Police arrest brothers in suburban Philadelphia gambling ring

[clevfan]

Police arrest brothers in suburban Philadelphia gambling ring

5/31/2006, 11:57 a.m. ET
By JOANN LOVIGLIO
The Associated Press


NORRISTOWN, Pa. (AP) - An increase in beatings led to a gambling investigation and bookmaking charges against the son-in-law of late Philadelphia Mayor Frank L. Rizzo, a prosecutor said Wednesday.

Joseph Vito Mastronardo Jr., who is married to Joanna Rizzo, was charged with bookmaking and conspiracy, Montgomery County District Attorney Bruce Castor said. His brother John Mastronardo also was charged with similar counts, Castor said.

Castor said the brothers were expected to plead guilty, but not as part of a plea agreement. They each face a maximum possible sentence of 10 years in prison, he said.

Investigators stumbled into a wider gambling probe after police in Souderton said they saw an increase in beatings that they believed were connected to a gambling ring.

Investigators recently searched the Mastronardo brothers' homes and a car and came away with more than $2 million in cash, Castor said.

Joseph Mastronardo's lawyer, Dennis J. Cogan, did not immediately return a message left at his office.

Mastronardo, who was convicted in 1987 on federal gambling charges, once ran a gambling operation that grossed $50 million a year, according to a 1990 report by the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency.

[OLD MAN]

50 mil a year??......thats a lot of writing for 2 clerks[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-shocked.gif[/img]

[stuckinvegas]

they always exagerate those figures!

[(sportman)]

How's a guy supposed to make a living?

[Buck Swope]

Luke, know of any good vacation destinations for these fine gentlemen?

[(sportman)]

I do and they are OFF to see the Wizard

[clevfan]

Thu, Jun. 01, 2006



Mastronardo duo face bet counts
By WILL BUNCH

phillynews.com

He once was a political albatross around the neck of his famous father-in-law, the late Philadelphia Mayor Frank Rizzo.

But this time, the only thing at risk with the arrest of alleged big-time, high-tech bookie Joseph Mastronardo, now 56, is his future freedom, and his reputation.

Mastronardo and his brother, John, 50 - a former Eagles draft choice - were charged with bookmaking yesterday after authorities in suburban Montgomery County seized $2.7 million in cash, mostly from Joseph's home and from his Cadillac.

But the new charges also threaten the reputation of Mastronardo - who has a long history of gambling-related arrests - as someone who was above the normally rough-and-tumble world of bookmaking.

Montgomery County District Attorney Bruce L. Castor Jr. said at a news conference that an investigation began after police in Souderton said they noticed an increase in violence that was apparently the result of unpaid gambling debts. Castor stressed that the alleged ring is not tied to organized crime.

Yesterday's charges might seem a blast from the past for Philadelphia political junkies. Mastronardo is married to the late mayor's daughter, Joanna, and his arrest in 1983 - at the height of a closely fought mayoral race between Rizzo and eventual winner, W. Wilson Goode - sent shock waves through that year's campaign.

Then, Rizzo accused the Police Department - where he famously had been commissioner - of "acting like a bunch of KGB agents" by picking the hour of a televised mayoral debate to raid a $30-million-a-year betting ring operated by his son-in-law.

In fact, detectives showed up at a debate-viewing fund-raiser, sponsored by the Rizzo campaign, in search of Mastronardo that night. Rizzo fumed that "there's nothing that important about bookmaking" and that the sole intent of the raid was to embarrass him politically.

Joseph Mastronardo was convicted in 1987 on federal gambling charges. According to a 1990 report by the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency, he once ran a gambling operation that grossed $50 million a year.

Apparently, authorities don't agree with the contention of Rizzo, who died in 1991, that bookmaking isn't that important. In recent weeks, investigators had wiretapped Mastronardo's phones before seizing the cash last month.

Officials said Mastronardo ran an Internet gambling site called betroma.com. The 1990 crime report had noted at that time that he used computerized statements and that, at least then, "strong-arm tactics or violence were not used to collect debts."

