Eight Lucchese Crime Family Members and Associates Plead Guilty in Massive New Jersey Gambling and Racketeering Case

Eight Lucchese Crime Family Members and Associates Plead Guilty in Massive New Jersey Gambling and Racketeering Case

  June 24, 2026    Dapper_Don

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A major organized crime investigation targeting the Lucchese crime family's New Jersey faction has resulted in another wave of guilty pleas, as eight alleged members and associates of the Mafia organization, along with three companies tied to the operation, admitted their roles in a sprawling racketeering, illegal gambling, and money laundering enterprise.

The latest guilty pleas represent a significant development in one of New Jersey's largest organized crime prosecutions in recent years. Authorities say the criminal enterprise generated millions of dollars through illegal sportsbooks, poker clubs, and money laundering schemes operating throughout northern New Jersey.

Prosecutors Target Lucchese Crime Family Leadership

According to state prosecutors, several high-ranking figures connected to the Lucchese crime family's New Jersey faction have now admitted responsibility for their roles in the criminal enterprise.

Among the most prominent defendants are:

• George "Georgie Neck" Zappola, identified by authorities as a senior Lucchese crime family figure.
• Joseph R. "Big Joe" Perna, an alleged Lucchese captain.
• John G. Perna, identified as a Lucchese family soldier.
• Wayne D. Cross, described as a Lucchese associate.

Prosecutors alleged that the operation utilized a structured hierarchy similar to traditional Mafia enterprises, with leadership overseeing gambling operations, collecting proceeds, and directing associates involved in various aspects of the enterprise.

Illegal Sportsbooks and Poker Clubs Generated Millions

Investigators say the criminal organization operated multiple illegal poker clubs and online sportsbooks throughout New Jersey.

Authorities previously described a sophisticated network in which managers supervised poker games, handled betting activity, collected proceeds, and coordinated operations across numerous locations. The organization allegedly used shell companies and other methods to conceal gambling revenue and move money through the financial system.

The broader investigation led to dozens of arrests and charges against alleged mob members, associates, gambling operators, and individuals accused of helping facilitate the operation. Prosecutors estimate that millions of dollars flowed through the enterprise during the investigation period.

Additional Defendants Enter Guilty Pleas

Among those pleading guilty in the latest round was Michael P. Frasso of Cedar Grove, who prosecutors identified as a sportsbook agent involved in the operation. Authorities said Frasso admitted guilt to racketeering and related offenses.

Frank Imparato of Saddle Brook, described as a poker club manager, also entered a guilty plea connected to his role in the gambling enterprise.

Joseph Gossweiler of Florham Park, identified as a sportsbook sub-agent and poker club manager, pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges related to promoting gambling.

State officials said numerous other defendants have already pleaded guilty since the investigation became public, bringing the total number of admissions connected to the case into the dozens.

Three Companies Also Admit Criminal Conduct

In addition to the individual defendants, three businesses allegedly used to facilitate or conceal criminal activity also entered guilty pleas.

Prosecutors contend the companies played roles in supporting the racketeering and money laundering aspects of the operation. Authorities have not ruled out additional forfeitures or financial penalties as sentencing proceedings continue.

Organized Crime Remains Active in New Jersey

The investigation serves as a reminder that traditional organized crime families remain active despite decades of law enforcement pressure.

Authorities allege the Lucchese crime family's New Jersey faction maintained influence over illegal gambling operations while generating revenue through sports betting, poker games, and related criminal activities. Investigators say the structure closely resembled historic Mafia enterprises that have operated in the region for generations.

The Lucchese family is one of New York's historic Five Families of La Cosa Nostra and has long maintained a presence in New Jersey through members, associates, and affiliated gambling operations.

Sentencing Still Ahead for Many Defendants

While guilty pleas have now been entered by numerous defendants, sentencing hearings remain pending for several individuals.

State prosecutors have recommended prison terms for some of the higher-ranking defendants, while lower-level participants could receive probation or shorter custodial sentences depending on their involvement and cooperation.

The case represents one of the most significant organized crime prosecutions undertaken by New Jersey authorities in recent years and continues to expose the inner workings of an alleged Mafia-linked gambling network that operated across the state.

Key Figures Named in the Investigation

• George "Georgie Neck" Zappola — Alleged Lucchese ruling panel member.
• Joseph R. "Big Joe" Perna — Alleged Lucchese captain.
• John G. Perna — Alleged Lucchese soldier.
• Wayne D. Cross — Alleged Lucchese associate.
• Michael P. Frasso — Sportsbook agent.
• Frank Imparato — Poker club manager.
• Joseph Gossweiler — Sportsbook sub-agent and poker club manager.

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Lucchese family moms lived an extravagant lifestyle

Lucchese family moms lived an extravagant lifestyle

  November 16, 2025    Dapper_Don

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They were doting sports moms who appeared to be living the suburban dream in some of New Jersey’s richest counties — showing off lives of apparent luxury on social media.

But beneath the surface, prosecutors said the wife and ex-wife of purported Lucchese crime family soldier Joseph “Little Joe” Perna were taking cash from a $2 million Mafia-linked illegal online sports betting ring managed by their sons, authorities said.

Perna’s wife, Kim Zito, acted like an open book on Facebook and Instagram, showing off her two small dogs, the homes and apartments she flips, and her frequent nights out on the town with her glammed up, Gucci-bag wielding gal squad.

On X, the 53-year-old follows “Real Housewives of New Jersey” veteran Dina Manzo and President Trump, supports the Second Amendment, and shares both her love for Lifetime movies as well as motivational quotes from the likes of Joel Osteen.




Her socials are also replete with pictures of her now 23-year-old son, Frank, playing football and baseball, or the two hugging inside their granite-countertopped kitchen.

Frank Zito oversaw the sportsbook operation along with Joseph Magno, 25, a former Ramapo High School wrestling standout, and his brother, Anthony Magno, 23, who played football for Bergen Catholic High School, authorities said.

The two are the sons of Joseph Perna’s ex-wife, 52-year-old insurance agent Rosanna Magno.

Kim Zito and Rosanna Magno were both charged with racketeering by federal authorities who claim they played a role in an online sportsbook racket Perna, 55, allegedly financed, according to court papers.

Ex-Rutgers wrestler Michael Cetta, 23 — Rosanna Magno’s nephew — also participated in the operation, prosecutors alleged in court documents, as did cousin Dominic Perna, 23.

Kim Zito and Rosanna both live in large, two-story homes in Fairfield and Oakland, NJ, respectively. Zito’s home’s value is estimated to be approximately, $800,000 and Magno’s has a market value of $700,000.

Unlike Zito, Magno apparently kept a low profile online.

