Thanks to DanteMoltisanti for posting this.
Little Falks man charged in multistate gambling ring was arrested on similar charges in 2006
BY ABBOTT KOLOFF
May 25, 2016
A North Jersey man who was arrested 10 years ago and accused of running a multistate gambling ring that raked in $1 million a week faces new gambling charges after he and 45 other people were arrested this week, according to authorities.
Robert “Elvis” D’Alessio, who gets his nickname because he wears mutton chop sideburns similar to those worn by the late Elvis Presley, allegedly ran a gambling and money-laundering ring that operated in New Jersey, New York and Florida and used an office in Costa Rica to take bets, Bergen County’s acting prosecutor, Gurbir S. Grewal, said Wednesday in a news release.
The prosecutor said that the ring “processed tens of millions of dollars in wagers per year.”
D’Alessio was arrested in 2006, along with 50 other people including the then-manager of the Satin Dolls strip club in Lodi, on similar charges. A law enforcement official with knowledge of the case, but who was not authorized to talk about it, confirmed on Wednesday that it is the same person.
Grewal said D’Alessio, 62, of Little Falls, was arrested on Tuesday and charged with racketeering, promoting gambling, money laundering and conspiracy to promote gambling. The prosecutor said a bail hearing is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. today. He declined further comment on the case beyond what he said in the news release.
It was not clear what happened in the 2006 case after D’Alessio, who then lived in Montville, was arrested and authorities said they broke up a ring that operated in New Jersey, New York and Florida, and confiscated $3 million. Bergen County Jail records show D’Alessio was released one day after his 2006 arrest on gambling charges when he posted $500,000 bail. State court records available online showed no indication of a conviction in that case.
Authorities said at the time that D’Alessio often returned messages by saying, “This is Elvis.”
Grewal said in a release on Wednesday that authorities executed 46 search warrants and seized $2 million this week in breaking up a “large-scale, multistate criminal enterprise that was engaged in illegal money laundering, gambling and racketeering.”
The prosecutor released the names of 46 people who were arrested — 39 from New Jersey, four from New York and three from Florida. Four of the people on the list, including D’Alessio, also appear to be on the list of people arrested in the 2006 case.
The operation allegedly included 50 “agents” who collected debts and paid winnings to 320 bettors, and was operating “in and around Bergen County,” Grewal said in the release. D’Alessio, he said, “ran the operation” with the help of an off-shore wire room in Costa Rica that took bets using toll-free phone numbers and a website.
D’Alessio’s former brother-in-law, Esteban “Steve” Cueli, of Florida, played a “key role” in the operation and was charged with gambling offenses, Grewal said. They allegedly conspired with a Miami businessman, Enrique Larach, to hide gambling proceeds. Larach has also been arrested and charged.
Grewal said three North Jersey men were managers in the operation — Robert Beatty, 40, of Wayne; Alfonc Pilinci, 59, of Franklin Lakes; and Dante Monaco, 53, Hackettstown. Beatty’s name was on the 2006 list of those arrested.
D’Alessio, the three alleged managers and a fifth man, Gregory Farace, 51, of Pequannock, were being held Wednesday in the Bergen County Jail, Grewal said. The others arrested in New Jersey were released on their own recognizance while those arrested in Florida and New York were awaiting extradition, the prosecutor said.
The state police, the Bergen County Sheriff’s Office, the New York City police and in Florida the Broward County Sheriff’s Department and the Miami-Dade County police all assisted in the investigation, Grewal said.
Email: koloff@northjersey.com
List of suspects
Racketeering, promoting gambling, money laundering, conspiracy to promote gambling
Robert D'Alessio, 62, Little Falls
Racketeering, promoting gambling, conspiracy to promote gambling
Robert Beatty, 40, Wayne; Dante Monaco, 53, Hackettstown
Promoting gambling, conspiracy to promote gambling, conspiracy to commit money laundering
Esteban “Steve” Cueli, 56, Doral, Fla.
Money laundering, conspiracy to commit money laundering
Enrique Larach, 54, Miami, Fla.
Promoting gambling, conspiracy to promote gambling
Jeffrey Badaan, 33, Wayne; James Miele, 52, Bridgewater; Eric Orozco, 39, Paterson; Louis Seminerio, 69, Elmwood Park; Casey Passmore, 35, Boonton; Joseph Loforese, 30, Little Falls; Fatmir Salaj, 45, Matawan; Alfonc Pilinci, 59, Franklin Lakes; Lulzim “Luigi” Cana, 39, Dover; Thomas D'Alessio Jr., 66, Hackettstown; Imer Draga, aka Michael Dolce, 47, Staten Island, N.Y.; Joseph D'Alessio, 55, Wyckoff; Anthony Magnani, 43, Harrison; Corey Arrajj, 31, Wyckoff; Joseph Grello, 51, Newton; Ron Kocerha, 47, Secaucus; Gregory Farace, 51, Pequannock; Ralph Gamba, 60, Livingston; William Rzucidlo, 23, Parsippany; Martin Flanagan, 72, Morristown; Bryan Russo, 41, Verona; Ronnie Fox, 57, Woodland Park; Dulo Bolijevic, 43, Dover; Edward “Buzz” Kelly, 48, Bronx, N.Y.; Victor Romano, 37, Staten Island, N.Y.; William Guido, 67, Waretown; Kenneth Pabon, 62, Staten Island, N.Y.; John Schwartz, 52, Secaucus; Kevin O'Leary, 24, Secaucus; Charles Steinberg, 40, Coral Springs, Fla.; Joseph Farruggia, 28, Mount Arlington; James Manganiello, 56, Totowa; Stephen Gerisch, 71, Boonton; Sadik “Sal” Kolic, 56, Randolph; Tyler Berntsen, 25, Lebanon; Neil Eskow, 43, Fair Lawn; Palma Pakulniewicz, 70, Secaucus; Jared Petruska, 30, Wayne; Paul Jon Siljee, 26, Wayne
Conspiracy to promote gambling
Dante Monaco Jr., 20, Hackettstown
Obstruction of justice
Gezim Pilinci, 30, Franklin Lakes
http://www.northjersey.com/news/little- ... -1.1605097
New Jersey gambling bust
Moderator: Capos
New Jersey gambling bust
All roads lead to New York.
Re: New Jersey gambling bust
All roads lead to New York.