Numerous New Jersey residents including three men from Bayonne admitted on Wednesday to taking part in a criminal affiliated website that engaged in illegal online sports gambling, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
The men pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Claire C. Cecchi in federal court in Newark to one count of racketeering conspiracy, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
It is not unheard of to operate online gambling websites from countries outside the United States. In this case, although the website was operated from Costa Rica, it so operated from various regions in the U.S. Moreover, the three men who were agents for the sports betting website “Beteagle”, dealt with everyone in person and would issue bettors with a username and password, pay the winners, and collected money from losses.
According to the information released from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, this case is “The Sopranos” crossed with “Runner Runner” and has all the makings of Hollywood’s next “mafia” movie. When losing bettors did not pay, they were threatened with violence. When agents signed up new bettors, they had to pay higher-ranked members a cash fee. The collection of loses was supposedly overseen by a “capo” and made member of the Genovese crime family.
To find information on this story, visit the NJ.com news article.
