By Alex Davidson
Gambino crime family captain Ronald Trucchio and his son entered guilty pleas Monday to charges they operated an illegal sports betting ring in Ozone Park that netted more than $600,000 per week, the Queens district attorney said.
Ronald Trucchio, 51, of 135-43 120th St. pleaded guilty in State Supreme Court in Kew Gardens in front of Judge Richard L. Buchter to attempted enterprise corruption while his son, Alphonse, 25, of 156-04 79th St. in Howard Beach, pleaded guilty to enterprise corruption, the DA said.
Buchter said he will sentence Ronald Trucchio July 21 to one to three years in prison and Alphonse Trucchio to 1 1/2 to 4 1/2 years.
“The proceeds of illegal gambling are used by organized crime to fund its other criminal activities, including auto insurance fraud, labor racketeering and prostitution,” said DA Richard Brown, who identified the elder Trucchio as a captain in the Gambino crime family.
“The defendants played the odds that they could evade detection, but they lost their gamble and now they will be sent to prison,” Brown said.
Brown said the father-son pair ran the illegal operation along with 14 other defendants, six of whom pleaded guilty late Monday. The DA said the betting ring earned profits of more than $30 million a year and the charges stemmed from a violation of New York State's Organized Crime Control Act.
Earlier last month, all defendants in the Trucchio case rejected plea deals set forth by Brown. They instead decided to postpone their decisions on pleas and held out for the last month to weigh their collective course of action.
Brown said the Trucchios' organization operated out of two separate wirerooms in a third-floor apartment at 89-07 North Conduit Ave. and in the basement of an attached, one-family house at 149-29 122nd St. – both in Ozone Park. He said the operation involved “runners” on the street taking bets on college and professional basketball, football, baseball and hockey and then communicating them through various channels to the wire room.
The DA said Ronald Trucchio was the operation's leader and controlled all aspects of the illegal operation, while his son Alphonse kept track of the various accounts.
Anthony Moscatiello, 32, of 106-65 97th St. in Ozone Park, is believed to have organized the operation's day-to-day business, including maintaining accounts and providing updates to the two Trucchios, Brown said. Brown said Moscatiello, charged with enterprise corruption, was expected to plead guilty next week.
Brown said his office began an investigation of the Trucchios in April 2002 that led to their arrest in December. He said police discovered that the largest wager placed by bettors during their investigation was a $15,000 bet Nov. 10 on a football game.
Reach reporter Alex Davidson by e-mail at TimesLedger@aol.com or by phone at 718-229-0300, Ext. 156
