Staten Island poker ring conviction

[Wiseguy]

Retired NYPD sergeant convicted of running illegal poker ring in Staten Island, faces up to 5 years in prison
BY JOHN MARZULLI NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
April 9, 2015


A retired NYPD sergeant was convicted Thursday of operating an illegal Texas Hold 'Em poker game in Staten Island.

Ralph Mastrantonio faces up to five years in prison for dealing cards at a gambling den known as "5th Street" located on Arthur Kill Road that raked in thousands of dollars a night while serving free Italian food and booze to bettors.

Mastrantonio, 55, was snared in a probe that started in 2011 after the Queens district attorney's office received information that an NYPD detective was associating with organized crime figures at illegal gambling spots.

That detective, Richard Palase, was also busted in the federal probe, pleaded guilty and is awaiting sentencing.

"You can't just open a casino in a commercial building in Staten Island and dealing cards in an unlicensed gambling business is illegal," Assistant Brooklyn U.S. Attorney Matthew Miller told the jury.

Defense lawyer Daniel Bibb ridiculed the investigation. "The closest they got to organized crime was Sammy Gravano's niece-in-law," he snipped, a reference to a relative of Salvatore Gravano, the former Gambino family underboss.

But the undercover detective who infiltrated six gambling dens as part of the probe came across a colorful crew of operators, including a retired FDNY firefighter, his firefighter son, and several unidentified subjects known as Handsome Mike who may have been a state trooper, "Porky Joe" and his brother "Joe the Beef."

"I don't know the relevance of these meat names," Federal Judge Sterling Johnson said.

http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/nyc ... -1.2179901




Some may remember this bust back in 2011 -


Authorities said there was no evidence of ties to organized crime.

"However, it would be highly unlikely that [an] illegal gambling location would not be paying tribute to organized crime so they could keep on operating," said a source familiar with the probe.
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/n ... e-1.127082