Fourteen individuals — together with two former Rutgers College wrestlers — have been charged with working a New Jersey mob-linked unlawful on-line sports activities playing ring, in response to prosecutors.
The nationwide, multi-million-dollar operation was headed and financially backed by Lucchese crime household soldier Joseph M. “Little Joe” Perna, of Fairfield, in response to New Jersey Legal professional Common Matthew Platkin.
“Organized crime households appear to have a tough time breaking this outdated behavior,” Platkin advised reporters at a press convention Thursday.
“So we’re gonna break it for them,” he added.
The playing scheme was a household affair, with Perna’s son, Joseph R. Perna, 25, working the day-to-day operations of the sportsbook from Oakland, NJ, Platkin alleged.
The son had dozens of subordinates working underneath him together with his brother, stepbrother, and cousins, who had been additionally indicted, in response to prosecutors.
Little Joe’s spouse, Kim Zito, and his ex-wife, Rosanna Magno, had been additionally charged with making an attempt to cowl up the operation.
Former Rutgers College wrestlers, Michael Cetta, 23, of North Haledon, and Nicholas Raimo, a 25-year-old former two-time state wrestling champion from East Hanover, had been amongst these charged, in response to NJ.com.
The concerned athletes could have additionally had stakes within the outcomes of video games wherein they’d participated, officers mentioned.
The enterprise included a nationwide community of bookmakers, all working underneath Little Joe’s orders, to lure bettors into making unlawful bets, which had been used to fund the scheme and enrich the defendants, prosecutors claimed.
Between 2022 and 2024, the alleged enterprise transferred $2 million in playing transactions.
New Jersey State Police’s Port Investigations Unit started probing an unlawful playing scheme working out of Essex and Bergen counties in Jan. 2024, in response to the state legal professional’s workplace.
The members of the alleged ring are dealing with felony expenses of racketeering, conspiracy, playing offenses, and cash laundering.
“Any faculty scholar listening,” Legal professional Common Platkin mentioned, “Sure, when you’re of age, you may gamble in your telephones.”
Nonetheless, “You shouldn’t be playing in a mob-backed operation,” he added. “That’s free parental recommendation.”
