Mob Hitman Among Those Guilty in ‘Operation Heat’ $2 Bil Gambling Case

A Mob hitman currently serving life-plus-10 years in a New Jersey state prison has now pleaded guilty to another racketeering case authorities termed “Operation Heat”.

Martin Taccetta was charged in a 1993 Mob hit involving the golf club beating death of a Toms River, New Jersey car dealer, Vincent J. “Jimmy Sinatra” Craparotta.  Taccetta is among six Lucchese crime family members who pleaded guilty Wednesday to running an illegal sports wagering outfit that took in at least $2.2 billion in bets.

The men were indicted in 2010 following a 15-month investigation that uncovered the ring.

Taccetta, formerly of East Hanover, has plead guilty to first-degree racketeering in connection with the gambling ring.  He is expected to be sentenced to another 8 years on August 20.

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So how could Taccetta have been involved in the multi-billion dollar gambling ring when he had already been sentenced to so much time behind bars?

The actual arrests were made in 2007.  At the time, Taccetta was free from prison after winning an appeal in the case involving the Craparotta murder, said Peter Aseltine, a spokesman for the attorney general’s division of criminal justice.

The investigation also revealed that a former New Jersey corrections officer and a high ranking member of the Nine Trey Gangers set of the Bloods street gang was also revealed to have entered into an alliance with the Lucchese family to smuggle drugs and pre-paid cell phones into East Jersey State Prison.

The others who pleaded guilty to racketeering charges Wednesday in Operation Heat were:

Ralph V. Perna, 69, of East Hanover, top capo of the Lucchese family’s New Jersey faction; Perna’s oldest son, Joseph M. Perna, 45, of Wyckoff; another son, John G. Perna, 38, of West Caldwell; Matthew Madonna, 80, of Seldon, New York; and John Mangrella, 72, of Clifton.

- Nagesh Rath, Gambling911.com