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Six men tied to New York City’s Lucchese crime family entered guilty pleas Thursday morning in connection with running a multi-billion dollar gambling enterprise.
The men were indicted in 2010 following a 15-month investigation that uncovered the ring, revealing an estimated $2.2 billion in wagers had been placed over that period.
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.
Among those who pleaded guilty Wednesday were Ralph V. Perna, 69, of East Hanover, who oversaw the crime family's operations in New Jersey, as well as his two of his sons: Joseph Perna, 45, of Wyckoff, and John Perna, 38, of West Caldwell, authorities said.
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The Pernas are facing prison sentences from between eight and ten years.
Also pleading guilty were Martin Taccetta, 64, formerly of East Hanover and a former New Jersey underboss, who is already serving a life sentence as a result of a state prosecution in the 1990s; John Mangrella, 72, of Clifton, a senior member of the family; and Matthew Madonna, 80, of Seldon, N.Y., a member of the three-man ruling panel of the family.
Prosecutors will recommend five years prison time for Madonna and eight years for Mangrella and Taccetta.
- Gilbert Horowitz, Gambling911.com