Her sole social media presence can be found on LinkedIn, which lists her as a client services manager at Essex Retirement Services with eight years experience.

“My expertise lies in designing tailored retirement solutions that meet client needs, enhance employee engagement, and ensure regulatory adherence,” her profile proclaims.

Kim Zito allegedly accepted an unspecified amount of illegal gambling cash in November and December of 2023, prosecutors said, while Magno allegedly tried to “conceal what were later determined to be gambling ledgers from police during an investigative stop” in April 2025.

All told, 14 people — including suspects in Florida and Rhode Island — face charges stemming from their involvement with the gambling ring, which operated between 2022 and 2024, authorities said.

The illegal enterprise allegedly included a national network of bookmakers, all operating under Little Joe’s orders, to lure bettors into making illegal bets, which were used to fund the scheme and enrich the defendants. according to court documents.

This isn’t the first time a Lucchese crime family ring was taken down in New Jersey this year. In April, 39 people, including members of the Lucchese crime family, were charged for their alleged roles in a large-scale illegal gambling operation. A sitting Prospect Park councilman was also among the 39.

The Luccheses were also accused of being part of the recent game-fixing and poker-rigging ring that allegedly involved NBA Hall of Famer Chauncey Billups and Miami Heat player Terry Rozier.

Zito and Magno could not be reached for comment, and their attorneys did not return calls from The Post.

https://nypost.com/2025/11/16/us-news/inside-the-extravagant-lives-of-the-nj-bookie-moms-caught-up-in-mafia-linked-betting-ring/

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Lucchese Soldier recruited son and his friends for gambling ring in latest NJ bust

Lucchese Soldier recruited son and his friends for gambling ring in latest NJ bust

  November 13, 2025    Dapper_Don

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A mafia member ran a multimillion sports betting ring by recruiting a network of Gen Z bookmakers through his son’s circle of friends, which included college athletes, New Jersey law enforcement officials said on Thursday.

Authorities said that Joseph M. "Little Joe" Perna of Fairfield, N.J., who they said was part of the Lucchese crime family, financed the operation with his son, Joseph R. Perna, 25, who handled day-to-day business.

In all, law enforcement authorities arrested and charged 14 people, including Mr. Perna’s wife, ex-wife, another son and a stepson. The names of two people charged match those of former Rutgers wrestlers.

The defendants are charged with racketeering, conspiracy, gambling offenses and money laundering.

It was unclear who was representing Joseph M. Perna, 55. Anthony Iacullo, a lawyer for the younger Mr. Perna, who pleaded not guilty in a virtual court appearance Thursday, said that his client would fight the charges.

“Joseph looks forward to confronting the false allegations against him in a court of law,” Mr. Iacullo said in an email.

The charges came after recent indictments by federal prosecutors in Brooklyn brought new scrutiny to the ways gambling has affected sports in the United States. Two of those cases involved insiders who placed bets using nonpublic information about N.B.A. and M.L.B. games, according to federal prosecutors in the Eastern District of New York.

It remains unclear to what degree, if any, college sports are involved in the charges announced on Thursday.

The New Jersey attorney general, Matthew J. Platkin, said the operation included a “number of” college athletes, without saying how many or which schools. Some of the defendants appeared to have loose connections to one another from high school, and were not college athletes.

Gambling is a chief concern of many involved in collegiate athletics, which in recent years has been supercharged by payments to players. Last week, the N.C.A.A. announced that six former men’s basketball players, at Mississippi Valley State, the University of New Orleans and Arizona State, had engaged in “betting-related game manipulation.”

The N.C.A.A. recently approved a rule that would allow student athletes to bet on professional sports, but has delayed its implementation in the face of criticism. Three members of Congress wrote a letter to the N.C.A.A. last month asking the body why it was permitting student athletes to gamble on sports. In their letter, the lawmakers cited the federal indictments in Brooklyn. The rule could now be rescinded.

On Thursday, Mr. Platkin said at a news conference that the betting operation had taken place even though sports gambling is legal in the state.

“Organized crime families seem to have a hard time breaking this old habit, so we’re going to break it for them,” he said.

He said that the operation used offshore websites, enticing people to place bets that represented about $2 million in illegal transactions over two years. It relied, he said, on younger gamblers recruited from among the junior Mr. Perna’s high school and college friends.

The biographies of two of those charged, Michael Cetta, who is a cousin of the younger Mr. Perna, and Nicholas Raimo, match those of former wrestlers for Rutgers University. Mr. Cetta, 23, and Mr. Raimo, 25, are accused of being “agents” of the enterprise.

A lawyer for Mr. Cetta declined to comment, and it was not clear who was representing Mr. Raimo. Kevin Lorincz, a spokesman for Rutgers, said the school “does not comment on law enforcement matters.”

In New Jersey, the charges are particularly resonant. A state law led to a landmark Supreme Court decision in 2018 that paved the way for the widespread legalization of sports betting across America.

Gambling companies have argued that legalization brought betting out of the underworld and allowed for its regulation. But critics have countered that legal wagers often lead to illegal ones, and that a surfeit of opportunities for betting has expanded the possibilities for corruption.

Younger men like those charged Thursday remain particularly at risk for becoming problem gamblers, experts say. Sports bettors tend to be men under 35, according to studies, and the risk of gambling addiction is disproportionately high for young adults.

Four years after the Supreme Court’s decision, the American Gambling Association wrote to the Justice Department saying that illegal gambling was still pervasive throughout America.

“A vast illegal sports betting market continues to exist through offshore websites, which have established well-known brands,” the letter said, adding that they “enjoy many competitive advantages that allow them to offer better odds and promotions and ignore any commitment to responsible gaming.”

Mr. Platkin asked that any college student listening take note of the fact that, while they could gamble on their phones if they were of age, “You should not be gambling in a mob-backed operation. That’s free parental advice.”

Brian J. Neary, a lawyer for Tyler Schnorrbusch, a recent college graduate charged in the scheme, described his client as a “promising young man.” Mr. Schnorrbusch, 23, has pleaded not guilty.

Mr. Neary said he was skeptical of the government’s claims. “College kids,” he said, “can’t compete with FanDuel.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/13/nyregion/new-jersey-sports-gambling-mob.html

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Feds round up Lucchese family's New Jersey crew

Feds round up Lucchese family's New Jersey crew

  April 14, 2025    Dapper_Don

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Buncha wiseguys.

A New Jersey councilman and high-ranking Lucchese crime family members are among dozens nabbed in a massive mobbed-up gambling ring allegedly run out of restaurants across the Garden State, officials announced Friday.

Prospect Park Councilman Anand Shah, 42, allegedly managed illegal poker games and ran an online sportsbook tied to four members of the mob family, New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin alleged at a press conference in Newark on Friday morning.

