By Matthew Monks
A $10.5 million betting and loansharking ring in Glendale, Middle Village and Floral Park, Queens was broken up last week in the third bust this year of a multimillion-dollar operation controlled by the Queens-based crime family, prosecutors said.The enterprise was headed by Bonanno captain Anthony Rabito, 71, of Brooklyn and enforcer Salvatore Scudiero, 72, of Woodside, who threatened bodily harm to loan-sharking victims who were slow to make payments on loans with a 156 percent yearly interest rate, Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown said.During an 18-month police investigation, their 12-man crew raked in $210,000 a week from wire rooms at 64-19 74th St. in Middle Village, 72-18 82nd St. in Glendale, 264-14 East Williston Ave. in Floral Park and others in Brooklyn, Manhattan and Staten Island, Brown said.Six suspects are from Queens and the whole gang was indicted on various gambling charges last Thursday in Queens Supreme Court just under a month after a separate $360 million Bonanno-controlled gambling ring with 36 members was dismantled for taking bets in Kew Gardens and Flushing, the DA said. In April, a band of 17 Bonanno and Genovese crime family associates were charged with handling $12.5 million in illegal bets from sports bars in Maspeth, Flushing and Ridgewood, police said.”Mob-linked gambling has been a persistent problem,” NYPD Commissioner Raymond Kelly said. “These (latest) arrests signify that the Police Department and prosecutors will be just as persistent.”The suspects include:¥ Thomas Ferrante, 68, of Woodside, who allegedly ran the enterprise's day-today operations settling bettor disputes, overseeing debts and payouts, supervising lower-ranking cronies and shifting runners between wire rooms.¥ George Castronova, 56, of Floral Park and Alexander Noce 72, of Middle Village, who prosecutors said were bookmakers who ran wire rooms and managed bettors' accounts.¥ Joseph Castronova, 31, of Glendale, and David Treccagnoli, 75, of Middle Village. Brown said the two allegedly were wire room clerks who took bets over the phone and managed gambling accounts for the runners and bettors.¥ Frank Esposito, 71, of Ridgewood, is charged with being a runner who managed group of bettors, giving out a phone number to the wire rooms where they could place their wages.The other suspects are Frank Tramontano, 72, and Thomas Dimicelli, 57, of Staten Island; Manuel Frese, 76, of Brooklyn and Carl Gueli, 58, of Great Neck, L.I.Reach reporter Matthew Monks by e-mail at news@timesledger.com or by phone at 718-229-0300, Ext. 156.
