Jun.29, 2010

MORRISTOWN, N.J. - More than two dozen reputed members and associates of the Lucchese organized crime family were arraigned in Superior Court on Monday in a multipronged racketeering case built around what authorities allege was a $2 billion illegal sports-betting operation.

Two New York-based leaders of the crime family as well as the hierarchy of the New Jersey branch of the organization face gambling, extortion, and money-laundering charges detailed in a 34-count indictment handed up last month by a state grand jury.

Among those named in the indictment was Nicodemo S. Scarfo, 44, son of jailed Philadelphia mob boss Nicodemo D. "Little Nicky" Scarfo.

Scarfo, represented by Cherry Hill lawyer Donald Manno, was one of 32 defendants who entered not-guilty pleas before Morris County Superior Court Judge Thomas V. Manahan in a series of rapid-fire arraignments.

All but one defendant, Martin Taccetta, remain free on bail.

Taccetta, 59, a former crime family underboss and top New Jersey operative for the organization, is currently in state prison serving a life sentence on unrelated racketeering and murder charges.

He appeared in court Monday in handcuffs, shackled, and wearing a beige prison jumpsuit.

Other key defendants in the case include a pair of white-haired 74-year-olds, Joseph DiNapoli of Scarsdale, N.Y., and Matthew Madonna of Seldon, N.Y., who allegedly sit on the ruling panel of the crime family.

State authorities allege the Lucchese organization ran a highly lucrative sports-betting ring that used the Internet, computer passwords, and a wire room in Costa Rica. In the 15 months that ended in December 2007, investigators allege, the gambling operation generated over $2 billion in bets.

Based on extensive wiretaps and information provided through surveillance and cooperating witnesses, prosecutors contend that members of the organization also engaged in extortion to collect gambling debts.

The case also includes charges of money laundering, bank fraud, and drug dealing. Several individuals are charged with smuggling drugs and cell phones into Northern State Prison in Newark.

The smuggling operation, authorities allege, was a joint venture from which members of the Lucchese crime family and the Bloods street gang benefited.

In addition to Scarfo and Taccetta, a third alleged high-ranking member of the New Jersey faction of the organization, Ralph V. Perna, 64, is charged.

Perna replaced Scarfo as the top-ranking member of the Lucchese organization in New Jersey in 2007, according to court documents.

Perna faces racketeering charges connected to the gambling operation and, like DiNapoli and Madonna, faces a charge of being a leader of organized crime.

For Perna, the case is literally a family affair.

His sons Joseph M., 40, Ralph M., 38, and John G., 32, and his son Joseph's wife, Roseanna, 36, also are named in the indictment.