These guys finally went bust.
Five Mafia members and associates pleaded guilty to running an illegal online betting operation that made nearly $25 million in profits over the past 25 years, officials said.
The reputed members and associates of the Lucchese organized crime family had been raking in the scharole with their “Rhino Sports” since the early 2000s — and serve as a warning that the traditional La Cosa Nostra is still around, the Eastern District U.S. attorney’s office said.
“Illegal gambling businesses require enforcement and protection from mob rivals that carry the persistent threat of violence,” said U.S. Attorney John J. Durham in a statement announcing the guilty pleas.
The New York Field Office of the FBI urged the public not to ignore the dangers of organized crime just because the headlines are less flashy than in the past.
“However, the men pleading guilty in this case illustrate how entrenched the traditional mafia are in their noxious and familiar criminality,” said James E. Dennehy, assistant director in charge of the New York field office.
Anthony Villani, a reputed Lucchese crime family soldier, pleaded guilty to racketeering, money laundering and illegal gambling. As part of his plea deal, he agreed to pay $4 million in forfeiture and faces up to 20 years in prison.
Villani, a 60-year-old resident of Elmsford, owned and operated Rhino Sports, an online business employing Mafia figures as local bookmakers. The operation, which was based in the Bronx and Westchester county, collected at least $1 million annually, taking bets from anywhere between 400 and 1,300 individuals on any given week.
The other defendants, some of whom were employed by Villani, took money from the gambling business and purchased fake money orders under false names, according to prosecutors.
These money orders were payable to one of Villani’s property companies to look like legitimate rental payments.
While the five defendants are now awaiting sentencing, a sixth defendant remains at large.
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