Two Queens men last week were arrested for their involvement in an unlawful sports betting enterprise in the borough that annually took in hundreds of thousands of dollars in wagers on various sporting events—including professional and college basketball and football, professional baseball and hockey and other games, according to Queens District Attorney Richard Brown and Police Commissioner Bill Bratton.
A six-count indictment charges Luigi Caminiti, 34, of Whitestone, and Mirsad Dedic, 33, of Astoria, with first-degree promoting gambling. According to Brown, Caminiti and Dedic were charged with knowingly advancing or profiting from unlawful gambling activity on at least six occasions between Nov. 4 – 14, 2013, by engaging in bookmaking and receiving or accepting on a daily basis more than five bets totaling over $5,000.
Five other men allegedly involved in a related operation have been indicted on, among other charges, enterprise corruption under the state’s Organized Crime Control Act.
The enterprises allegedly handled thousands of wagers each month that generated thousands of dollars in monthly gross revenue, Brown and Bratton said. It is alleged to have relied on modern technology to generate its criminal proceeds, including toll-free telephone numbers and a gambling website—wagerstop.com (formerly known as wager4you.com) and mgmwager.com—which, in effect, served as computerized wire rooms through which the enterprises conducted much of its illegal gambling activity.
Brown said that the investigation leading to the indictments began in February 2013 when the NYPD’s Organized Crime Investigation Division shared information with the District Attorney’s Rackets and Organized Crime Bureau about an illegal sports betting operation. The investigation included physical surveillance, intelligence information and court-authorized electronic eavesdropping.
If convicted, Caminiti and Dedic each face up to four years in prison. The other defendants each face up to 25 years in prison if convicted.
