Former mobster Michael Franzese reacted to the FBI’s raid on an NBA gambling ring tied to the Italian Mafia.
Michael Franzese worked for the Colombo crime family in the 1980s and made a fortune in the gasoline business. His father, Sonny Franzese, also a notorious mafioso, was the underboss for the Colombo crime family.
FBI Director Kash Patel on Thursday announced the arrest of more than 30 people across 11 states, including Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups and Miami Heat player Terry Rozier, as part of a takedown of a massive sports gambling ring, which included a poker scheme and “sports rigging.”
The poker scheme, which used X-ray tables to read cards face down, wireless devices, and chip tray analyzers, was tied to the Italian mafia, La Cosa Nostra.
The Bonanno, Gambino, Lucchese, and Genovese crime families were involved.
“They used off-the-shelf shuffling machines that had been secretly altered in order to read the cards in the deck, predict which player at the table had the best poker hand, and relay that information to an off-site operator,” US Attorney Joseph Nocella said.
“Defendants used other cheating technologies such as poker chip tray analyzers, which is a poker chip tray that secretly read cards using a hidden camera—special contact lenses or eyeglasses that could read pre-marked cards, and an X-ray table that could read cards face down on the table,” he said.
Terry Rozier allegedly used insider NBA information in a sports betting scheme.
According to NYC Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch, Terry Rozier actually faked an injury to leave a game early to make sure the bets paid out.
Chauncey Billups was tied to the underground, rigged poker games.
“The fraud is mind-boggling… we’re talking about tens of millions of dollars in fraud and theft and robbery across a multi-year investigation,” Patel said.
Michael Franzese reacted to the raid in an interview with investigative reporter Brian Entin.
Rudy Giuliani indicted Michael Franzese five times in the 1980s – and Franzese beat the government five times. Franzese was later indicted again on racketeering and conspiracy charges and spent several years in federal prison.
Franzese is no longer in the ‘business’ and says God transformed his life. He became a born-again Christian during his time in solitary confinement.
Brian Entin asked Franzese his thoughts on the latest mafia bust. Franzese said he isn’t surprised to see a gambling ring this large, although he did say it is unusual to see several ‘families’ working together.
Franzese did note that the Colombo crime family was not involved in this gambling ring.
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