http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2015/06...ml#incart_river

6 Lucchese crime family members admit to massive gambling ring
Christopher Baxter | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com By Christopher Baxter | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
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on June 18, 2015 at 11:52 AM
TRENTON — Six members of the New York-based Lucchese crime family, including a ruling boss in New York and a top captain in New Jersey, have pleaded guilty to running a multi-billion-dollar gambling enterprise built upon extortion and violence, state authorities said Thursday.
The men were indicted in 2010 after an investigation uncovered the gambling ring, which, according to records, transacted an estimated $2.2 billion in wagers, primarily on sporting events, during a 15-month period. The operation allegedly received and processed the wagers using password-protected websites and a Costa Rican "wire room."
Authorities said the investigation, led by the state Division of Criminal Justice, also revealed a scheme in which a former New Jersey corrections officer and a high-ranking member of the Nine Trey Gangsters set of the Bloods street gang entered into an alliance with the Lucchese family to smuggle drugs and pre-paid cell phones into East Jersey State Prison.
The alleged gangster, Edwin Spears, who was an inmate, formed the alliance in concert with the former officer, Michael Bruinton, authorities said. Charges are pending against them.
Among those who pleaded guilty Wednesday were Ralph V. Perna, 69, of East Hanover, who oversaw the crime family's operations in New Jersey, as well as his two of his sons: Joseph Perna, 45, of Wyckoff, and John Perna, 38, of West Caldwell, authorities said.
Under the plea deal, prosecutors will recommend eight years in prison for Ralph Perna and 10 years in prison for his two sons. Charges against a third son, Ralph M. Perna, 43, of West Caldwell, are pending, authorities said.
Also pleading guilty were Martin Taccetta, 64, formerly of East Hanover and a former New Jersey underboss, who is already serving a life sentence as a result of a state prosecution in the 1990s; John Mangrella, 72, of Clifton, a senior member of the family; and Matthew Madonna, 80, of Seldon, N.Y., a member of the three-man ruling panel of the family.
Charges are pending against a second alleged ruling member, Joseph DiNapoli, 79, of Scarsdale, N.Y., authorities said. Under the plea deal, prosecutors will recommend five years in prison for Madonna, and eight years for Mangrella and Taccetta.
Christopher Baxter may be reached at cbaxter@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @cbaxter1. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook.
© 2015 NJ.com. All rights reserved.

About time they got sentenced. Wonder who's running Jersey now for the L's, Joey G?

giampa ??

10 years for the Perna kids?

That seems like a HELL of a long time for a PLEA deal on a GAMBLING charge.

Long sentence, but weren't they involved with the smuggling scheme with the bloods?

This is why you have to be crazy to join the Mob today. One of the kids is 38, and will be almost 50 when he leaves. That's insane. Should have went legitimate, ESPECIALLY when his father is such a high profile guy.

dam they got smoked for gambling. even Madonna 5 yrs at 80 years old. there was that capo antico who got 9 yrs but he beat a murder from 2008. if I remember correct the perna kids had more charges like loanshark and violence plus that thing with the bloods in jail and drugs. that kind of wipes out that whole crew like 30 of them got indicted and scarfo jr is goner. philly and the decavs can make some money.

today around boston the feds grabed 50 gangmembers tons of guns and nice cars. massrattis and some others but that wont make handlines national cause there not white.

Ah. Thx P.



The Westside will pick up the pieces, not the Decav's and def not Philly.

The Westside will pick up the pieces, not the Decav's and def not Philly.

Good point. Probably been the plan since 07.

Yh mate.

Don't agree with the people assuming the Westside will pick up the pieces, at least something significant, crumbs maybe but that book belongs to the Luke's. It's not like they've been locked up since the indictment, a lot of Luke's from the BX with strong ties to Jersey (and to the Westside), Mike Taccetta home next year, no way Crea let's that money machine slip.

agreed , the lucchese and genovese families r to close and make a ton of money together , no way they will encroach on each other's territory

Agreed Tommy. I was just countering Pmac that if anyone was going to get the pieces it would be the WS not the DeCavs or Philly.

Yh, completely agree on that. The Jersey faction of the Westside have always been sneaky though, wouldn't surprise me if a few people got ideas about the Luke's book but that would soon get squashed by the Westside leaders in NY, just my opinion.

Feech is the Luke's:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Dwu1fU9SHvg

will they be judged by a State or Federal court?

They got fucked

The word I kept hearing holding this up is the Madonna thing PB discussed and they wouldn't offer Ralph a plea less than 15 years and he got shit on with the other Plea and so did his kids . John and Joe are the ones w a future there and are young and I'm sure that plays into this as they will inherit the leadership later on, they have a lot of associates and that crew is active with earners and several affiliated busts the last few years that could or have put others in jail .

Michael , one of the bigger player gets out very soon and he will have an immediate role as that book and crew is big . The other Tacetta gets out soon too so it's gonna be interesting who ends up top there

Still what a fucking joke , again , I'm getting really pissed at our LE system that is handing down huge sentences on BS fucking gambling charges and wasting thousand of hours of manpower . This whole thing was about last name while we have a real terrorist group aiming to repeat 9/11 that is real and festering with media propaganda in JC and Patyerson yet we have LE dealing with this , fucking seriously ?