The Mastronardo brothers were arraigned before Magisterial District Judge Walter Gadzicki and bail was set at $100,000. Both waived their rights to a preliminary hearing. Castor said yesterday that the brothers are expected to plead guilty.

Each faces a maximum possible sentence of 10 years in prison.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[clevfan]

Thu, Jun. 01, 2006



Brothers charged in $2.7 million betting ring

By Keith Herbert
Philly Inquirer Staff Writer

The $20 and $100 bills formed a $2.7 million green-paper pyramid, large enough to cover a 24-square-foot table.

"It's the most I've seen in my career," said Montgomery County Detective Chief Oscar Vance, a law enforcement officer for more than 40 years.

District Attorney Bruce L. Castor Jr. displayed the seized cash yesterday while announcing the arrest of Joseph Vito Mastronardo, known as a "gentleman gambler" and as "Vito the Line."

Mastronardo, 56, of Huntingdon Valley, is the son-in-law of the late Philadelphia Mayor Frank Rizzo.

He and his brother, John V. Mastronardo, 50, of Blue Bell, an Eagles draft pick in the late 1970s, were charged yesterday with bookmaking and criminal conspiracy. They surrendered to authorities and were released after posting 10 percent of $100,000 bail - about one stack of seized $100 bills.

"No one is really shocked that sports gambling is going on here," said Dennis Cogan, Joseph Mastronardo's attorney, outside Magisterial District Justice Walter F. Gadzicki Jr.'s office.

Cogan said his client only takes bets from people "who can afford to lose." And he said the only consequence suffered by someone who doesn't pay Joseph Mastronardo is that they can no longer bet with him.

"There's never been any mob connection here," Cogan said.

A 1990 report by the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency estimated then that Joseph Mastronardo's gambling operation took in $50 million annually.

The brothers admitted in court yesterday that they were convicted in a federal gambling prosecution in 1987. Joseph Mastronardo served 18 months in prison, and his brother served three months.

When the judge asked the men to state their profession, both answered, "professional gambler."

The Montgomery County investigation began in February when Telford police arrested Sam Ho for assaulting another man over a gambling debt, police said.

Telford and Souderton police identified Ho as a street-level member of a Vietnamese sports-betting ring in northern Montgomery County, court records state.

Through surveillance and wiretaps of ring members, police were eventually led to a Web site, betroma.com, and later to the Mastronardo brothers, court records state.

On April 24, detectives had Joseph Mastronardo under surveillance and stopped him as he returned from a Florida trip. Police seized $500,000 cash from the car and another $2 million from his home and other locations, where secret compartments had been built by a cabinetmaker to hide money, court records state.

Authorities have identified 16 others who may be charged in the gambling ring.

"There's every indication that this is a multimillion-dollar operation that has been going on for some time," Castor said.

The charges against the brothers are misdemeanors. Prosecutors and defense attorneys said they expect the case to be resolved by guilty pleas.

Castor said his office will seek jail sentences for the defendants. Cogan said he believes the state's sentencing guidelines call for probation or a few months in prison.

The seized cash will be spent to "help enforce the criminal laws of Montgomery County," Castor said.

[clevfan]

