Mafia associates Joseph Graziano and Dominick “Harpo” Barone were among 13 people charged back in 2012 of running a mob controlled illegal sports betting operation. Graziano the owner of the Costa Rica based sports book and his employee Barone have both agreed to plead guilty to racketeering conspiracy. The duo operated under the control of the Genovese crime family using a website named Beteagle.com to track wagers from their bettors and then collecting payments from them in person. Court documents claim that the illegal operation was being run from 2008 all way to up until the bust in May of 2012.
“Feds take down of LaScala Crew back in 2012”
The crew was being run by Genovese family capo Joseph LaScala who operated in northern New Jersey according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. An FBI informant told authorities that when he met Lascala he was introduced to him as the “godfather of New Jersey”. The 80 plus-year-old mobster climbed his way up the ranks of the mafia in New Jersey according to prosecutors before becoming a made man in the Genovese family of the New York Mafia.
Graziano agreed to forfeit $1 million dollars as part of his plea agreement and Barone agreed to a $100,00 forfeiture. They will each face up to 20 years behind bars and a max fine of $250,000 dollars when sentenced which is set for November. Fellow defendants Salvatore Turchio, Patsy “Uncle Patsy” Pirozzi, Johnny “Johnny Fu” Fugazi, and Jose Gotay have also pleaded guilty to conspiracy.
