Oopsie, Boopsie, as NYC Takes Out Gambling Ring

BROOKLYN (CN) — A Lucchese family mobster who goes by Boopsie ran an illegal online gambling ring that netted $13 million in just six months, a new federal indictment charges.

Boopsie, 56, is otherwise known as Staten Island's own Eugene Castelle.

Prosecutors say he is the soldier for the Lucchese crime family and the de-facto leader of the gambling ring that Thursday's 37-count indictment shut down.

Along with five other charged co-conspirators, Castelle set up a website called stakestake.com that accepted wagers on football, horse racing and a variety of other professional and collegiate sports.

Stakestake maintained a "wireroom" in Costa Rica, according to the indictment, with Anthony Grecco running daily operations.

Brooklyn's District Attorney Ken Thompson said the 62-year-old Queens man orchestrated weekly meetings throughout New York City where customers would settle up.

DA Thompson said the gambling operation stretched from September 2015 to March 2016.

Customers logged in or called a toll-free number to place their bets.

In addition to Castelle and Grecco, the indictment takes aim at four alleged agents who collected a percentage of losing wagers placed by their bettors.

This quarted is made up of Gaetano "Tommy" Zuccarello, 67, from Brooklyn; Theodore "Teddy" Vasilakis, 40, from Queens; Ioannis "John" Dinos, 67, from Queens; and Vincent Mormile, 54, from Staten Island.

Along with Castelle and Greco, they were arraigned Thursday before Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Danny Chun.

They received bonds ranging from $25,000 to $250,000.

The men face up to 25 years in prison if convicted of the charges against them, which include enterprise corruption, first- and second-degree promoting gambling, fourth-degree money laundering and fifth-degree conspiracy.

A separate indictment accuses Grecco of running a loansharking scam with loans that exceeded 25 percent interest. He faces an additional 15 years on that charge.

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