Dozens arrested had mob ties in gambling ring bust, authorities say
JANUARY 1, 2009
BY TOM TRONCONE
STAFF WRITER | THE RECORD
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This story was originally published in the Thursday, Dec. 2, 2004 edition of The Record.
The Genovese crime family controlled an offshore gambling venture through which members of four area mob groups placed millions of dollars in illicit sports bets, authorities charged Wednesday.
Prosecutors accused more than 40 alleged mobsters, associates and wannabes of running the ring, which they said boasted more than 12,000 customers nationwide and raked in about $300,000 a week for the nation's most powerful Mafia family.
Capping an investigation by the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office and the New Jersey State Police, more than 100 officers fanned out across North Jersey early Wednesday, executing 25 search warrants at homes and businesses.
Those arrested included Joseph "The Eagle" Gatto, who controlled one of two Costa Rican "wire rooms" that accepted the bets from associates of the Genovese, Lucchese, Bonanno/Massino and Gambino crime families, authorities said.
Gatto, the 60-year-old son of legendary North Jersey Genovese mobster Louis "Streaky" Gatto, was quickly led in handcuffs from his Paterson town house atop Garret Mountain to an unmarked police car.
Also taken into custody were more than a half-dozen former area high school athletes, including Edgar Puzio, 23, of Garfield, a onetime football player and wrestler at St. Joseph's in Montvale, and former Rutgers and Bergenfield High School fullback Marc Demyen, 28.
Investigators also seized more than $1 million in cash, 25 guns, and "distribution quantities" of cocaine, said Bergen County Prosecutor John L. Molinelli.
"This was a large, substantial operation, and these arrests will have a significant impact on the group," said Nick Theodos, acting deputy superintendent of the state police.
Still at large Wednesday was 73-year-old Carmen Cicalese of Short Hills, a reputed longtime Genovese associate who authorities said operated a second wire room in Costa Rica called DataWagers. Cicalese was in Costa Rica, Molinelli said.
Authorities seized $670,000 from a safety deposit box held by Cicalese and his wife, Rose, 72, who was also charged.
The investigation began in April 2003 as a probe into gambling at Caffe Roma, a small Italian dessert shop on Park Avenue in East Rutherford, where authorities said gamblers could place bets as they sipped cappuccinos. The further detectives delved into the operation, they said, the clearer the scope became.
Authorities raided the café, a nearby restaurant and an Italian bakery around midmorning Wednesday. At Caffe Roma, investigators loaded a "joker poker" video gaming machine into a white van as other detectives searched inside the small shop.
"It was a base of operations for a certain faction of the Genovese crime family," Molinelli said, adding that authorities believe the owner was not involved. "I don't think that when we started we knew it was going to be as big as it was."
Louis Amendola, 71, of Totowa ran the Catalina Sports wire room with Gatto, the prosecutor said. Paul Mancuso, a 38-year-old Fair Lawn real estate developer, led the Bonanno/Massino family participation in the gambling cooperative, and Frank Legano, 65, of Tenafly acted as the point person for the Lucchese clan, he said.
All three, like Gatto, were charged with a variety of racketeering and gambling offenses.
Most of those arrested in the sting, code-named "Operation Jersey Boyz," are accused of being bookies, or "agents."
Bettors, each assigned a user ID, placed their wages with bookies, Molinelli said. The bookies then either phoned in the bets to the wire rooms or entered them via a Web site, he said.
A series of runners visited each bookie and collected a fee of $25 to $30 from each per week. With 12,000 regular bettors, the fees reached about $300,000 per week - but were only a fraction of the total amount wagered, the prosecutor said.
"There were millions and millions and millions of dollars changing hands," Molinelli said.
Twenty-four alleged Genovese associates and bookmakers operating under Gatto were charged with a litany of criminal offenses, including racketeering, gambling, drug distribution, money laundering, arson for hire, extortion and trafficking in stolen property.
Police said members of the crew also operated a truck-hijacking enterprise. Investigators received cooperation from Target, Home Depot, Circuit City and Best Buy in the investigation, which included loading a tractor-trailer with fake electronic equipment for a successful sting operation, Molinelli said.
Gatto's rank in the Genovese crime family was not clear Wednesday night.
In May, the State Commission of Investigation claimed he filled the captain's role vacated by his deceased father, who had been in prison, and reported directly to family leaders in New York. The FBI also named him a captain in a 1998 federal racketeering indictment.
But law enforcement officials on Wednesday said Gatto controls much of his father's old numbers rackets but isn't one of the Genovese family's three New Jersey captains. Gatto, released from federal prison last year after serving a 61-month term, remains a soldier, said state police Detective Mark Doyle.
In any case, "Joe Gatto is one of the higher operatives for the Genovese crime family," Doyle said.
"Streaky" Gatto, who controlled a multimillion-dollar gambling empire until he was sent to prison for 65 years in 1991 for racketeering and murder conspiracy, was a favorite of imprisoned Genovese boss Vincent "The Chin" Gigante. Gatto died of cancer in 2002.
State authorities said three captains control New Jersey for the Genovese family: Angelo M. Prisco runs the Jersey City and Bayonne waterfront; Ocean County resident Ludwig "Ninny" Bruschi, who awaits trial on a 2003 racketeering charge, controls Northern New Jersey and Silvio DeVita controls the Newark area.
The Genoveses are considered New Jersey's preeminent La Cosa Nostra group. The family reportedly operates three to five "main crews," and has about 40 active soldiers, as well as a network of more than 400 "criminal associates," primarily in North and Central Jersey.
Authorities hope the charges will hurt the gambling operation.
"With 12,000 weekly bettors, one would hope to put a dent in it for the near future," Molinelli said.
Puzio was charged with illegally distributing painkillers, and Demyen was charged with racketeering and promoting gambling.
Other former athletes charged with conspiracy to promote gambling, or racketeering, or both: Sean Alberti, 36, a former Lyndhurst High School basketball coach and player; former Garfield High School football player Randy Calderio, 24; former Nutley wrestling champion Vito Mielnicki, 34; former Saddle Brook football player Tomasso Scaduto, 24, who was the manager of Caffe Roma, and former Montclair State University linebacker and Clifton resident John Turi, 25.
Juan Gonzalez, 35, of Lincoln Park and David Pille, 44, of Paterson, were each also charged with torching the car of a indebted gambler.
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