Bucks County gambling bust

[Wiseguy]

Bucks detectives bust sports betting ring
By Jo Ciavaglia
Calkins Media
March 16, 2015

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To the alleged bookies he was just another customer: A Bristol resident and businessman who liked betting on football games.

But the man — known only as CI#1 — was not just another gambler. He was also working with Bucks County authorities investigating a suspected illegal betting operation that had been around at least seven years.

The two-year probe resulted in the arrest Friday of Ralph "Sharky" Sabatini, 77, of Bristol, and his alleged bookmaking partner Valerio "Val" Ungarini, 56, of Bristol Township, who are charged with running a telephone-based sports gambling operation.

Sabatini and Ungarini were arraigned before District Judge Leonard Brown on eight felony and 10 misdemeanor charges including corrupt organizations, dealing in unlawful proceeds, criminal use of a communication facility and engaging in bookmaking. Both men were released on $100,000 unsecured bail.

Bucks County Detectives started looking at the pair in 2012 after "cooperating individuals" came forward and claimed Sabatini — the uncle of Bristol Mayor Pat Sabatini — and Ungarini were running an illegal gambling business out of the basement of Ungarini's home.

In a meeting with Detective David Hanks in August 2012, CI#1 claimed that he started placing bets with the pair around the 2012 Super Bowl, after not placing a "personal bet" with them for several years, according to the 65-page probable cause affidavit. The man told authorities that gamblers called in wagers on a specific phone number and the bets were audio recorded in case there are disputes, the affidavit said.

The pair took bets for all sporting events, but mainly football games, the source told the detective.

Sabatini is the one who doled out winnings, authorities said. He'd call on Tuesdays, tell how much the person won, and the bettor picked up the winnings. Ungarini handled the losers. He called between Tuesday and Thursday with the bad news about what they owed.

Tuesdays were the day when Sabatini and Ungarini met to do their books and "settle up" with gamblers.

The agents, people who placed third-party bets, were paid a 30 percent commission on a losing bet. Sabatini and Ungarini would take a "vig" — the bookmaker's fee — but court documents don't detail what the cut was.

After receiving information about the gambling operation, authorities set up surveillance of the men's homes during the start of the 2012 football season and noted a "pattern" of behavior that confirmed informant's information including that Sabatini arrived at Ungarini's house prior to kickoff times of NFL games and left after kickoff.

The informant whom investigators used placed bets on NFL games through Sabatini and Ungarini in 2012, starting with the second or third week of the regular season. At that point, he was losing $2,000 to $4,000 but by the ninth regular week of NFL play — around December — he was ahead $25,000 to $30,000, according to court documents.

Following the end of the regular 2012 NFL season the investigation went inactive until the next football season, when the confidential informants confirmed the gambling operation was still in business, authorities said.

County detectives set up surveillance of the men's homes again and observed the same pattern of behavior between the men during the NFL season.

In September 2013, Hanks spoke with CI#1 who said within the last three weeks he had placed three to four wagers on football games; during October and November he spoke with authorities and stated he was still placing bets on NFL games with the men and he won more than $1,000, police said.

In addition to the confidential informants, police obtained phone records for Sabatini and Ungarini that showed the majority of calls occurred on days when college and NFL games were played, according to court records.

Detectives also obtained a court order to wiretap a phone line used to place bets in January 2014. The calls where audio was recorded had Ungarini either talking about bets on NFL games, discussing information related to gambling and betting, or talking to Sabatini regarding the bets of others, the affidavit said.

The day after the 2014 NFL Super Bowl, authorities executed search warrants at the homes of Sabatini and Ungarini and recovered computers, recorded messages of individuals playing bets, cash and bookmaking materials, including a list of individuals with accounts in the operation, the affidavit said.

When they went to serve the warrants, investigators found Sabatini at Ungarini's house. He claimed he was there to "feed the birds," the affidavit said.

But detectives confiscated a single sheet of paper he had with him. Written on it were two distinct columns: one headed "P.O." – which stands for payoff; the other was headed "Collect."

The paper also contained names. The people who bet on the previous night's Super Bowl along with the amount of money they owed or were owed, court documents show.

http://www.mcall.com/news/nationworld/p ... story.html

[TommyGambino]

Any LCN connection?

[Pogo The Clown]

I'm wondering that to. The Philly family is active in Bucks County.


Pogo

[Chucky]

I'd be surprised if these guys weren't connected to the guys downtown, Massimino & Lucibello starting moving in on Bucks county 10-15 years ago.

[Cheech]

fucking rats everywhere. its ridiculous. best part is the rat won. this world is upside down man. left is right and up is down. i dont get it anymore. SMH

get a job young people.

[Chucky]

fucking rats everywhere. its ridiculous. best part is the rat won. this world is upside down man. left is right and up is down. i dont get it anymore. SMH

get a job young people.

I've been noticing this more. These degenerates make bets they can't pay and the second some book starts breathing down their neck they run to the cops for help, I don't blame the cops/feds for using them though. Mike Orlando, a junkie mutt who testified against Dame Canalichio, was in debt all over town and once it got to a dangerous point he ran to the feds. There's no personal accountability anymore, not just on the street, but everywhere.

[Rocco]

Yep.. That why allot of these books just cut guys off rather then risk the entire book trying to strong arm guys into paying. Eat the loss cut them off and move on is the way to go these days... Look at Mike Pernas cowboy nephews stalking a guy in the parking lot of a bank with a knife over $6k. Fuck it..let him go..that book took 2.2billion in bets over 15months. Why risk it when your making $60k a week? Just stupid.

[Pogo The Clown]

Any news on this? If this was LCN connected GA probably would have covered it.


Pogo

[rayray]

Independent bookies is nothing new. Surprised how many there are considering this Internet thing, independent or not.

[Wiseguy]

Back in 2007, Philadelphia associates, Danilo Starita and Edward Wagner were charged with running a sports betting operation, in addition to other crimes. I don't recall Anastasia covering that one.

Other recent Philly bookmaking busts that didn't specifically mention an LCN connection include 9 people (including Michael O'Brien and Brad Pesin) in 2008, as well as 8 people (including Christopher Naso, Timothy Lepore, and Frank Formando) in 2011. You also had Leonard Stango busted in 2014 for filing false tax returns involving $5 million in profits from a bookmaking operation.

Of course, just because an LCN connection isn't mentioned, doesn't mean there isn't one. There may be a lot of independent bookies but, if you look at the gambling cases in the Northeast for the last 15 years, the vast majority are mob-connected. Especially the bigger operations. The LCN is still very much the dominant player and has the biggest "market share" when it comes to sports betting in the region.

[Mr. Madbull]

That Edward Wagner, isn't he Joey Merlino's torpedo? Muscle guy? Does he have a brother?

[Wiseguy]

That Edward Wagner, isn't he Joey Merlino's torpedo? Muscle guy? Does he have a brother?

Ray Wagner, I think.

[Pogo The Clown]

Back in 2007, Philadelphia associates, Danilo Starita and Edward Wagner were charged with running a sports betting operation, in addition to other crimes. I don't recall Anastasia covering that one.

I'm pretty sure he did. Wagner was close to Ligambi and was one of those accompanying him at the Johnny Gongs funeral.


Pogo