06/01/2006
All bets are off
By: MARGARET GIBBONS , Times Herald Staff


District Attorney Bruce L. Castor Jr. announced the arrests of Joseph V. Mastronardo Jr., 56, of the 1600 block of Stocton Road, Abington, and John V. Mastronardo, 50, of the first block of Devonshires Court, Blue Bell, on charges of bookmaking and conspiracy.
Joseph Mastronardo, who is the son-in-law of the late Philadelphia Mayor Frank L. Rizzo, and John Mastronardo, a former standout Villanova University wide receiver who was drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles in the 1970s, were arraigned before District Judge Walter F. Gadzicki Jr.
Each was released on $100,000 or 10 percent bail.
Authorities in the next week will be arresting 16 others who had lesser roles in the betting ring, which also included an Internet betting service called "betroma.com."
With the arrests of the Mastronardo brothers imminent, county detectives went to the Web site as late as April 26 and discovered that the two were still trying to keep the site operational.
A message posted on the site said, "Sorry for the inconvenience. We will be back up shortly," according to Castor.
Castor said the Mastronardo brothers already have agreed to plead guilty to the charges against them and to forfeit the $2.57 million in illegal gambling proceeds that his office confiscated from the pair.
The brothers, both who were previously convicted of operating illegal sports betting operations in the 1980s, each face up to a maximum of 10 years in prison on the charges.
"I think prison is an appropriate disposition and we will be seeking jail time," said Castor, noting that there was no agreement on a sentence.
As with other confiscated illegal gains other than drug money, the funds will be used for general law enforcement purposes. In the past, said First Assistant District Attorney Risa Vetri Ferman, the office has spent this money on investigations and equipment such as bulletproof vests and technology. The funds are used not only for the district attorney's needs but also for law enforcement agencies throughout the county, she added.
County detectives Chief Oscar P. Vance Jr. said the $2.57 million is the single largest confiscation of cash that he has seen in his 43 years in law enforcement.
And, by the time the others are arrested, that sum likely will exceed $3 million, according to Castor.
The investigation that led to this gambling bust and confiscation of cash got its start in Souderton, which is served by a police force of six full-time officers including the chief.
Souderton police in early 2005 began to notice a pattern of violence by those having a Vietnamese heritage in the collection of bad sports gambling debts in that area, Castor said.
"There were three beatings in a short period of time," explained Souderton Det. Joseph Kelly Jr.
The borough police, developing informants, subsequently determined that there was a possibility of a regional sports betting operation being conducted in that area.
Realizing that further investigation would require wiretaps and undercover work, Souderton turned to the district attorney's office for assistance, Castor said.
In December 2005, a county detective began placing bets with the sports betting ring. He was eventually cut off, not by the district attorney's office even though he lost $1,000 in one week, but by the betting ring because the detective was not betting or losing enough, according to Castor.
However, by that time, the detective had developed some contacts and the surveillance began. It was at this time that authorities learned of the Internet service, which operated out of an office in Philadelphia, and, with wiretaps, authorities began moving up the ring's hierarchy until learning of the Mastronardo brothers' involvement, said Castor.
Additional wiretaps were secured. In one conversation, Castor said, there was a conversation with a cabinetmaker. In questioning this cabinetmaker, Castor said, authorities learned that he had built secret compartments in Mastronardo's Abington home and furniture to hide cash from authorities using search warrants.
In addition, information gleaned from the wiretaps indicated that the Internet service was expanding to a Glenside office and work also was under way to renovate a Lower Gwynedd office.
As a result of the wiretaps and surveillance, authorities learned at the end of April that Joe Mastronardo was bringing a large amount of cash back to Montgomery County from Florida. He was stopped in his car when he returned to the state and, at the same time, authorities implemented 24 other search warrants they had obtained, Castor said.
Castor attributed the delay between the execution of the search warrants and the arrests to the negotiations that resulted in the forfeiture of the funds and the details of the guilty pleas by the two brothers. These negotiations saved future court time and challenges, said Castor.
The other 16 suspects and the limited information provided on them in the Mastronardo criminal complaint are: Schuyler C. Twaddle of Chesterbrook in Chester County; Nickolas J. Marsilio of Croydon in Bucks County; Joseph Cardella of Philadelphia; Kenneth Cohen and Eric C. Woehlcke of Flourtown; Connell McConeghy of Blue Bell; Brian Burke of Archbald, Pa.; Bryan Marion and Ponteleone "Andy" Belardino of Trenton, N.J.; Thomas Chiantese and Edward Feighan of Towamencin; Hau Tran of Hatfield Township; Hung Pham of Harleysville; Ba Huynh of Souderton; Duong Bui of Telford; and Sam Ho, current address unknown.
The roles of the suspects in the gambling operation, according to the criminal complaint, are:
* betroma.com: Headed by the Mastronardo brothers.
* Employees of betaroma.com and/or receiving commissioners for their roles in the bookmaking: Schuyler C. Twaddle, Nickolas J. Marsilio, Joseph Cardella, Kenneth Cohen, Eric C. Woehlcke, Connell McConeghy.
* Bookmakers "laying off" to, receiving commission from or committing alleged criminal acts in association with the Mastronardo brothers: Brian Burke, Bryan Marion, Ponteleone "Andy" Belardino, Thomas Chiantese and Edward Feighan.
* Bookmaker associated with Feighan and betroma.com: Hau Tran.
* Bookmakers associated with Hau Tran and linked to the Mastronardo brothers and betroma.com by Tran's link to Feighan and who committed criminal acts: Hau Tran, Hung Pham, Ba Huynh, Duong Bui and Sam Ho.

