38 people—including an NYC firefighter, a sanitation worker, and a highway repairman—were indicted yesterday [pdf] on charges of operating two "highly sophisticated illegal sports gambling enterprises" in Queens and as far afield as Nevada and Costa Rica. The enterprises allegedly generated approximately $178 million over the past three years, and included toll-free telephone numbers and five known gambling websites, such as 5dimes and Big on Sports. Queens DA Richard Brown gloats:
Such computerized wire rooms operate around the clock and can handle a large volume of bettors at any one time, thus allowing the organizers to increase their illicit profits without having to bother with the time-consuming record-keeping aspects of a more traditional, paper-based bookmaking operation. Unfortunately for the defendants, the law enforcement community is just as adept in using new technology to stop those involved in such criminal pursuits.
Firefighter Matthew Fopeano, who works in the Medical Division, and highway-repair worker Michael Labetti allegedly collected gambling losses, doled out winnings and helped expand the business. Sanitation worker Robert Ackrish and his father ran a separate book that handled $24 million in betting, Brown alleges. According to an FDNY spokesman, Fopeano, an eight-year veteran, has been suspended without pay. Officials seized more than $1.6 million in the bust, and with triple cherries in his eyes Brown declares, "I anticipate it will be much more."
