More Pre-Super Bowl Gambling Busts: Five Suspects Charged in Queens
The Queens District Attorney’s Office, long notorious for cracking down on sports betting rings, has arrested five men alleged to have organized criminal ties just days before the biggest betting event of the year, the Super Bowl.
The indictments “send a clear signal that when it comes to illegal gambling in Queens County, all bets are off,” said Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown.
Christopher Morrissey, 42, of Yonkers, was identified as the kingpin of the operation and charged with enterprise corruption, money-laundering, promoting gambling and conspiracy, according to the New York Daily News.
Mitch Fusco, 51, of Yonkers; Louis Cavalli, 56, of Yonkers; Sean Murtagh, 42, of Mount Vernon; and Brian Hull, 37, of the Bronx were also named in the 34-count indictment. Two other individuals were charged only with promotion of gambling.
The ring was able to “reap huge profits” between February 2013-April 2014, said Brown. The operation utilized both a website and call center.
Wiretaps and surveillance were used as part of the investigation.
On Wednesday, authorities in Oregon took down a significant sports betting ring that is also alleged to have engaged in marijuana distribution across state lines.
- Jagajeet Chiba, Gambling911.com
