Mafia Casino Operator Arrested By US Authorities

A New York resident has been arrested by New Jersey police for suspicion of running an online sports betting operation for the Lucchese crime organization. Brian R. Cohen has been formally charged with money laundering and operating an illegal online gambling business. Cohen was arrested as he returned to the United States from Costa Rica.

He is now free on $100,000 bail but the judge ordered him to turn over his passport. Over 30 members of the Lucchese family have already been indicted on various charges which includes two top members of the mafia family, Ralph Perna and Nicodermo Scarfo. While online gambling is a grey area of the law within the United States, sports betting is illegal under the Wire Act.