long Island

Yeah the racket shrank as well as the margins but the mob is definately still in te garage business , in NJ the Genovese dominate and I'm sure it's still a multi million annual business .

Also Dellocroce I agree about the mob and union issues and ovetall it was a net negative for workers but I do wonder how the weakening of the mob sonewhat coincided with the weakening of the union. Again i think overall the mob probaby hurt the unions but in some ways they might have made them stronger as well. I do wonder if union leaders felt more powerful when negotiating contracts when they had a big powerful and violent OC group backing hem

Ya the union leaders definatly felt more powerful when back in the day the mob and the unions were so intertwinned most people didnt even consider them seperate entities. Along time ago b4 the unions really established themselves as a force the mob really helped give them some muscle behind and gave them away to intimidate upper management. On that same note the mob would use that same muscle to break up union strikes for management so they were playing both sides milk out as much money as they could. Then look at the way the chicago mob financed all their casinos in vegas, they used the teamsters pension fund as their own piggy bank, working mens retirement fund. Was it a mutualy benfecial relationship sure, i know im rambling but i could go on and on about how the mobs relationship with the unions have screwed over the lowly rank and file workers.

It shows you that shy, sports betting and extortion happens 24/7 365....

Some hefty bail numbers were put on these guys, ouch...

DB---- THESHOREBET.COM

Agents for these crew run books, like flowers here, get commissions for finding indy locals for them to squeeze. Shys, make ur own assumptions.

It takes 48 hrs MAX to set up a new per head site. its like 1500 up front, u get ur own site. As soon as every bookie makes bail the first thing they do is call is call all their agents/bettors tell them their new username/pwords. Its a joke. Why try and stop it? Literally. Its a waste of resources.

Yep skinny , shoot I was offered to be an agent and get 15% of the loses . Alot of regular working guys do this on the side , it's no big deal but they sometime get brought down in the bust , freaking shame .

15 sounds like highway robbery for taking all that risk. True DB, many working guys are agents/subagents or at least make money from referrals. Same works for other biz like shy, refer 1 or 2 good customers, get a few hundred or at least a point or two off ur next loans interest. Theres always business for these guys. The sharp guys make the most, but think of all the fucking morons out there loaning money for a living... There is money to be made, even if u aint any good at it to begin with.... eg carlo t.

Yep not worth the hassle, and I'm talking about just the running around, forget the legal aspect although at that time i didn't think small fish got touched , then they busted up godfather's cuz Martin operated out of there and a few agents too, crazy .
I agree CT has a reputable last name and that's about it , surprised he wasn't in the 2008 bust to be honest . Still as you said , alot of $ to be made