This made me laugh, but apparently Joey just called Gotti Jr. a rat on his Patreon

Angel Gotti will probably hang herself tonight

Ex-Chicago Outfit Bookie Goes to Jail

A Wood Dale man was sentenced to two years in prison Friday for running an illicit sports gambling ring uncovered as part of a larger federal investigation into the Chicago Outfit.

Michael Frontier, 39, a former mixed-martial arts fighter who currently works for a national cannabis firm, pleaded guilty in January to one count of running an illegal gambling business. His case stemmed from a larger investigation conducted into the activities of the Chicago Mob.
Frontier is an associate of Outfit heavyweights Marco (The Mover) D’Amico and Joseph (Joe Gags) Gagliano and was tied into a larger probe of the Outfit. In a plea agreement worked out with prosecutors….

You can read the full article in the Chicago Tribune:

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2024...prison-in-case-tied-to-chicago-mob-probe

RECORD BREAKING HISTORIC CANADIAN GOLD HEIST

TORONTO (AP) — Police said nine people are facing charges in what authorities are calling the biggest gold theft in Canadian history from Toronto’s Pearson International airport a year ago.
Peel Regional Police said Wednesday that 6,600 gold bars worth more than 20 million Canadian dollars ($14.5 million), and CA$2.5 million ($1.8 million) in foreign currencies were stolen. The gold was melted down and used to purchase illegal firearms, police said.
Those charged include an Air Canada warehouse employee and a former Air Canada manager who gave police a tour of cargo of the facility after the theft. A jewelry store owner is also charged.
“This story is a sensational one and which probably, we jokingly say, belongs in a Netflix series,” Peel Regional Chief Nishan Duraiappah said.
Peel Regional Detective Sgt. Mike Mavity said the gold bars, weighing 419 kilograms (923 pounds), and foreign currency, ordered from a refinery in Zurich, Switzerland, were transported in the haul of an Air Canada flight on April 17 last year.
He said that late afternoon a truck driver arrived at the airline’s cargo warehouse with a fraudulent bill that was provided to an airline warehouse attendant.
Mavity said a bill for seafood that was picked up the day before was used to pick up the gold. The duplicate bill was printed off at the Air Canada warehouse, he said.
“They needed people within Air Canada to facilitate this theft,” Mavity said in front of the truck police say was used in the theft.
Mavity said police are searching for the Air Canada manager who gave police a tour of the facility in the days after the theft. He said that manager left his job last summer and said they have an idea of where he is.
Mavity said some of the suspects were known to police and some were not. He said they seized six crudely made bracelets made of gold.
“I don’t think I ever imagined they would have to deal with the largest gold heist in Canadian history,” said Patrick Brown, the mayor of Brampton, Ontario. “It’s almost out of an ‘Ocean’s Eleven’ movie or CSI.”
Air Canada employee Parmpal Sidhu, 54, from Brampton, Ontario; jewelry store owner Ali Raza, 37, from Toronto; Amit Jalota, 40, a Oakville, Ontario resident; Ammad Chaudhary, 43, from Georgetown, Ontario; and Prasath Paramalingam, 35, from Brampton are among those that have been arrested. Mavity said they have been released on bail conditions and will be in court at a later date.
Mavity said the truck driver that allegedly picked up the gold, Durante King-Mclean, a 25-year-old from Brampton, is currently in custody in the U.S. on firearms and trafficking related charges.
Police are searching for former Air Canada manager Simran Preet Panesar, 31, from Brampton as well as Archit Grover, 36, from Brampton and Arsalan Chaudhary, 42, from Mississauga Ontario.
Peel Regional Deputy Chief Nick Milinovich said only CA$90,000 ($65,000) of the more than CA$20 million has been recovered.
U.S. ATF Special Agent, Eric DeGree, said King-Mclean, was arrested in Pennsylvania after a traffic stop and that led to the seizure of 65 illegal firearms that were allegedly destined to be smuggled into Canada. DeGree said he tried to flee after police discovered the firearms in his rental car.
Brinks, an American cash handling company, arrived at the airport cargo facility the night of April 17 to pick up the gold and were told the gold and currency was missing after a search.
Brinks sued Air Canada over the theft last year. According to the company’s filing, a thief walked away with the costly cargo after presenting a fake document at an Air Canada warehouse on April 17.
In a Nov. 8 statement of defense, Air Canada rejected “each and every allegation” in the Brink’s lawsuit, saying it fulfilled its carriage contracts and denying any improper or “careless” conduct.
The country’s largest airline also said Brink’s failed to note the value of the haul on the waybill — a document typically issued by a carrier with details of the shipment — and that if Brink’s did suffer losses, a multilateral treaty known as the Montreal Convention would cap Air Canada’s liability.
In Federal Court filings that claim breach of contract and millions of dollars in damages, Brinks said an “unidentified individual” gained access to the airline’s cargo warehouse and presented a “fraudulent” waybill shortly after an Air Canada flight from Zurich landed at Pearson.
The statement of the claim says the staff then handed over 400 kilograms of gold in the form of 24 bars plus nearly $2 million in cash to the thief, who promptly “absconded with the cargo.”
DeGree said dozens of firearms were seized, including two fully automatic weapons and five guns that were untraceable.
“I’m proud to say that we successfully put an international gun trafficking operation out of business. We kept 65 firearms off the streets of Canada and prevented them from being used in any number of crimes,” DeGree said.
Mavity said that “we believe they melted down the gold and with the profits they got from the gold they used to purchase illegal firearms.”