[scott]

<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote>Originally posted by: stuckinvegas

they always exagerate those figures!</end quote></div>

If there's cash involved bet the under. How much of it goes south?

[clevfan]

Sun, Jun. 11, 2006



Gambling-ring brothers are folding
The Mastronardos will plead guilty to misdemeanor charges and won't contest the seizure of $2.7 million cash.

By George Anastasia
Philly Inquirer Staff Writer

Joe and John Mastronardo, the bookmaking brothers from Montgomery County, have made a fine living over the years taking bets and playing the odds.

Their fancy homes in Meadowbrook and Blue Bell, their expensive cars, and their comfortable lifestyles are testaments to their success.

But last month, with $2.7 million on the line, the self-described professional gamblers folded. They decided to walk away rather than take a shot at getting their money back.

In a deal negotiated with the Montgomery County District Attorney's Office, the Mastronardos have agreed to plead guilty to misdemeanor gambling charges and not to contest the seizure of the cash District Attorney Bruce Castor claims came from their "multimillion-dollar" gambling network.

In exchange, Castor has agreed not to file more serious felony charges against the two.

The case offers a glimpse inside the world of high-stakes sports betting, a world where Joseph "Joe Vito" Mastronardo, 56, is a legend. In that regard, the $2.7 million hit is an indication of how lucrative his bookmaking operation is.

Call it a cost of doing business.

But there was a second element at play in the case: family.

"Some things are more important than money," said attorney Dennis Cogan, who represents Joseph Mastronardo and who is a friend of Joe and John, 50.

The Mastronardos decided not to fight the charges or try to recoup the cash seized during a series of raids on April 24, because Castor's office was threatening to arrest several other family members.

The list of potential targets in the investigation included the Mastronardos' elderly parents, Joseph and Lucy; their businesswoman sister Cindy; and Joe Mastronardo's wife, Joanna, and their 23-year-old son, Joey.

Joanna Mastronardo is the daughter of the late Mayor Frank Rizzo. Joey Mastronardo is Rizzo's only grandchild.

Whether there was enough evidence for the charges to stick was immaterial. The Mastronardo brothers didn't want to risk setting off the media frenzy such allegations could have generated. Think of the headline: "Rizzo's daughter and grandson charged in bookmaking probe."

"I think this was a good deal for everybody involved," said Castor, who by law can spend the $2.7 million on law enforcement activities that otherwise would require taxpayer dollars.

In an interview Wednesday, Castor said the case against the Mastronardos was solid, built primarily around wiretapped conversations. But he also conceded that the threat of charging family members may have helped negotiations along.

"There was some value in not having your wife and family members arrested," he said.

Free on bail, the Mastronardos face possible jail terms when sentenced, although probation is also a possibility. Their business, for now, appears to be shut down. A Web site they used - with ties to a gambling operation in Costa Rica - was not in service last week.

At a hearing following their arrests, both brothers described themselves as "professional gamblers." Cogan said that has never been in dispute.

But what he does dispute is the insinuation that the Mastronardo operation was somehow tied to a Vietnamese gambling ring and a series of assaults that were the catalyst for the county investigation.

