Two men from Howard Beach, one from Maspeth and another from Long Island were indicted last week on charges they raked in more than $8 million over the past two and a half years running a sports gambling operation in Queens and on the web, Queens District Attorney Richard Brown said.
Michael Palmaccio, 39, of Howard Beach; Ronald Salerno, 33, of Howard Beach; Cono Natale, 46, of Maspeth; and Gerry Gullotti, 45, of Oceanside, LI allegedly ran a betting ring that used offshore accounts based on a gambling website to pocket massive amounts of money and would threaten to harm any gamblers who did not fork over owed funds.
“Illegal gambling is not a victimless crime,” Brown said in a prepared statement. “Those who participate in these criminal operations often use threats, intimidation and even physical force to collect debts and oftentimes charge usurious rates on outstanding debts. Today’s indictments will send a clear signal that when it comes to illegal gambling in Queens County, all bets are off.”
The four defendants were arraigned at Queens Supreme Court on April 6 on an indictment variously charging them with promoting gambling, conspiracy to commit criminal usury, and grand larceny by extortion.
Bail was set at $35,000 for Palmaccio and Gullotti and $2,500 for Natale and Salerno.
Palmaccio was charged with being the leader of the operation, while Gullotti allegedly loaned money to gamblers, charged extraordinarily high interest on the loans and threatened physical harm to get individuals to pay, Brown said. Gullotti also was charged with managing the offshore accounts based on the gambling website, arrowaction.net.
Salerno allegedly collected and distributed money from borrowers and bettors, while Natale was charged with recruiting bettors.
“It is alleged that this small operation was able to effectively compete for the illegal gambling dollars of bettors by availing themselves of modern technology,” Brown said in a statement. “By utilizing an offshore-based gambling website that possessed automated bookkeeping software that acted as ‘bookkeeper’ and ‘clerk,’ the defendants allegedly were able to reap huge profits through their unlawful gambling operation.”
Each of the four faces a list of charges, included 64 counts apiece of promoting gambling.
The men will return to Queens Supreme Court on May 4
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