The United States Attorney for the
District of Connecticut announced that Michael Pepe, 33, of North Haven,
pleaded guilty today before United States Magistrate Judge Thomas P. Smith in
Hartford to two counts of operating an illegal gambling business.
According to court documents and
statements made in court, in May 2012, a federal grand jury returned an
indictment charging Pepe and 19 other individuals, including alleged associates
of the Gambino organized crime family, with various federal offenses related to
their involvement in an illegal Internet sports bookmaking operation and
illegal card gambling clubs in Stamford and Hamden. The investigation, which
included the use of court-authorized wiretaps, revealed that Pepe served as the
master agent for his Stamford-based co-defendants’ gambling operations in the
greater New Haven area. In that capacity, Pepe oversaw bookmaking activities,
coordinated the collection of monetary losses from various agents (“bookies”),
and provided a portion of those illegal proceeds to a co-defendant. Pepe also
was involved in the operation of an illegal card gambling club at 2965 State
Street in Hamden, where a house percentage, commonly referred to as a “rake,”
was collected from every hand played.
As part of his plea agreement, Pepe has
agreed to forfeit $100,000.
Pepe is scheduled to be sentenced by
United States District Judge Vanessa L. Bryant in Hartford on October 29, 2012,
at which time Pepe faces a maximum term of imprisonment of five years and a
fine of up to $250,000 on each count of conviction.
The matter is being investigated by the
FBI Fairfield County Organized Crime Task Force, the Internal Revenue
Service-Criminal Investigation, the Stamford Police Department, the Bridgeport
Police Department, and the Connecticut State Police. This case is being
prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Hal Chen and Peter Jongbloed.
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