Two Charged In Connection With Scheme To Operate Industrial-Scale Illegal Narcotics Pill Pressing Operations Throughout New York City
Monday, April 8, 2024
For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Southern District of New York

Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York; Darren B. McCormack, the Acting Special Agent in Charge of the New York Field Office of Homeland Security Investigations (“HSI”); and Frank A. Tarentino III, the Special Agent in Charge of the New York Division of the Drug Enforcement Administration (“DEA”), announced today the filing of a Complaint in Manhattan federal court charging JUAN MOISES PEREZ MENDEZ, a/k/a “Caballero,” and ODALIS EUSEBIO PERALTA BAUTISTA, a/k/a “Luis Collazo Santos,” with conspiracy to distribute narcotics and distribution of narcotics. PEREZ MENDEZ and PERALTA BAUTISTA were arrested on Saturday evening, April 6, 2024, in the Bronx. They were presented this afternoon before U.S. Magistrate Judge Stewart D. Aaron.

U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said: “Over the past year, this Office has worked with laser focus to disrupt industrial-scale pill mills that press powdered narcotics into pills. In the process, we have removed millions of deadly fentanyl pills, meant to mimic legitimate prescription drugs, from the street. This past weekend, we acted again, shutting down an alleged pill mill in the Bronx and seizing large amounts of fentanyl and methamphetamine. We also arrested the two individuals who allegedly operated that pill mill. As alleged, one of those individuals, Juan Moises Perez Mendez, is a prolific narcotics trafficker, connected to at least two other major pill presses this Office has disrupted in the last year. I am deeply grateful for the efforts of our law enforcement partners and the career prosecutors of this Office as we work to save lives by keeping fentanyl off the streets of our community.”

HSI Acting Special Agent in Charge Darren B. McCormack said: “These arrests are the result of the exceptional work our El Dorado Task Force does to remove the threat of lethal amounts of fentanyl-laced counterfeit prescription pills that are wreaking havoc in our communities. HSI New York, along with our law enforcement partners, remain determined to shut down these underground poison mills and dismantle the flow of deadly substances into our communities. The criminals who operate these illegitimate manufacturing sites will face justice for their production and distribution of illicit synthetic opioids which are responsible for perpetuating the public safety epidemic across the country.”

DEA Special Agent in Charge Frank A. Tarentino III said: “Over the weekend, the DEA New York and our law enforcement partners conducted another successful operation resulting in two arrests and shutting down another illegal pill mill located near a school in the Bronx. Fake pills, laced with fentanyl and methamphetamine, like the ones seized this weekend, come in every color, shape, and form, and are disguised to mirror the appearance of prescription pills, making them hard to detect by sight and extremely deadly. This operation emphasizes our commitment to protecting communities from these fake pills and those responsible for producing them. I commend our special agents and law enforcement partners on this successful operation.”

As alleged in the Complaint filed today in Manhattan federal court:[1]

Law enforcement has been investigating a network of drug traffickers operating industrial-scale illegal narcotics pill pressing operations in multiple locations throughout New York City. As part of those operations, the traffickers have converted spaces in residential buildings to press large quantities of powder narcotics, including fentanyl and methamphetamine, into pill form for wholesale distribution. At these locations, drug traffickers have manufactured millions of pills for further distribution, sometimes manufacturing hundreds of thousands of pills in a single session.