In fact, a member of the Vietnamese ring was bringing gambling bets to an associate of the Mastronardos. A wiretap on the associate's phone led investigators to the brothers.

Both Castor and First Assistant District Attorney Risa Vestri Ferman said in response to Cogan's complaints that there was no indication that the Mastronardos were involved in or even had knowledge of the alleged beatings.

Joe Mastronardo's reputation always has been that of the quintessential nonviolent businessman gambler - a sports betting entrepreneur, whose use of the Internet is a sign of how he has adapted with the times.

Fifteen years ago, Mastronardo was cutting-edge, with his use of toll-free phone lines, recorded betting orders, and computerized billing statements. Now, according to the current investigation, he's got off-shore betting through a Web site accessed by passwords issued to customers.

Then, as now, Cogan emphasized, customers were never harassed. Those who failed to pay their debts in years past were simply denied the right to bet with the Mastronardos.

On the Internet, those who didn't bring enough action, the investigation showed, simply had their passwords canceled.

The bottom line, however, was this: While the technology may have changed, the game - and the action - were still the same.

In just three weeks of wiretapped conversations that began on April 5, detectives in Montgomery County heard discussions about payouts and collections of significant sums of cash - $190,000 in one instance, $201,000 in another, and $279,000 in a third, according to documents in the case.

On the day Joe Vito was arrested, he was returning from Florida. In his Cadillac, authorities seized $500,000 in cash. A raid on his home netted another $1 million, and raids at other locations, including John's home, turned up $1.2 million more.

That's the money the brothers are willing to walk away from.

It may be one measure of their success.

Another is found in Montgomery County property records, where Joe Mastronardo's home is assessed at $1.1 million.

The two-story, tan and green European-style villa is on a corner lot in the exclusive Meadowbrook section of Huntingdon Valley.

John Mastronardo's home in Blue Bell is a somewhat more modest property for which, records show, the former Villanova University football star paid $491,845 in 1997.

Both brothers apparently have rebounded from federal gambling convictions back in 1987 that landed Joe in jail for 18 months and John for three.

In fact, in gambling circles the perception has always been that the Mastronardos were open for business.

"They've been booking for the past 20 years," mob associate Angelo Lutz said in a telephone call from a federal prison last week. Lutz, serving an eight-year sentence on gambling and extortion charges, said he'd happily trade his legal problems for those facing the Mastronardos.

"For me, they make gambling a federal offense," the rotund former street-corner wiseguy said. Then he paused, and added, "Maybe that's because I didn't have $2 million to give up."


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[Don Eagleston]

Angelo Lutz is a Philly legend. He was a 400-pound mob wannabe before his prison stint. Perhaps prison food has resulted in him losing a few pounds. Castor is an excellent DA.

[OLD MAN]

" the cost of doing business "......truer words could not have been spoken......................

[ronbets]

&lt;&lt;The Mastronardos decided not to fight the charges or try to recoup the cash seized during a series of raids on April 24, because Castor's office was threatening to arrest several other family members&gt;&gt;

DA Castor learned this from the Columbians. IOW, fukk with us and we'll get your family. Similar theory without the physical violence.........same result.

[Total Square]

<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote>Originally posted by: ronbets

&lt;&lt;The Mastronardos decided not to fight the charges or try to recoup the cash seized during a series of raids on April 24, because Castor's office was threatening to arrest several other family members&gt;&gt;



DA Castor learned this from the Columbians. IOW, fukk with us and we'll get your family. Similar theory without the physical violence.........same result.</end quote></div>

it pays pretty well too [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]

[clevfan]

Thu, Jul. 13, 2006

Millions are D.A.'s windfall

By Jeff Shields
Inquirer Staff Writer

The prosecutors and police officers marveled when Montgomery County District Attorney Bruce Castor six weeks ago piled a table high with $2.7 million in cash confiscated in a gambling arrest.

No one present that day had ever seen such a fortune - perhaps the largest seizure of its kind in state history. It was equal to almost a quarter of Castor's annual budget.