“I’m keenly aware of the public’s perception of elected officials in New Jersey and the lack of trust that so many have in their public officials and governmental institutions,” Platkin said. “The arrest of a city council member only adds fuel to that fire.”

Shah was one of 37 people arrested and 39 people charged in the sweeping gambling case that was part of a two-year investigation that uncovered illegal operations in Woodland Park, Garfield, and Totowa that netted $3 million in illegal profits, the AG alleged.

At the top of the racket was George Zappola, 65, of Red Bank, who is part of the Lucchese ruling panel, officials claimed.

Below him was Lucchese captain Joseph “Big Joe” Perna, 56, of Belleville, and below him Lucchese soldiers John Perna, 47, of Little Falls, and Wayne Cross, 75, of Spring Lake, authorities alleged.

On Wednesday, cops raided four illegal poker clubs connected to the Lucchese family, two of which were run out of the backrooms of restaurants. They also searched a business in Paterson that was storing gambling machines and the homes of seven people who were allegedly managing the gambling operation.

The raid led officials to discover more poker clubs and dozens of people who hosted poker games, worked at the clubs, or managed bettors on an illegal online sportsbook on sites outside the US, Platkin said.

“This was a highly structured, highly profitable criminal enterprise run by people who thought they were above the law,” said Theresa Hilton, the director of the Division of Criminal Justice.

There were high-level managers who delegated daily operations to managers, decided how the clubs were run, settled disputes, and used threats to collect debts, the AG said.

The lower-level managers collected dues — called “rents” — from the hosts of the poker games, Platkin said.

Hosts — or the “house” — had to recruit their own players, provide food and beverages for the games, and financially stake them. For this, the hosts collected a percentage of the bets for themselves, called a “rake,” the AG claimed.

The hosts either paid the dealers or gamblers were allowed to work off unpaid debts by acting as a dealers, the AG said.

Attendees could bet on gambling machines inside the clubs if they were waiting to get into a poker game, Platkin said.

As for online gambling, “agents” ran the sportsbooks for gambling sites abroad and would manage a group of bettors — or “packages,” the AG said.

And the agents and sub-agents had to send up a portion of their profits to the high-level management, Platkin alleged.

The websites allowed the mobsters to use the internet and technology to carry out the same criminal activities La Cosa Nostra had been doing the old-fashioned way since the 19th century, Platkin said.

Shah is charged with racketeering, conspiracy to promote gambling and money laundering and other charges for which he could face up to 20 years in prison if convicted on the top charge.

He is not accused of using his office to carry out the alleged crimes and is not accused of being a made member of the Mafia — but rather an associate of it, officials alleged.

He’s due on Tuesday in Morris County court, where prosecutors will be arguing for him to be kept in jail while his case plays out.

Shah didn’t immediately return an email request for comment. Lawyers for Zappola, Cross, and John Perna didn’t immediately return requests for comment. It was not immediately known who was representing Joe Perna.

https://nypost.com/2025/04/11/us-news/nj-politician-lucchese-mobsters-arrested-in-gambling-ring/

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The unsolved murder of a New Jersey based Lucchese Soldier

The unsolved murder of a New Jersey based Lucchese Soldier

  May 19, 2023    Dapper_Don

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Lucchese mobster is son of former head of crime family's New Jersey operations

Lucchese mobster is son of former head of crime family's New Jersey operations

  July 01, 2020    Dapper_Don

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The alleged Mafioso accused of assaulting the husband of ex-“Real Housewives of New Jersey” star Dina Manzo is a real “family” guy, authorities say.
Suspect John Perna is the son of reputed former longtime Lucchese crime-family capo Ralph V. Perna, who the feds once accused of running the Mafia faction’s New Jersey operations.
Authorities got a serious glimpse into the inner workings of the alleged crime family-within-a-crime family during the massive takedown of a $2 billion-plus illegal online sports-betting operation in 2010 — and it wasn’t pretty.
Ralph V. and two of his sons — John and Joseph “Little Joe” Perna — were convicted in the scheme, which reflected the Perna criminal dynasty’s reliance on bookmaking, an investigator told the Philadelphia Inquirer at the time.
Wiretaps caught the sons once boasting about “Daddy’s” rise to the top.
Federal tapes also revealed how the sons were initiated as Lucchese soldiers at a ceremony at Joseph’s Toms River home in 2007 — with New York City reputed mob bosses Joseph “Big Joe” DiNapoli and Matthew Madonna in attendance, the paper said.
At one point, Joseph was heard griping on tape, “I made $67,000 in the last 10 days and I don’t have a dollar . . . not a dollar. . . . It goes to the house and this and that and bills.”
Both he and his brother were also caught plotting assaults on those who didn’t pay their debts, the paper said.
In 2016, Ralph V. landed an eight-year prison sentence for his role in the gambling scheme, while his sons got 10 years each, all part of plea deals, NJ.com reported at the time.
John got out of state prison in July 2019 — and was cuffed Tuesday for allegedly assaulting Manzo’s then-boyfriend and now-husband in 2015, the year before he was convicted in the gambling operation.
The feds say John Perna was hired by Manzo’s ex, Tommy Manzo — and in exchange for the assault received a steep discount for his wedding reception at Manzo’s catering hall in Paterson the next month.
Both John Perna and Manzo pleaded not guilty at their arraignment Tuesday.

https://pagesix.com/2020/06/30/alleged-mobster-in-dina-manzo-case-is-real-nj-family-guy-feds/

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Top ranking Lucchese family members are finally sentenced

Top ranking Lucchese family members are finally sentenced

  January 08, 2016    Dapper_Don

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Ralph V. Perna of East Hanover and two of his sons — all top-ranking members of the Lucchese crime family — were given eight- and 10-year state prison sentences Thursday after pleading guilty to running a multi-billion-dollar gambling enterprise.

Ralph V. Perna, 69, received an eight-year state prison sentence. His sons, John Perna, 38, of Belleville, and Joseph Perna, 46, of Wyckoff, were each sentenced to 10 years in state prison. Charges are still pending against a third son, Ralph M. Perna, 43, of West Caldwell.

All three had pleaded guilty in June to first-degree racketeering, admitting that they ran a gambling and money laundering operation as part of an organized criminal enterprise. They were among 34 people originally indicted in the case in 2010.

The three Pernas were among six major defendants who pleaded guilty in the case in June. The other three — Martin Taccetta, 64, formerly of East Hanover, John Mangrella, 72, of Clifton and Matthew Madonna, 80, of Seldon, N.Y. — had all been sentenced previously, according to Peter Aseltine, a spokesman for the Attorney General's Office.