In or about May 2023, law enforcement searched the basement of a particular building in Washington Heights (the “Washington Heights Building”), where they found large quantities of narcotics, as well as the materials and equipment necessary to press narcotics into pill form, including commercial-grade pill presses. In connection with that search, law enforcement officers arrested Juan Efren Paulino.

PEREZ MENDEZ appears to have entered the basement of the Washington Heights Building in the days leading up to the search and communicated with Paulino regarding narcotics.

A photograph of the narcotics recovered from the Washington Heights Building is below:

Photo of narcotics recovered from the Washington Heights Building
In or about October 2023, law enforcement officers searched the basement of a building located on Beaumont Avenue in the Bronx (the “Beaumont Building”) and arrested four individuals. In the basement of the Beaumont Building, law enforcement officers found hundreds of thousands of pills and over 20 kilograms of narcotics, along with three industrial pill press machines, one disassembled pill press, a kilogram press, and narcotics mixing and repackaging materials including blenders, dyes, jars of calcium citrate (frequently used as a narcotics cutting agent), and industrial-grade gas masks (used for protection when handling narcotic powders intended for pill pressing).

In or about August 2023, law enforcement officers observed PEREZ MENDEZ appearing to enter or exit the Beaumont Building.

A photograph of the narcotics recovered from the Beaumont Building is below:

Photo of the narcotics recovered from the Beaumont Building
In light of PEREZ MENDEZ’s involvement in the pill mills at the Washington Heights and Beaumont Buildings, law enforcement officers began conducting surveillance of PEREZ MENDEZ. During the course of that surveillance, law enforcement officers identified a storage room (the “Storage Room”) in the basement of a particular building located on Gerard Avenue in the Bronx (the “Gerard Avenue Building”) that was frequented by PEREZ MENDEZ and PERALTA BAUTISTA.

On April 6, 2024, at approximately 7:15 p.m., law enforcement officers arrested PEREZ MENDEZ as he was exiting the Gerard Avenue Building, only minutes after leaving the Storage Room. After the arrest of PEREZ MENDEZ, law enforcement officers approached the door to the Storage Room. A loud pounding sound could be heard emanating from within the Storage Room, which was consistent with the operation of a pill press.

Not long after, the loud pounding sound stopped, and PERALTA BAUTISTA exited the Storage Room. At the time, PERALTA BAUTISTA’s shirt appears to have had white powder on it. As PERALTA BAUTISTA exited the Storage Room, he was placed under arrest.

Law enforcement officers then searched the Storage Room, which was used by PEREZ MENDEZ and PERALTA BAUTISTA to store powdered narcotics, combine the narcotics with other fillers, use dyes to color the combined powders, and then use large industrial-scale pill presses to create hundreds of thousands of deadly pills. Many of the pills appear to have been manufactured to be indistinguishable from prescription medications such as Xanax, Adderall, and OxyContin, though in fact they contain, among other things, varying quantities of fentanyl.

Among other things, law enforcement officers found two industrial-scale pill presses; approximately 130,000 pills, the vast majority of which field tested positive for the presence of fentanyl (the remainder of which field tested positive for the presence of methamphetamine); approximately three kilograms of a powder in zip lock bags that tested positive for the presence of fentanyl; a bucket containing approximately 20 pounds of powdered narcotics, which field tested positive for the presence of methamphetamine; and approximately 3.5 pounds of suspected crystalized methamphetamine. The suspected narcotics and pill presses are depicted, in part, below:

Photo of the suspected narcotics and pill presses recovered from the Gerard Avenue Building
Photo of the suspected narcotics and pill presses recovered from the Gerard Avenue Building
Photo of the suspected narcotics and pill presses recovered from the Gerard Avenue Building
Additionally, law enforcement officers found materials used to mix powdered narcotics with fillers as well as packaging materials used to package narcotics for further distribution. Those items included mixing bowls, a blender, strainers, dyes, thousands of glassine envelopes, and empty bottles of calcium citrate. From on or about June 10, 2023, to on or about March 3, 2024, PEREZ MENDEZ and his girlfriend purchased approximately 1,274 bottles of calcium pills from a particular retail chain of consumer products. This amounts to approximately 356,720 calcium pills.

* * *

JUAN MOISES PEREZ MENDEZ, 56, of the Bronx, New York, and ODALIS EUSEBIO PERALTA BAUTISTA, 53, of New York, New York, are each charged with one count of conspiracy to distribute narcotics and one count of narcotics distribution, both of which carry a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison and a maximum sentence of life in prison.