But even more amazing than the windfall itself: Castor can decide how the money is spent without ever telling the public what he did with it.

It's a quirk of state law that has observers scratching their heads. New Jersey, for example, requires quarterly reports of such seized assets.

"I can't conceive of a justification to completely shield that money from public scrutiny," said Witold Walczak, the ACLU of Pennsylvania's legal director.

Castor - like every other district attorney in Pennsylvania - is only required to spend the proceeds of gambling investigations and other nondrug criminal cases for "law enforcement" purposes.

In drug arrests, specific rules govern how forfeited assets are used, and the proceeds are publicly accounted for. Reports show that cash has been used to finance everything from undercover investigations to local community antidrug programs.

Castor's seized gambling funds need only be audited by the Montgomery County controller, and Castor says the results will be kept confidential.

"My official position is, I don't see any mechanism in the law" to require public disclosure, Castor said.

The Philadelphia District Attorney's Office took the same position. Cathie Abookire, spokeswoman for District Attorney Lynne M. Abraham, said, "It appears that it's not public information."

Former Montgomery County District Attorney Michael Marino, now county solicitor, said the top law enforcement official in the county doesn't need anyone to tell him how to spend forfeiture money.

Marino and his staff stopped using confiscated drug vehicles - including two Corvettes - to drive to and from work in 1988 after public criticism of the policy.

Despite refusing to release his most recent internal audit of nondrug funds, Castor let a reporter review it. "I don't want the public to think there's anything sneaky going on here," he said. Castor said he did not want to set a precedent by releasing it.

"Donations" accounted for nearly half of the relatively minuscule $80,752 in nondrug-forfeiture cash spent in the year ending June 30, 2005. His office seized $64,600 in nondrug money that fiscal year.

Castor said money went to groups such as the Police Athletic League, DARE, and anti-drunk-driving campaigns. He would not disclose a full list of the recipients and the size of individual donations.

He also spent nearly $15,000 on vehicles and $7,700 to fund state police patrols in Norristown.

Montgomery County Commissioner Ruth Damsker, a Democrat, said gambling proceeds should have the same disclosure requirements as drug money.

"I think somebody should have oversight - and taxpayers should have oversight," Damsker said of the Republican district attorney. "This is not a private cache of anyone."

Castor's $11 million annual budget is reviewed and must be approved by the commissioners.

Castor said he plans to use the $2.7 million to buy equipment that he would otherwise ask the commissioners to fund, and use the savings to hire more prosecutors.

The reason drug money is treated differently than cash and property seized from other criminal activity stems from the 1988 drug forfeiture law.

That law required district attorneys to provide annual audits of drug seizures to the attorney general, who compiles a public report, to discourage misuse of confiscated property.

Generally, forfeited drug funds go to train prosecutors and police, and to buy guns, cars, bulletproof vests, dogs and cameras for county detectives, the county correctional facility, sheriff's office and police departments, Castor said.

In 2005 Pennsylvania's district attorneys collected more than $24 million in drug-related assets, according to the attorney general. Proceeds are to be spent on drug investigations, drug abuse education, and witness protection.

New Jersey prosecutors must submit public reports quarterly that detail all of their forfeiture funds, drugs, gambling or otherwise, according to county prosecutors in Camden and Gloucester Counties.

In Pennsylvania, no such public report exists for money seized in gambling, prostitution or other nondrug cases.

The $2.7 million came from Joseph and John Mastronardo, Montgomery County bookmaking brothers who gave up efforts to recover the money when Castor threatened to arrest their family members.

Joseph, son-in-law of former Philadelphia Mayor Frank L. Rizzo, and John, a former Eagles draft pick, have agreed to plead guilty to misdemeanor gambling charges.


http://www.philly.com/mld/inqu...ews/local/15025068.htm

[dinque]

d.a. hines usually puts it in his pinnacle account

[mjh218]

This doesn't suprise me at all, nothing more corrupt than philly politics

[dinque]

not just philly.greed is everywhere,even my hamster,mr. tulip,has his moments