Mafia Helps New York Top Nation in Federal Gambling Arrests

Posted on: April 28, 2025, 06:49h. 

Last updated on: May 2, 2025, 11:50h.

Philip Conneller @casinoorgphilc Read More
Expertise: Gaming Business, Regulation, Tribal Gaming.
  • New York still dominates federal gambling arrests
  • Organized crime keeps illegal gambling thriving in New York
  • FBI tactics focus on using gambling cases for RICO

New York State is the biggest market in the country for sports betting and daily fantasy sports, but it still ranks as the top location for federal illegal gambling arrests, according to research by WalletHub. At least that was true in 2023, which is the most recent year of available FBI data.

New York, WalletHub, Illegal Gambling, Mafia, FBI
An alleged member of the Gambino crime family is apprehended by the FBI in 2023 as part of an international operation that targeted the Mafia in the US and Italy. (Image Sky News)

New York State saw 339 federal gambling arrests in 2023, beating Nevada’s 236, WalletHub reported.

On the surface, this would appear to fly in the face of the theory that legalizing and regulating gambling stamps out illegal operations, which has been a key argument for the liberalization of sports betting in the US in recent years.

New York is infamously home to five organized crime families, and for the New York Mafia, old habits die hard.

“Because of the infamous organized crime element in New York, there’s always going to be a black market,” WalletHub analyst Chip Lupo told the New York Post.

Mafia Entrenched

Illegal gambling has long been a major revenue stream for the Mob, along with other staples like extortion, loan sharking, protection rackets, labor racketeering, and drug trafficking.

Regulated gambling has undoubtedly hurt underground bookies and casinos. But in cities like New York, illegal gambling has deep roots going back generations, and those networks don’t just dissolve overnight.

Crucially, WalletHub’s data is extracted from the FBI’s Crime Data Explorer platform. The FBI rarely bothers with low-level gambling arrests. However, matters of organized crime tend to have federal jurisdiction because the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) was specifically designed to prosecute the Mafia.

WalletHub’s research doesn’t include illegal gambling arrests by state authorities, which likely outnumber New York’s federal arrests – particularly in states like California and Florida, which have recently been very active in disrupting low-level gambling operations, such as illegal slots parlors.

When the feds want to crack down on the New York Mafia, its gambling rackets are often an easy entry point. RICO allows prosecutors to connect multiple crimes, such as gambling, loan sharking, and money laundering, under one big conspiracy case.

If the FBI can nab a bookie at the lower end of the food chain, he can be flipped, allowing investigators to move up the ladder to bigger players.

Wise Guys Busted

While the New York Mafia is much weaker than in it was in its late 1940s to early 1980s heyday, it’s still functional, and 2023 was indeed a bumper year for arrests.

In June 2023, 17 individuals associated with the Gambino crime family, including an ex-police officer, were indicted for operating a $22.7 million illegal gambling and loansharking operation on Staten Island.

In April 2023, Genovese gangster Salvatore “Sal the Shoemaker” Rubino pleaded guilty to running an illegal gambling operation out of his Brooklyn shoe repair shop. He was part of a wider operation by the Genovese and Bonnano families that involved the protection of another corrupt cop, Hector Rosario, who awaits sentencing.

This article has been edited to amend an ealier version that incorrectly stated Rubino was part of a wider operation by the Genovese and Gambino families, as opposed to the Genovese and Bonnano families.