Alleged Lucchese mafia soldier and five of his associates are facing multiple racketeering charges after operating an online gambling business to take millions in illegal sports bets.
An indictment unsealed in Brooklyn federal court on Tuesday revealed that the gambling business ‘Rhino Sports’ used an offshore website and dozens of bookmakers in the New York area for the multi-million dollar scheme.
Anthony Villani, 57, of Elmsford, New York, oversaw the large-scale operation that was in business from at least 2004 through December 2020, the indictment states. He is alleged to have received more than $1 million annually from the business.
Villani, and three of his associates, Louis ‘Tooch’ Tucci, Jr., 59, of Tuckahoe, Dennis Filizzola, 58, of Cortlandt Manor, and James Coumoutsos, 59, of the Bronx, were arrested at their New York homes.
A fourth associate, Michael ‘Platinum’ Praino, 44, of the Bronx, who acted as the bookmaker or ‘bookie,’ was arrested in West Palm Beach, Florida and will appear in federal court on Thursday in West Palm Beach, Florida. A fifth associate has not yet been named.
Alleged Lucchese mafia soldier Anthony Villani meets with members of the family administration in May 2020. Villani and five of his associates are now facing multiple racketeering charges after operating an online gambling business
An indictment unsealed in Brooklyn federal court on Tuesday revealed that the gambling business ‘Rhino Sports’ used an offshore website and dozens of bookmakers in the New York area for the multi-million dollar scheme
During the more than 15 years that the operation was in business, it operated online using offshore servers in Costa Rica and employed local bookmakers to pay and collect winnings in cash, according to the indictment.
Records obtained from the business’ website indicated that Villani’s illegal gambling operation regularly took bets from between 400 and 1,300 bettors each week, most of whom were based in New York City area.
Villani’s bookmakers regularly included members and associates of the Lucchese crime family and other La Cosa Nostra families, it was alleged.
As part of the scheme, Villani employed co-conspirators Louis Tucci, Jr. and Dennis Filizzola, as runners to assist him.
During searches in December 2020, agents recovered over $407,000 in cash from one of Villani’s homes, along with brass knuckles and gambling ledgers.
The unsealed indictment has charged Villani with racketeering in connection with participation in various criminal schemes, including illegal gambling, money laundering and attempted extortion.
Reputed Genovese family wiseguy James Bernardone (right) was photographed by the FBI as he talked to reputed Genovese associate James Coumoutsos outside of a funeral home where a mob wake was being held in 2013
As one part of the money laundering, Villani and co-defendant Filizzola used gambling proceeds to purchase U.S. Postal Service money orders disguised as rent payments to a property owned by Villani.
Between April 2020 and October 2020, Villani attempted to extort an individual identified as John Doe in the indictment, including by telling John Doe: ‘I’m telling you right now, you don’t get this money – [expletive] run away.’
The charges were revealed in Brooklyn federal court on Wednesday by Breon Peace, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York and Michael J. Driscoll, Assistant Director-in-Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, New York Field Office (FBI).
‘As alleged, this conduct demonstrates how members of La Cosa Nostra continue to engage in illegal gambling operations and money laundering money-marking schemes that lead to threats of violence against anyone who stands in their way and has resulted in millions of dollars in profits to the Lucchese crime family,’ stated United States Attorney Peace.
‘These charges illustrate this Office’s continued commitment to rooting La Cosa Nostra out of New York.’
The Lucchese family is one of the most powerful of the American mafia’s five families in New York City.
‘Members of the mafia are not giving up the tried and true methods of criminal behavior, even in the face of the burgeoning world of legal gambling,’ Assistant Director-in-Charge Driscoll stated.
‘As we allege, a Lucchese soldier and other family members ran an illegal gambling operation and offered their clientele the same twisted customer service: do what they say or face terrifying consequences. One thing these criminals can bet on – the FBI will continue our pursuit.’
Sometimes referred to as ‘Lukes’ the Lucchese family was originally entrenched in rackets surrounding the garment industry. It gets its name from its second crime boss Tommy Lucchese , who served as a generally peaceful boss from 1951 to 1967.
That changed, under the leadership of Victor ‘Little Vic’ Amuso aka ‘The Deadly Don’ and his underboss Anthony ‘Gaspipe’ Caso, who ushered in one of the deadliest periods of organized crime from the early 1980s to the early 1990s. They’re estimated to be responsible for more than 100 hits and even deployed to NYPD cops to carry out some of their rubouts.
The mob organization took a serious hit in 2017 when some 17 members were indicted on charges of racketeering, murder, money laundering, illegal gambling, narcotics and selling bootleg cigarettes.