Under the plea agreements entered in Superior Court in Morristown before Judge Salem Ahto, all three Pernas were given so-called "flat" sentences, which allow for early release on parole. However, all had lengthy prior criminal records, which will delay their parole possibilities, according to court officials.

The enterprise processed billions of dollars in wagers, mostly on sports, authorities said.

Ralph V. Perna's attorney, Carl Herman, estimated they will likely have to serve roughly half their terms.

The 34 defendants were indicted in 2010 after an investigation uncovered the gambling ring, which transacted an estimated $2.2 billion in wagers, primarily on sporting events, over a 15-months period, authorities said. The operation allegedly received and processed the wagers using password-protected websites and a "wire room" in Costa Rica.

The Pernas managed day-to-day gambling operations under the father's supervision and Ralph V. Perna was a former top "capo" in New Jersey for the New York-based Lucchese crime family, according to the state Attorney General's Office.

Also in court on Thursday, charges were dismissed against two wives who had been accused in the case — Rosanna Perna, 41, who is Joseph's wife, and Vita Cetta, 46, whose husband, Michael, 46, of Wyckoff, died in 2013 while his case was still pending.

Three other defendants — Alfonso "Tic" Cataldo, Gianni Iacovo and Sam Juliano — have also died since the long-running case was initiated, according to the Attorney General's Office.

Charges are still pending against 20 defendants in the case, said Assistant Attorney General Christopher Romanyshyn, who is prosecuting.

Cataldo had been the main cause of the delay. The case was put on hold while the state Attorney General successfully pursued litigation to deny him a public defender

During Thursday's court session, Judge Ahto acknowledged that the eight-year sentence for Ralph V. Perna, a New Jersey "capo," was a "low" number, but added, "I recognize the serious nature of the spouse's condition."

The defense attorneys accepted the sentences, which had been agreed on as part of the plea arrangements, but some objected to the wording of the pre-sentence reports, which they said would affect how the defendants are treated in prison.

All wanted any reference to violence removed, pointing out the defendants hadn't admitted any violent acts when they entered their guilty pleas.

Joseph Perna's attorney, Anthony Iacullo, vehemently denounced a mention in the pre-sentence report of the fact that his client had been accused of helping a member of the Bloods street gang smuggle drugs and pre-paid cell phones into East Jersey State Prison.

"There was no reference" in the guilty plea to cell phones or drugs, Iacullo pointed out. "That is extraneous, superfluous and unsupported," Iacullo charged.

Romanyshyn, the prosecutor, replied, "the evidence in this case" indicates those were the facts, and if the case had gone to trial, "that would have been presented to the jury."

However, Romanyshyh acknowledged the cell phones and drugs were not part of the guilty plea, so he had no objection to removing it from the report, and Judge Ahto ordered it removed.

The year-long probe targeted a $2.2B underground gambling operation that linked the Lucchese crime family, Bloods street gang

Also, Iacullo wanted a section removed that referred to wiretapped conversations involving "the collection of debts and the use of violence."

Ahto said he would take out the reference to violence but would leave in the fact that "they were planning to collect" on debts.

Joseph Perna was the only defendant who chose to address the court.

"I apologize to the court for wasting a lot of time," he said. "I apologize to my family for putting them through this ordeal."

http://www.nj.com/morris/index.ssf/2016/01/3_lucchese_crime_family_members_sentenced_in_massi.html

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High level Lucchese mobster is sentenced to five years for role in gambling ring

High level Lucchese mobster is sentenced to five years for role in gambling ring

  October 01, 2015    Dapper_Don

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Acting Attorney General John J. Hoffman announced that Matthew Madonna, a ruling boss of the New York-based Lucchese crime family, was sentenced to state prison as a result of Operation Heat, an investigation by the New Jersey Division of Criminal Justice that uncovered an international criminal gambling enterprise that transacted billions of dollars in wagers, primarily on sporting events, and relied on extortion and violence to collect debts.

Madonna, 79, of Seldon, N.Y., a member of the three-man ruling panel of the Lucchese crime family, was sentenced yesterday, Sept. 30, to five years in state prison by Superior Court Judge Salem Vincent Ahto in Morris County.  Madonna pleaded guilty on June 17 to a charge of second-degree racketeering.  Madonna controlled the family’s gambling operations and other criminal activities from New York. A second member of the crime family’s ruling panel, Joseph DiNapoli, 80, of Scarsdale, N.Y., allegedly controlled those operations and activities with him.  Charges are pending against DiNapoli.

The former New Jersey underboss for the Lucchese crime family, Martin Taccetta, 64, of East Hanover, N.J., also was sentenced yesterday.  Judge Ahto sentenced Taccetta to eight years in state prison.  Taccetta already was serving a sentence of life in state prison plus 10 years as a result of a Division of Criminal Justice prosecution in the 1990s.  He pleaded guilty to first-degree racketeering on June 17.

Four other Lucchese crime family members, including the top New Jersey capo, Ralph V. Perna, pleaded guilty to first-degree racketeering on June 17 and are awaiting sentencing. Perna, 69, of East Hanover, N.J., faces a recommended sentence of eight years in prison; his sons Joseph M. Perna, 45, of Wyckoff, N.J. and John G. Perna, 38, of West Calwell, N.J., face recommended sentences of 10 years in prison; and John Mangrella, 72, of Clifton, N.J., faces a recommended sentence of eight years in prison.

Assistant Attorney General Christopher Romanyshyn, Deputy Director of the Division of Criminal Justice, is prosecuting the defendants for the Gangs & Organized Crime Bureau.

“Through our far-reaching investigation into this multi-billion dollar criminal gambling enterprise, we built a racketeering case that extended to the top bosses of the Lucchese crime family in New York,” said Acting Attorney General Hoffman. “By putting Madonna in prison, we send a powerful message that we are committed to combating organized crime in the most effective way possible, which is to target the leadership ranks and disrupt the command structure of these criminal organizations.”

“Sending this New York-based mob boss to New Jersey State Prison represents another major milestone for the New Jersey Division of Criminal Justice in its decades-long tradition of fighting organized crime,” said Director Elie Honig of the Division of Criminal Justice.  “As long as these crime families maintain their corrosive presence in New Jersey, we’ll investigate them and put them behind bars.”

Judge Ahto has scheduled sentencing for Ralph Perna, Joseph Perna and John Perna for Jan. 7, 2016.  Mangrella had been scheduled for sentencing yesterday, but he is being rescheduled.

The defendants were initially charged and arrested in Operation Heat in December 2007.  The investigation uncovered an international criminal enterprise that, according to records seized, transacted an estimated $2.2 billion in wagers, primarily on sporting events, during a 15-month period.  The gambling operation received and processed the wagers using password-protected websites and a Costa Rican “wire room” where bets were recorded and results tallied.