I'm besides myself with this plea but from what I heard in the beginning the pernas were fucked and the prosecutor was not offering a reasonable plea

Nice job LE , let ISIS set up shop with their media campaigns in JC and Patterson , while we go after gamblers in a state that allows gambling and is pushing very hard to allow sports gambling and push sports gambling 3 miles from where these kids grew up , WTF is going on in this world

A few major guys get out soon and will have big roles in keeping customers , as the Binos and maybe even the WS are licking their chops to get to pick up the pieces in gambling , shy , restaurants and garbage are big in that area of Bellville , Nutley , lynhurst , Hudson county etc . PB will have a better sense of the WS and Devita will lay off here or go after the rackets

It's gonna be interesting w a Tacetta and Perna getting out soon and millions at stake . If I were a leader in the Bonnanos and Columbos id be sending people over and setting up shop as we speak as they have almost nothing here and this is a small shot to get a little something going

Any legal guys out there on what time these guys do with good behavior . I think it's a federal case meaning they are ducked , out at approx 7 years at a minimum

I doubt someone can just take over a sports betting operation of that magnitude

Off topic but would be curious to know which family has controlling interest in Local 825, I know younger Ralph is or was point man there, and Andy Merola worked there when he was busted

Joey Giampa is a go-between captain. Same type of spot Prisco held when the genius Feds had him listed as Genovese boss of Jersey. Ange was living in Yonkers and operating out of the Bronx that entire time, yet the Feds decided he was running Jersey because he was spotted at the Port of Newark once . But make no mistake, Ange held as much power as anyone in that state. Just not in the way the Feds think.

Same applies here. Joey lives in the Mount Vernon area, operates out of the Bronx, and he's one of Stevie's closest friends. He's a conduit to the Jersey crew (and one of the most influential men in that entire family).

Well, keep taunting them with posts like this.


And like this:


And see if anything changes.

You're a good kid, DB (and I realize that you're like thirty but you're still a kid to me). But the life that you want to see ceased to exist while you were in grade school. IT'S NOT COMING BACK.

And the other thing that you and I always talk about. There are some semi-legit guys out there making REAL money. Why rock the boat and jinx them by constantly fucking talking bout how much power they still yield? .

And please DO NOT take any of this personally. I think you're a bright guy with a great future. But there's no sense in talking about what might happen in ten years. The life is too unpredictable for that.

I'll open my pm later and send you a message.

that's a fuckin relief PB ha ha only been trying to get in touch with u for 2 months , hope u and the family r well pal

DB, the Feds spent a shit load of money on terrorism. It isn't like they aren't using their resources in that area.

That's exactly right. Do I think that arresting geriatric bookmakers should be a top priority? No.

But it's like I was saying last week about the guys who cry, "Why don't they go after the Black drug dealers?"

Well, they do. And if you bothered to read a USDOJ press release once in awhile that didn't mention one of the Five Families, you'd see that it's true. They're going after these Black and Mexican gangs with the same zeal they attacked the Mafia with back in the '80s.

I'm no moralist, and I loathe most cops. Not law and order itself, the world needs that. I'm talking about the average guy who becomes a cop. They're largely unintelligent and have huge problems with authority themselves. So when they get the power, they go nuts.

But that's neither here nor there. They can't selectively prosecute, and the end of the day, when you play you pay.

PB I agree with everything you said as usual

I thought I portrayed the image that no violence is good , the old ways are gone and the ones that go legit will make it , but I guess I failed miserably , sorry chief

But this gambling this pisses me off when we have a real threat of military type stuff , the state is desperately trying to legalize it , even at the meadowlands . You want to do something productive in that field , you tell the guys , you set limits on bet and account size or your fair game , that might actually have a positive result but this will do zero to stop that biz

Anyway guess i vented too much with my temper

But again in terms of violence , legit and old CN , you are spot on as usual , I agree 100%, and looks like I failed miserably trying to portray that message as I feel the same way you do on that point . Maybe cheech is the only guy that knows that's what I really believe

Money man , not taking over whole operation

You just open up a bar or restaurant and try and poach customers over time

Go to a bar on those area and all you'll see is kids trying to put bets in on their phone,

Talking loudly about it , as no one cares , it just is what it is

Back in the day you'd could get killed for that and I know that for a fact as most here do .

Stealing customers while one is away is 101 in that biz and heaven for bid you get a biz

Customer , you get the gambling , garbage , maybe some vending and maybe some protection $ etc.

I was simply stating it could be some peoples only shot to get some crumbs as

Some have firm control of their area and business

And mighty healthy it could be that much more if they got off this gambling BS with no violence . It boggles the mind , go to London , you'll see

Actually a lot of cops used to break the law regularily

Speeding , DUI , running red lights , getting a handy at a massage parlor

As they would tell me " it's all part of the benefits package " lol . I will say tho the code of

Silence has broken down with cops busting cops much much more now

You guys have to remember, there was violence. They were going to grab a kid at a bank in fort lee and take him somewhere and give him a beating. They have Joe Perna on a wire directing it and telling his brother to "bring him his head".
They also have video of those guys at the in a parking lot of the bank plus the cooberating wire tap and also a knife that was on one of the guys in the car. To be honest, they should be counting their lucky stars they didnt get hit with a kidnapping conspiracy.
If they got 10 years state with no stip, they are out in 3 1/2.
I have to look at the charges again, if they plead to anything violent, they do 85%, kind if like a fed bid.