This week, four individuals confessed to their roles in an alleged poker cheating operation associated with the Mafia, including a son of a notorious Gambino crime family captain and a gambler linked to multiple basketball corruption probes.
On Tuesday, July 28, Angelo Ruggiero Jr., 53, from Howard Beach, N.Y., Nicholas Minucci, 39, from East Northport, N.Y., and Shane Hennen, 41, from Philadelphia, entered guilty pleas for conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
The day before, Joseph Lanni, 54, from Staten Island, N.Y., also pled guilty to running an illegal gambling operation.
The four were among 31 defendants implicated last October in a purported scheme that leveraged hidden technology and organized teams of players to financially deceive victims in illegal high-stakes poker games.
Fraudulent Poker Games
The indictment states that the games took place in locations such as Manhattan, the Hamptons, and Las Vegas, featuring former NBA athletes Chauncey Billups and Damon Jones, which added an air of legitimacy to the operation, according to prosecutors.
Ruggiero is the child of the late Angelo “Quack Quack” Ruggiero, a Gambino captain and close ally of former family leader John Gotti.
Hennen, previously a convicted drug dealer and pool hustler, later transformed into a sports betting social media influencer.
Prosecutors claim he provided the concealed technology utilized to defraud affluent players in high-stakes poker games orchestrated by members and affiliates of the Gambino and Genovese crime families.
The technology could ascertain the value and order of cards as they were shuffled, transmitting the information to an offsite operator. This operator would then communicate the details to a player at the table via a designated “quarterback” using discreet signals, as stated in court documents.
Prosecutors also allege that Hennen participated in the games as a member of the cheating crew.
He is believed to connect the Mafia poker ring with two sports betting fraud cases.
Basketball Integrity Issues
In a separate matter, he is facing federal charges for allegedly being involved in an extensive point-shaving scheme affecting NCAA Division I basketball and China’s top professional league, the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA).
Prosecutors accuse him of playing a pivotal role in the operation by recruiting players to rig games and arranging bets based on prior knowledge of the fixes.
Additionally, he is alleged to have engaged in a betting scheme concerning former Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter, placing prop bets before January and March 2024 games after receiving insider information that Porter would intentionally underperform.
Fifteen out of the 31 defendants in the poker case have now pled guilty. Others, including alleged Bonanno crime family affiliate Ernest Aiello, supposed Genovese member Matthew Daddino, and former NBA player Chauncey Billups, are still contesting the charges.