Reputed Mobster Sentenced for Role in Wide Spanning Sports Betting Operation

• Mobster will only be getting four months jail time despite admitting to his role as ring leader in massive sports betting biz
• Alex Conigliaro was one of 46 arrested just over a year ago for their role in the East Coast LCN Enterprise
• Initial charges included racketeering, conspiracy, arson, illegal trafficking in firearms, and conspiracy to commit assault in aid of racketeering
• FBI Assistant had said the “indictment reads like an old school mafia novel, where extortion, illegal gambling, arson and threats to ‘whack’ someone are carried out”

Alex Conigliaro, a reputed member of the Genovese organized crime family, has been sentenced to four months in jail, four months of home confinement and fined $5,000 for conducting an illegal gambling business.

Conigliaro was one of 46 arrested back in August 2016 for their alleged role in the illegal gambling ring that spanned from Springfield, Massachusetts all the way down to Florida. The organization was referred to in the complaint as the East Coast LCN Enterprise. 

That indictment included charges of racketeering, conspiracy, arson, illegal trafficking in firearms, and conspiracy to commit assault in aid of racketeering.  Not all of those named were charged with said crimes.

FBI Assistant Director-in-Charge Diego Rodriguez said at the time of the charges being handed down:  “The indictment reads like an old school mafia novel, where extortion, illegal gambling, arson and threats to ‘whack’ someone are carried out along with some modern-day crimes of credit card skimming. But the 40-plus arrests of mob associates, soldiers, capos, and a boss this morning show this isn’t fiction. As alleged, Genovese, Gambino, Luchese, and Bonanno LCN crime families are still carrying out their criminal activities from Mulberry Street here in New York City to areas of Springfield, Massachusetts. The FBI, working with our task force partners from the New York Police Department, are just as steadfast investigating and rooting out organized crime as wise guys are to bringing it our streets. We thank all our partners on this multi-year investigation, including the FBI field offices from New Haven, Newark, Miami and Boston for their assistance with operations.”

NYPD Commissioner William J. Bratton said at the time:  “The charges applied today to these 46 individuals deal a significant blow to La Cosa Nostra, which the NYPD is committed to putting out of business.  As alleged, in typical mob fashion, the rackets ran from Springfield to South Florida and left no scheme behind. These mobsters seemed to use every scheme known to us, from arson, to shake-downs, violence, health care fraud, and even untaxed cigarettes to keep the racket going.  I want to thank my friends Preet Bharara and Diego Rodriguez for their work at the Justice Department and FBI for making today’s case possible and their collaborative efforts during my tenure as Commissioner of the NYPD.”  

The LA Times report cites one particularly brutal attack:  After women in the neighborhood complained that a panhandler had bothered them in a parking lot near the restaurant, Pasquale “Patsy” Parrello allegedly ordered his associates to “break” the man’s knees.

According to the indictment, one of the men who allegedly carried out the beating, Ronald “The Beast” Mastrovincenzo, was later recorded on a wiretap saying: “[R]emember the old days in the neighborhood when we used to play baseball? … A ballgame like that was done.”

One of the associates was recorded on a wiretap saying he would “whack” a man.

Conigliaro admitted to supervising and financing the illegal betting operation between the years 2011 and 2014.

- Jagajeet Chiba, Gambling911.com