The gambling operation involved agents or “package holders,” each of whom brought in bets from a group of gamblers. The enterprise and all of its packages involved hundreds or even thousands of gamblers. Records showed that one high-rolling gambler wagered more than $2 million in a two-month period.  The illicit proceeds were divided by the package holders and the members they worked under, such as the Pernas and Tacetta, who in turn made “tribute” payments to the New York bosses, including Madonna and DiNapoli.  Collection operations at times took the form of threats or acts of violence.

The investigation also uncovered 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 crime family to smuggle drugs and pre-paid cell phones into East Jersey State Prison.

The prison smuggling scheme allegedly involved inmate Edwin B. Spears and a former corrections officer at East Jersey State Prison in Woodbridge, Michael T. Bruinton.  Spears was at East Jersey State Prison at the time of the alleged conduct.  It is charged that Edwin Spears, an admitted “five-star general” in the Nine Trey Gangsters set of the Bloods, formed an alliance with Joseph Perna and another defendant from the Lucchese crime family, now deceased, to smuggle drugs and cell phones into East Jersey State Prison through Bruinton.  The alliance allegedly extended beyond smuggling.  In one instance, Joseph Perna sought assistance from Spears to stop an individual associated with the Bloods from extorting money from a man with ties to the Lucchese family.  The charges are pending against Spears and Bruinton.  Several other defendants were charged in that scheme.

Assistant Attorney General Romanyshyn and former Assistant Attorney General Mark Eliades presented the case to the state grand jury.  Deputy Chief of Detectives Christopher Donohue and Detective Patrick Sole of the Gangs & Organized Crime Bureau were lead detectives for the case, under the supervision of Chief of Detectives Paul Morris.  Sgt. Noelle Holl was the principal detective for the financial portion of the case. Acting Attorney General Hoffman also credited former Acting Supervising State Investigator James Sweeney and the following Detectives: Sgt. Audrey Young, Ho Chul Shin, Lt. Brian Bruton, Mario Estrada, Richard DaSilva, and John Delesio.  He credited the New Jersey State Police Intelligence Section for their assistance.  He further thanked Auditor Thaedra Chebra of the Division of Taxation’s Office of Criminal Investigation, Detective Andrew Varga of the New York City Police Department and members of the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office who provided assistance.

http://bergendispatch.com/articles/37316828/Two-From-Lucchese-Crime-Family-Sentenced-For-Criminal-Gambling-Enterprise.aspx

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Scarfo Jr's lawyers hint at Russian mafia involvement in scam

Scarfo Jr's lawyers hint at Russian mafia involvement in scam

  July 06, 2015    Dapper_Don

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There might have been some mobsters lurking behind the FirstPlus Financial fraud case, a lawyer for lead defendant Nicodemo S. Scarfo says in legal papers filed recently, but their drink of choice would have been vodka not vino.

In an apparent attempt to distant himself from co-defendant Salvatore Pelullo -- and also get a shot at a new trial -- Scarfo's lawyer Michael Riley has argued that there was an "alternative theory" to the government's organized crime pitch in the high profile case and he was denied the opportunity to present it.

Pelullo, an Elkins Park businessman with two prior fraud convictions and a Ukrainian-born wife, might have been kicking back funds from the multi-million dollar scam to Russian gangsters rather than Scarfo's Lucchese crime family, Riley wrote in a motion filed last month.

"In retrospect the connections to the Russian mob are far more substantial than those with Uncle Vic," Riley argued. The "Uncle Vic" reference is to Vittorio Amuso, the jailed boss of the Lucchese crime family who was named, along with Scarfo's father Nicodemo D. "Little Nicky" Scarfo, as unindicted co-conspirators in the looting of FirstPlus, a Texas-based mortgage company.

Riley has argued that the government's failure to disclose a parallel investigation into a group of Ukrainian-born businessmen with possible ties to both Pelullo and the Russian mob denied Scarfo a chance to offer a proper defense in the high profile trial.

The government has labeled Riley's arguments and similar claims by lawyers for Pelullo in a series of post-trial, pre-sentencing motions a fishing expedition that has nothing to do with the case. Prosecutors are scheduled to reply to the defense's latest assertions by Friday. Judge Robert Kugler has scheduled a hearing for July 17.

Riley's motion cited an FBI memo in which an unnamed informant alleged that Pelullo "loans money" to Russian mobsters. The defense attorney said that information about possible links to Russian mobsters would have provided him with an "alternative theory" to the government's position that Scarfo and Pelullo were tied to the Lucchese crime family and used those connections to intimidate officials at FirstPlus and facilitate a behind-the-scenes takeover in 2007.

Authorities allege that Scarfo, 49, and Pelullo, 47, wrested control of the beleaguered mortgage company and siphoned more than $12 million out of the company through bogus business deals and phony consulting contracts.

"The government's failure to disclose the existence of another `mob' or criminal organization with which a financial obligation could have existed, barred (Scarfo's defense) from offering an alternative explanation for unaccounted monies at trial," Riley wrote.

While taking a somewhat different approach, lawyers for Pelullo have argued that the government had an obligation to turn over details of the investigation into brothers Omelyan and Stepan Botsvynyuk because the defense might have used that information to impeach prosecution witnesses and undermine the government's theory behind the FirstPlus takeover.

Two cleaning companies controlled by the Botsvynyuk brothers -- A-Plus Cleaning and U.S. Cleaning -- at one time shared offices with cleaning companies owned by Pelullo. The Botsvynyuk companies did contract work for major department stores, including Wal-Mart, Target and Safeway.

The Botsvynyuk brothers were the target of a federal investigation that began in 2000 and ended with their convictions in 2011 on racketeering and extortion charges. Omelyan Botsvynyuk, 52, was sentenced to life plus 20 years.

Testimony at his four-week trial indicated he beat, threatened and sexually assault workers while forcing then to live in housing he provided and working six- and seven-day weeks with little or no pay. The government contended the workers were told they had to work off debts of from $10,000 to $50,000, the cost of bringing them to the United States.

Riley, Scarfo's lawyer, argued that Pelullo was at least a "subject" if not a target of the Botsvynyuk investigation and that the government had an obligation to disclose that. Riley and Pelullo's lawyer, Troy Archie, have asked for access to debriefing memos and surveillance reports tied to that case. Both lawyers have argued that information in those documents might have to used to mount a defense in the FirstPlus case and that by being denied that information the defendants were denied a fair trial.

John and William Maxwell, two brothers convicted along with Scarfo and Pelullo, have joined in the post-trial motions. John Maxwell was the CEO of FirstPlus. His brother was an attorney hired by the company. Both were convicted of helping Scarfo and Pelullo loot the company. Sentencings in the case have been put off until the end of July.

