Bergen County Prosecutor John Molinelli and New Jersey State Police Superintendent Rick Fuentes announced today the arrests and/or pending charges against 42 individuals and the execution of 24 search warrants in Bergen, Hudson, Monmouth and Ocean Counties. The search warrants resulted in the seizure of approximately five pounds of marijuana, five vehicles and the seizure of over five $5 million. The arrests and search warrants are for various crimes relating to traditional organized crime activities occurring in and around Bergen County, to include racketeering, promoting gambling, money laundering and the distribution of narcotics.The arrests are the result of a seven-month long joint investigation by members of the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office, Special Investigation Squad, under the direction of Chief Joseph Macellaro, and the New Jersey State Police, Organized Crime Bureau North, under the direction of State Police Lieutenant Dean Voris.
The investigation of illegal gambling and money laundering activities began in August 2007, occurring in and around Bergen County. The investigation focused on several individuals involved in controlling a large-scale illegal gambling ring, which was based in Bergen County but also had individuals controlling factions of it in Monmouth and Ocean Counties.
The Genovese organized crime family allegedly controls the group, and several of the individuals arrested for their part in controlling this illegal enterprise and are known associates of the Genovese crime family, according to Bergen County officials.
The investigation indicated that Mark Iafelice, Brian DiGuilmi, James W. Skinner and his son, James J. Skinner, controlled the illegal gambling portion.
Bernard Duffy acted as mid-level manager on behalf of the Skinner’s, reports said. These five individuals operate along with a large network of operatives or “agents” who were running individual gambling “packages” on their behalf.
These co-conspirators were paid a “commission”, or percentage of the profits being reaped by organization. These “agents” were the ones responsible for meeting with individual bettors to pay out winnings or collect losses. The bettors were placing their wagers on a wide variety sporting events, including college, professional and horseracing, reports said.
The bettors placed wagers with an offshore “wire room,” located in the Dominican Republic either by telephone or on the Internet.
Bettors as well as “agents” were given code names and passwords in an effort to prevent law enforcement from identifying them, and would use these code names when communicating with the wire room.
As the investigation progressed, evidence of widespread, street level narcotics distribution was uncovered in the southern Bergen County area. The investigative team began to focus on this as well, and as a result additional evidence was obtained regarding the drug distribution network. The drug distribution included the distribution of crack cocaine, powder cocaine, marijuana and the illegal sale of prescription narcotics.
The investigation is continuing and more arrests are expected.
All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty.
Molinelli and Fuentes would like to thank members of the participating law enforcement agencies that assisted this investigation, in particular the East Rutherford Police Department.