The statutory minimum and maximum sentences are prescribed by Congress and are provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendants will be determined by the judge.

Mr. Williams praised the outstanding investigative work of the El Dorado Task Force International Narcotics and Money Laundering Unit, which is comprised of law enforcement officers and investigators from HSI, the DEA, the New York City Police Department, the New York State Police, the U.S. Postal Service, the Kings County District Attorney’s Office, and the New York High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Task Force, in connection with this investigation.

This case is being handled by the Office’s Narcotics Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Maggie Lynaugh and Adam Sowlati are in charge of the prosecution.

The charges contained in the Complaint are merely accusations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

[1] As the introductory phrase signifies, the entirety of the text of the Complaint and the description of the Complaint set forth herein constitute only allegations, and every fact described should be treated as an allegation.

...only at ButtonGuys!

So keep your peepers peeled.

New York State Police Sergeant Sentenced In Connection To Illegal Gambling Ring
December, 2023

The New York State Police; a former sergeant sentenced in connection with an illegal gambling ring
A prominent former New York State Police Sergeant was sentenced this week for his involvement in an illegal gambling ring investigation.

A federal judge sentenced Thomas Loewke to two years probation, a $4,000 fine and 100 hours of community service after Loewke pleaded guilty for obstructing the investigation. The former sergeant faced a maximum of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

The ruling occurred in a case that involved Louis P. Ferrari II and six others whom a grand jury indicted for their involvement in an illegal gambling ring based out of Rochester.

How NY police officer was involved in illegal gambling ring

In January, police arrested the 51-year-old Loewke and charged him with obstruction of a state or local law enforcement investigation and obstruction of an official proceeding.

According to Assistant US Attorney Meghan K. McGuire, in October 2020, Homeland Security Investigations joined federal, state and local law enforcement that was investigating illegal gambling businesses. One of them included an illegal bookmaking operation: sport700.com.

Officials discovered a series of calls and text messages between targets of the investigation and bettors discussing the placement of bets, collection of winnings and payment of losses.

One of those phone calls involved two individuals mentioning that a member of the New York State Troopers, named “TJ,” had tipped off one of the targets regarding the investigation. As a result, the targets discussed changing passwords and the website’s domain name while also erasing their betting history in order to avoid detection.

Why judge issued lesser sentence to Loewke

Indeed, as officials later discovered, a uniformed New York State Trooper performed maintenance on a computer of a state police senior investigator tied to the case in December 2020. The trooper, who accessed the office three times that morning by way of a swipe card, sent three text messages and two phone calls to a phone registered to Loewke.

The trooper confirmed later on that he had told Loewke about the investigation. A subsequent search of Loewke’s phone also revealed evidence that he engaged in illegal sports betting.

Investigators said that Loewke shared the info with Ferrari, which led to the aforementioned phone call. Loewke pleaded guilty in May.

While Loewke initially faced up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine, a change to sentencing guidelines in November changed his status to a “Zone B” offender. As a result, he could have faced up to 14 months in prison.

When sentencing Loewke, the judge took into account the officer’s service record and character references, among other factors, which led to no jail time for Loewke.

“The judge pointed out that this a crime involved the alleged tipping off of the gambling ring, they have already made and arrest in this case,” Michael Schiano, a defense attorney, said after the ruling.

“So in terms of whether or not his activities or actions stopped this, they didn’t, they got indicted, they’re all still charged, they’re facing federal gambling charges.”
----
Details of illegal NY sports betting business

According to officials, the investigation into Ferrari’s business revealed that – from April 25, 2019, through Jan. 3, 2021 – Ferrari oversaw 221 betting accounts and collected over $1.2 million in profits.

In addition, a second target, Anthony Amato, had 128 “sub-agent accounts” that managed 1,789 bettors and totaled nearly $9 million in profits.

A federal grand jury indicted Ferrari and six others in July, all seven of whom await sentencing.

Ferrari, Dominic Sprague and Tomasso Sessa each face two counts of conspiracy, one count of transmission of wagering information and two counts of operating an illegal gambling business.

The other four – Amato, Joseph Lombardo, Jeffrey Boscarino and James Civiletti – each face one count of conspiracy, one count of transmission of wagering information and one count of operating an illegal gambling business.

McGuire said that Ferrari and Sprague owned and operated illegal poker games at 565 Blossom Road, and Ferrari operated the illegal sportsbook.