Scarfo has another battle looming in New Jersey where he remains under indictment in a organized crime-linked bookmaking case. Dubbed "Operation Heat," the investigation focused on a multi-million dollar sports betting and loansharking operation controlled by the New Jersey branch of the Lucchese crime family.

Scarfo was one of more than 30 mobsters and mob associates indicted in the case back in 2010. Six major defendants, including one-time boss Matthew Madonna and former Scarfo allies Ralph V. Perna and his sons Joseph and John Perna, pleaded guilty last month and are to be sentenced in August or September.

To date, 12 defendants in that case have pleaded guilty. Four others have died since being indicted and 18 others, including Scarfo, as still scheduled for trial.

Scarfo is representing himself in that Morris County-based case. But with a potential sentence of 30 years to life for his FirstPlus conviction, Operation Heat is not a priority for the one-time mob scion.

"He's got more to worry about," said a source familiar with the Morris County investigation.

http://www.bigtrial.net/2015/07/scarfos-lawyer-points-to-russian-mob-in.html#6j3qxuRPKV5frw4s.99

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Sentences announced for six top Lucchese family mobsters

Sentences announced for six top Lucchese family mobsters

  June 19, 2015    Dapper_Don

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Clockwise from top-left: Ralph V. Perna, Joseph Perna, John G. Perna,
Matthew Madonna, Martin Tacetta, John Mangrella.

Acting Attorney General John J. Hoffman announced that six members of the New York-based Lucchese crime family – including a ruling boss in New York and a top New Jersey capo – pleaded guilty yesterday to racketeering charges and face lengthy prison sentences.
The men were charged in Operation Heat, an investigation by the New Jersey Division of Criminal Justice that uncovered an international criminal gambling enterprise that transacted billions of dollars in wagers, primarily on sporting events, and relied on extortion and violence to collect debts. The investigation also uncovered 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 crime family to smuggle drugs and pre-paid cell phones into East Jersey State Prison.
“Our investigation revealed that traditional organized crime remains a corrosive presence in the U.S. and continues to reap huge profits through criminal enterprises such as the international gambling operation we uncovered, which handled $2.2 billion in sports wagers in just 15 months,” said Acting Attorney General Hoffman. “These mob bosses bet that they could get away with their old tricks in New Jersey, and I’m pleased to say that they lost their bets.”
“With Operation Heat, the New Jersey Division of Criminal Justice has upheld its decades-long tradition of fighting organized crime,” said Director Elie Honig of the Division of Criminal Justice. “Whether they are members of traditional organized crime or street gangs – and this case involved both – we have put criminals on notice that illegal narcotics, extortion, violence and gambling will not be tolerated in New Jersey.”
Assistant Attorney General Christopher Romanyshyn, Deputy Director of the Division of Criminal Justice, took the guilty pleas for the Division’s Gangs & Organized Crime Bureau. The following six defendants, all of whom were charged in a May, 14, 2010 state grand jury indictment, pleaded guilty yesterday before Superior Court Judge Salem Vincent Ahto in Morris County:

1. Ralph V. Perna, 69, of East Hanover, N.J., the top capo of the New Jersey faction of the Lucchese family, pleaded guilty to first-degree racketeering. Under the plea agreement, the state will recommend that he be sentenced to eight years in state prison. Perna oversaw the Lucchese crime family’s operations in New Jersey.

2. Perna’s oldest son, Joseph M. Perna, 45, of Wyckoff, N.J., pleaded guilty to first-degree racketeering. The state will recommend that he be sentenced to 10 years in prison. He is one of three sons of Ralph V. Perna charged in the investigation. The sons, led by Joseph, managed day-to-day gambling operations for the criminal enterprise, under their father’s oversight.

3. Another son, John G. Perna, 38, of West Caldwell, N.J. also pleaded guilty to first-degree racketeering and faces a recommended sentence of 10 years in state prison. Charges are pending against the third son, Ralph M. Perna, 43, of West Caldwell.

4. Matthew Madonna, 80, of Seldon, N.Y., a member of the three-man ruling panel of the Lucchese crime family, pleaded guilty to second-degree racketeering. The state will recommend that he be sentenced to five years in state prison. Charges are pending against a second ruling member, Joseph DiNapoli, 79, of Scarsdale, N.Y. Madonna, allegedly with DiNapoli, controlled the family’s gambling operations and other criminal activities from New York.

5. Martin Taccetta, 64, formerly of East Hanover, N.J., the former New Jersey underboss for the Lucchese crime family, pleaded guilty to first-degree racketeering and faces a recommended sentence of eight years in state prison. Taccetta already is serving a sentence of life in state prison plus 10 years as a result of a Division of Criminal Justice prosecution in the 1990s.

6. John Mangrella, 72, of Clifton, N.J., a senior member of the crime family, pleaded guilty to first-degree racketeering and faces a recommended sentence of eight years in prison.

Judge Ahto scheduled sentencing for Tacetta for Aug. 20; Madonna, Mangrella and Joseph Perna for Sept. 30; and Ralph Perna and John Perna for Jan. 7, 2016.
The defendants were initially charged and arrested in Operation Heat in December 2007. The investigation uncovered an international criminal enterprise that, according to records seized, transacted an estimated $2.2 billion in wagers, primarily on sporting events, during a 15-month period. The gambling operation received and processed the wagers using password-protected websites and a Costa Rican “wire room” where bets were recorded and results tallied.
The gambling operation involved agents or “package holders,” each of whom brought in bets from a group of gamblers. The enterprise and all of its packages involved hundreds or even thousands of gamblers. Records showed that one high-rolling gambler wagered more than $2 million in a two-month period. The illicit proceeds were divided by the package holders and the members they worked under, such as the Pernas and Tacetta, who in turn made “tribute” payments to the New York bosses, including Madonna and DiNapoli. Collection operations at times took the form of threats or acts of violence.
The prison smuggling scheme allegedly involved inmate Edwin B. Spears and a former corrections officer at East Jersey State Prison in Woodbridge, Michael T. Bruinton. Spears was at East Jersey State Prison at the time of the alleged conduct. It is charged that Edwin Spears, an admitted “five-star general” in the Nine Trey Gangsters set of the Bloods, formed an alliance with Joseph Perna and another defendant from the Lucchese crime family, now deceased, to smuggle drugs and cell phones into East Jersey State Prison through Bruinton. The alliance allegedly extended beyond smuggling. In one instance, Joseph Perna sought assistance from Spears to stop an individual associated with the Bloods from extorting money from a man with ties to the Lucchese family. The charges are pending against Spears and Bruinton. Several other defendants were charged in that scheme.
Assistant Attorney General Romanyshyn and former Assistant Attorney General Mark Eliades presented the case to the state grand jury. Deputy Chief of Detectives Christopher Donohue and Detective Patrick Sole of the Gangs & Organized Crime Bureau were lead detectives for the case, under the supervision of Chief of Detectives Paul Morris. Sgt. Noelle Holl was the principal detective for the financial portion of the case. Acting Attorney General Hoffman also credited former Acting Supervising State Investigator James Sweeney and the following Detectives: Sgt. Audrey Young, Ho Chul Shin, Lt. Brian Bruton, Mario Estrada, Richard DaSilva, and John Delesio. He credited the New Jersey State Police Intelligence Section for their assistance. He further thanked Auditor Thaedra Chebra of the Division of Taxation’s Office of Criminal Investigation, Detective Andrew Varga of the New York City Police Department and members of the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office who provided assistance.

