by The Greek » Tue Apr 19, 2022 10:54 pm
A Staten Island career criminal — and one-time Olympics hopeful — was sentenced to more than four years prison time Tuesday for running a ring of underground gambling houses with ties to the Mafia.
Abduraman “Diamond” Iseni, 56, had already served two stints in federal lockup, in 1996 for racketeering and 2012 for money laundering, before setting up gambling parlors all over Brooklyn from 2017 to 2020. The illegal gambling houses hosted poker games and sports books.
“Serving more than a decade in federal prison should have demonstrated to Abduraman Iseni the consequences of serious crimes. But instead, after his release he went back to racketeering, threats, money laundering and other offenses,” Manhattan U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said in a statement.
Iseni lent money to people to open up gambling parlors like “Sports Café,” “Friendly Café,” and “Oasis Café” in exchange for a slice of the profits. Beyond seed capital, he introduced owners to his contacts in the criminal underworld — including a La Cosa Nostra family member who sold electric poker machines, the feds say.
He also threatened people unable to pay their gambling debts, once holding a fork to an associate’s eye in 2019. Prosecutors say he acted as a legal adviser to those he enlisted to run the underground parlors and coached them on how to lie to the FBI.
Iseni pleaded guilty in October to eight counts of racketeering, money laundering and other related charges. Another 15 people have also been charged in the scheme dubbed the “Diamond Enterprise” by prosecutors, with two others pleading guilty.
A former pro wrestler, Iseni came to the U.S. in 1986 to train to represent his native Yugoslavia in the Olympics. Shortly after, he was granted political asylum when the civil conflict at home intensified, and he began training to represent America instead.
“However, he was arrested in 1996 and charged with racketeering — which ended his efforts to become an Olympic athlete,” Iseni’s lawyer Jeff Lichtman wrote in court papers.
Iseni has been held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn for almost the entire pandemic. Lichtman wrote that he’s had a brutal time behind bars and was rarely granted visits with his small children.
The lawyer said Iseni faces deportation after serving his sentence of four years and three months.
Manhattan Federal Judge Andrew Carter also ordered Iseni forfeit $349,000 and pay a $5,000 fine.
A Staten Island career criminal — and one-time Olympics hopeful — was sentenced to more than four years prison time Tuesday for running a ring of underground gambling houses with ties to the Mafia.
Abduraman “Diamond” Iseni, 56, had already served two stints in federal lockup, in 1996 for racketeering and 2012 for money laundering, before setting up gambling parlors all over Brooklyn from 2017 to 2020. The illegal gambling houses hosted poker games and sports books.
“Serving more than a decade in federal prison should have demonstrated to Abduraman Iseni the consequences of serious crimes. But instead, after his release he went back to racketeering, threats, money laundering and other offenses,” Manhattan U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said in a statement.
Iseni lent money to people to open up gambling parlors like “Sports Café,” “Friendly Café,” and “Oasis Café” in exchange for a slice of the profits. Beyond seed capital, he introduced owners to his contacts in the criminal underworld — including a La Cosa Nostra family member who sold electric poker machines, the feds say.
He also threatened people unable to pay their gambling debts, once holding a fork to an associate’s eye in 2019. Prosecutors say he acted as a legal adviser to those he enlisted to run the underground parlors and coached them on how to lie to the FBI.
Iseni pleaded guilty in October to eight counts of racketeering, money laundering and other related charges. Another 15 people have also been charged in the scheme dubbed the “Diamond Enterprise” by prosecutors, with two others pleading guilty.
A former pro wrestler, Iseni came to the U.S. in 1986 to train to represent his native Yugoslavia in the Olympics. Shortly after, he was granted political asylum when the civil conflict at home intensified, and he began training to represent America instead.
“However, he was arrested in 1996 and charged with racketeering — which ended his efforts to become an Olympic athlete,” Iseni’s lawyer Jeff Lichtman wrote in court papers.
Iseni has been held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn for almost the entire pandemic. Lichtman wrote that he’s had a brutal time behind bars and was rarely granted visits with his small children.
The lawyer said Iseni faces deportation after serving his sentence of four years and three months.
Manhattan Federal Judge Andrew Carter also ordered Iseni forfeit $349,000 and pay a $5,000 fine.