http://nj.gov/oag/newsreleases15/pr20150618a.html

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Troubled personal and gangland history of Lucchese mobster revealed during trial

Troubled personal and gangland history of Lucchese mobster revealed during trial

  February 25, 2014    Dapper_Don

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He was nearly killed in one of the  most infamous gangland shootings in the violent history of the Philadelphia mob.

His older brother has changed his name to get out from under the family stigma.

A younger brother tried to commit suicide for the same reason and has been comatose for 25 years.

That's part of the depressing personal history of Nicodemo S. Scarfo, a story that has made its way into testimony in the now seven-week old racketeering and fraud trial playing out in federal district court in Camden.

Scarfo, 47, is the lead defendant in the case. He and Salvatore Pelullo, a 45-year-old Mafia wannabe, are charged with orchestrating the secret takeover of a Texas mortgage company in 2007 and then ripping it off to the tune of $12 million.

But folded into the testimony about corporate structure, SEC filings and lawyerly due diligence, the anonymously chosen jury panel of 18 (six are alternates) has also been getting a primer of the turbulent history of the local mob.

Scarfo and his jailed father, Nicodemo D. "Little Nicky" Scarfo, are at the center of that story.

"You're aware, aren't you, that he was shot in 1989 and almost killed?" Scarfo's lawyer, Michael Riley, asked his client's probation officer, Sharon O'Brien as she testified earlier today.

O'Brien, who is due back on the stand when the trial resumes tomorrow, said she was. One can assume the jury is also aware since this was not the first time Riley has mentioned the Halloween night shooting at Dante & Luigi's Restaurant that left the younger Scarfo with seven bullet holes in his body.

Both the defense and the prosecution have used elements of the bloody Scarfo family saga to underscore their positions in the trial.

Riley has masterfully laid out the defense claim that prosecutors have used the spectre of organized crime to sensationalize and prop up fraud allegations that have little, if any, foundation. He has also told the jury that his client has been targeted by law enforcement -- often unjustly -- for most of his adult life because he shares the same name with his infamous father.

Little Nicky Scarfo is considered one of the most violent mob bosses in the history of the American Mafia and has been described by some prosecutors as a "psychopath" with a disturbing penchant for violence.

Prosecutors have painted Scarfo and Pelullo as corporate gangsters who used strong arm Mafia tactics, including threats of violence, to take over FirstPlus Financial and then, in a classic mob play, bust the joint out.

Ironically, it is Pelullo, on secretly recorded conversations picked up on FBI wiretaps, who has made most of those threats and who has talked like a B-movie bad guy. Scarfo's story, however, is the wheel around which the mob allegations spin.

It could be months before the jury is asked to sort it all out. Scarfo and Pelullo, both convicted felons, could face prison sentences of 30 years or more if convicted. Five other defendants, including four attorneys and the former CEO of FirstPlus are also on trial.

Scarfo's father and Lucchese crime family boss Vittorio "Vic" Amuso have been identified as unindicted co-conspirators in the case. Testimony and evidence has included details of visits Scarfo and Pelullo made to a federal prison in Atlanta where Scarfo was serving a 55-year term

on racketeering and murder charges.

The elder Scarfo, 84, has a parole date of 2033, meaning he will probably die in jail. From testimony and evidence offered by the prosecution, he has been portrayed as a sounding board and cheerleader for what authorities say was the plan to takeover and loot FirstPlus.

He also warned his son about problems in the New Jersey underworld, describing several key members of the Lucchese family with whom the young Scarfo was associated as "rats" who should be avoided.

A letter Scarfo wrote to his son from prison in January 2008 -- about the same time the FirstPlus scam was unfolding according to authorities -- was introduced as evidence earlier in the trial. Attached to the letter, according to testimony, were court documents related to a wiretap affidavit and transcript from a 1999 federal investigation of organized crime figures.

The targets of that probe apparently included brothers Michael and Martin Taccetta and several members of the Perna family, fathers and sons, all of whom were members or associates of the Lucchese organization.

"My dear Son," Scarfo wrote, "hold on to these 39 pages for the future. Review them. Tacettas and Pernas are rats and the younger ones are glorified rats by proxy. And who knows how far they will go in the future. As far as I'm concerned, they're all lying rats.

"Love, Dad xxoo"

"Hardly a Hallmark card, is it," Riley quipped when cross-examining a federal prison official about the letter.

Donald Manno, a former Scarfo lawyer who is a co-defendant in the case, described the note as an attempt "by an old man" to "protect his son as best he could." Manno, who is representing himself, asked the same prison official the question that Riley posed to the probation officer today.

"You're aware that the son was shot seven times, almost killed, by enemies of the father...you're aware of that?" Manno asked.

There has been no detailed explanation of what led Scarfo to make the allegation about the Taccettas and Pernas. The Taccetta brothers have been jailed on federal racketeering charges and on murder charges tied to a state case in Toms River involving the bludgeoning death of a video poker machine operator with golf clubs.

Martin Taccetta, released from prison a few years ago, is under indictment in Morris County in a pending state racketeering gambling case that includes 30 other mob members and associates, including the younger Scarfo and four members of the Perna family.

Michael Taccetta is due to be released from federal custody shortly.

One underworld source, while not discounting the possibility that some of those individuals mentioned by Scarfo may be cooperating, added that Scarfo, in jail since 1987, "is delusional. He thinks everybody's a rat."

The letter and bits and pieces of the overlapping mob connections are part of the intriguing back story that the jury in the FirstPlus case has been hearing. The jury also was shown a letter from the elder Scarfo to Pelullo and one from Amuso to the younger Scarfo congratulating him on being remarried.

Scarfo's marital problems were also part of the testimony today. He divorced his first wife in February 2007 and married his current wife on Valentine's Day of that year. His wife, Lisa Murray-Scarfo, was indicted in the FirstPlus case and has pleaded guilty to a mortgage fraud charge linked to the couple's purchase of a $715,000 home in Egg Harbor Township.

The down payment for that home came from money siphoned out of FirstPlus, authorities allege, and the mortgage itself was arranged through companies the government has linked to the scam.

O'Brien, the probation officer, was asked about two of those companies today, Global Net and Learned Associates and Scarfo's ties to them. O'Brien said she never determined exactly what the relationship was, but said her office was aware of the ongoing FBI investigation into FirstPlus and did not want to jeopardize it by raising questions with Scarfo.

Evidence introduced at the trial indicates that at the time Scarfo completed his three years of probation under O'Brien's supervision in March 2007 he was being paid $33,000-a-month as a consultant for Seven Hills Management, a Pelullo-backed company that authorities allege was also part of the scam. Scarfo also told O'Brien that he was about to begin working a second job for William Maxwell, a Texas lawyer whose brother John was the CEO of FirstPlus.

William Maxwell was special counsel to FirstPlus at the time. The Maxwell brothers are co-defendants in the ongoing trial. A letter from Maxwell indicated that he was going to pay Scarfo $150,000-a-year to develop business contacts and identify companies that could be purchased in New Jersey. The job also included a car, cell phone and business expenses.

"An opportunity like this is one I can build a tremendous career on," Scarfo said in a note to O'Brien about the job offer. The government alleges the salary from Maxwell and the consulting fee from Seven Hills were part of the scam and ways to funnel money from FirstPlus to Scarfo.

O'Brien said that Scarfo never fully disclosed his finances to the probation department, as he was required to do under the terms of his supervised release. She also said he lied to her by denying he had had contact with convicted felons and organized crime figures, two other prohibitions.

Personal details of Scarfo's life were also part of her testimony. She told the jury that before moving, Scarfo was living in Ventnor with his first wife, his daughter, his mother and his (comatose) brother.

Later, after divorcing and remarrying, she said Scarfo made a point of asking her to come and see his new baby. His second wife gave birth of a baby boy a few months after they were married on Valentine's Day 2007, she said.

O'Brien said Scarfo proudly told her he had named the enfant "Nicodemo Scarfo 3d."

http://www.bigtrial.net/2014/02/scarfo-familys-troubled-history-now.html#0cMPPHleGx5pGCzv.99

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Monmouth Man Pleads Guilty to Prison Racketeering Scheme Involving Bloods and Lucchese Crime Family

Monmouth Man Pleads Guilty to Prison Racketeering Scheme Involving Bloods and Lucchese Crime Family

  June 27, 2012    Dapper_Don

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Attorney General Jeffrey S. Chiesa announced that a Monmouth County man pleaded guilty today to participating in a scheme in which a state corrections officer, a leader of the Nine Trey Gangster set of the Bloods, and members of the Lucchese organized crime family smuggled drugs and cell phones into East Jersey State Prison.

Dwayne Spears, 33, of Neptune, pleaded guilty today to a charge of second-degree racketeering before Superior Court Judge Thomas V. Manahan in Morris County.  Under the plea agreement, the state will recommend that Spears be sentenced to five years in state prison.  The guilty plea stems from Operation Heat, an investigation by the Division of Criminal Justice Gangs & Organized Crime Bureau that led to the arrest and indictment of those involved in the smuggling scheme as well as numerous members of the New York-based Lucchese organized crime family.  As a condition of the plea agreement, Spears must cooperate fully and provide truthful testimony in the ongoing prosecution of the other defendants.

Supervising Deputy Attorney General Mark Eliades, Chief of the Division of Criminal Justice Gangs & Organized Crime Bureau, and Deputy Attorney General Christopher Romanyshyn, Deputy Bureau Chief, took the guilty plea.  Spears is scheduled to be sentenced on Aug. 3.

As a result of Operation Heat, the Division of Criminal Justice indicted two ruling members of the Lucchese crime family and 32 other members and associates, including the alleged current and former top New Jersey capos, Ralph V. Perna and Nicodemo Scarfo Jr., on first-degree charges of racketeering and predicate offenses on May 14, 2010.  The indictment charges that the Lucchese defendants ran a gambling operation that transacted approximately $2.2 billion in wagers on sporting events in 15 months, using a website, toll-free phone numbers, and an offshore wire room, and that they relied on extortion and violence to collect debts.  The charges against most of the defendants are pending, and they are presumed innocent until proven guilty.

The prison smuggling scheme allegedly involved Spears’ brother, inmate Edwin B. Spears, 38, and a corrections officer at East Jersey State Prison, Michael T. Bruinton, 48, of Ringoes. It is charged that Edwin Spears, who holds a leadership position as a “five-star general” in the Nine Trey Gangsters, formed an alliance in the smuggling operation with Joseph M. Perna, 42, of Wyckoff, a member of the Lucchese crime family, and Michael A. Cetta, 45, of Wyckoff, a Bonnano crime family associate linked to the Lucchese crime family through marriage. Perna and Cetta were also charged in connection with the Lucchese family gambling operations.

In pleading guilty, Dwayne Spears admitted that he received money from Cetta to acquire contraband including heroin, cocaine, marijuana and pre-paid cell phones.  Dwayne Spears admitted he gave the contraband to Bruinton to smuggle into East Jersey State Prison in Woodbridge.  The drugs and cell phones were allegedly distributed to inmates who had previously placed orders through Edwin Spears.  Cell phones are prohibited in prison.  It is charged that the purchasers paid by sending money orders or checks to individuals including Francine Hightower, 54, who previously pleaded guilty, and Kristen Gilliam, 29, of Farmingdale, who delivered the proceeds to Cetta to “re-invest” in the smuggling scheme.

The charges against Edwin Spears, Joseph Perna, Cetta and Gilliam remain pending, and they are presumed innocent until proven guilty.

Supervising Deputy Attorney General Eliades, Deputy Attorney General Romanyshyn, and Deputy Attorney General Lauren Scarpa-Yfantis have prosecuted the case.  The lead detectives for Operation Heat were Lt. Christopher Donohue and Detective Patrick Sole, assisted by Detective Audrey Young, Sgt. Ho Chul Shin, Sgt. Brian Bruton, Detective Mario Estrada, Detective Richard DaSilva, Sgt. Noelle Holl, former Detective John Delesio, former Supervising State Investigator James Sweeney, and Auditor Thaedra Chebra of the Division of Taxation’s Office of Criminal Investigation. Chief of Detectives Paul Morris directed the investigation.  Many other investigators from the Division of Criminal Justice Gangs & Organized Crime Bureau provided assistance. The New Jersey State Police also assisted in the investigation.

http://www.jacksonnjonline.com/2012/06/27/monmouth-man-pleads-guilty-to-prison-racketeering-scheme-involving-bloods-and-lucchese-crime-family/33966/

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