Bookie's Suicide "Blew Up" Brooklyn DA's Mob Probe
Patrick Deluise killed himself. |
A New Jersey bookie known to suffer from panic attacks was found dead in his car in Holmdel, N.J., at 2 a.m. in late January, as reported last month.
Patrick Deluise fatally shot himsef on Jan. 22, two days after Brooklyn DA investigators had executed a search warrant on his property following a 17-month probe of an alleged illegal sports-betting and loan-sharking operations tied to the Gambino crime family, specifically associate Anthony "Butchie" Vallario, Gambino capo Louie Vallario's brother.
It was later reported (on Feb. 4) by the New York Post that investigators from the Brooklyn D.A.'s office had approached him with a cooperation deal.
Most news articles implied that Deluise committed suicide over the loan to Vallario, though the DA's office that released the information, including the wiretap transcripts, apparently had a motive to lay the blame at Vallario's feet.
He loaned Deluise $50,000 -- and Deluise had paid back nearly triple the original amount of the loan over a four-and-a-half year period. But he'd only been paying the vig, $2,400 a month.
Then there's the fact that The New York Post, in a Feb. 4 report, noted how the DA's investigation "blew up" after Deluise fatally shot himself.
A supervising investigator in the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office has been fired for skipping out on work she was getting paid for — and five other investigators are now being probed over possible overtime fraud during a lengthy, mob-tied gambling probe...
Detective Investigator Nicole Byrd, who oversaw the DA’s 24-hour command center, got caught tampering with records to show she spent “multiple” Sundays there when she was actually off doing other things, sources said.
Byrd, 46, who earned $77,226 in 2014, either left work early or never showed up at all, said sources.
“She had a hearing with a union rep, and she conceded she falsified the log books but denied ever missing work. She couldn’t explain how she wasn’t on video surveillance [at the command center],” one source said.
Byrd may have spent the time instead on her side job with the semi-pro New York Court Kings basketball team, which her LinkedIn page says she owns.
The American Basketball Association team plays on Sundays.
The five other investigators are being “looked at” by an outside law-enforcement agency for hefty OT payments — up to 40 hours a week — that four of them received during a probe of illegal sports-betting and loan-sharking operations tied to the Gambino crime family, sources said.
The fifth investigator is a supervisor who’s not entitled to extra pay, sources said.
A spokesman for DA Ken Thompson refused to discuss Byrd’s firing and denied there was a probe about overtime related to the Deluise investigation.
The bottom line here is that it seems possible that Deluise may not have committed suicide over the loan. Or it may have been a number of reasons that led him to suicide.
However, it's worth noting this strange coincidence of two suicides committed following, or during, raids by the Brooklyn DA's office.
Deluise was deep in debt to reputed Gambino associate Anthony Vallario, who loaned him $50,000 for experimental cancer treatments in Germany for his wife, who later died, according to court papers filed by the Brooklyn DA.
Vallario — whose brother, Louis, is a reputed Gambino captain and former aide to the late John Gotti — allegedly charged Deluise $2,400 a month in interest. Vallario's loan to Deluise funded experimental cancer treatment for Deluise’s terminally ill wife in Germany.
Deluise is believed to have paid $129,600 in interest on the loan to Vallario in the past four-and-a-half years, prosecutors said in the court documents, yet he still hadn't touched the principal. He was basically paying the monthly vig only.
The bookie was so worried about the loan he sought financial assistance from friends, as well as advice on securing a legitimate second mortgage.
Transcripts of wiretaps installed by Brooklyn DA investigators caught Deluise complaining about Vallario.
The friend asked Deluise if Vallario was someone he knew well enough to reason with.
“I don’t know. I thought he was, I, but, you know, he’s, he’s a f------ wiseguy.”
The Wiseguys' Take on Deluise, Vallario
A few sources spoke about Deluise and the Vallario brothers, including Michael "Mikie Scars" DiLeonardo, the only one who went on the record.
Noting he hadn't known Anthony's first name, Michael said, "He was called Butchie."
He was described as a successful bookmaker his whole life. He's still an associate supposedly because his brother didn't want him made, which DiLeonardo said was "strange."
Butchie stayed with bookmakers from other families.
DiLeonardo said that Butchie wasn't violent, "I never heard of him even getting into a fight."
A snappy dresser, Vallario was known in the life for being respectful.
Asked why Vallario wouldn't give Deluise a break on payments, the sources unanimously said that everyone is different and handles their business differently.
Michael also asked if I knew the origin of the term "shylock," noting that he did.
My understanding is the term came from a fictional character named Shylock in Shakespeare's play The Merchant of Venice. Shylock was a Venetian-Jewish moneylender -- and also the play's principal antagonist.
What do you say? I will discuss this with Michael -- I am sure he will see the comments, if anyone has anything to add.
Brooklyn D.A.'s reponse
"We are aware of the death Mr. Deluise in New Jersey and that incident is being investigated by the local police," a spokesman said.
“Any allegation that these hard-working detective investigators inflated their overtime reports is completely baseless, and there isn’t any investigation into this matter,” DA spokesman Oren Yaniv said.
Deluise was to be indicted on felony charges for running a $10 million gambling ring, court documents revealed. Brooklyn prosecutors claimed in court filings that within the next three months they planned to arrest Deluise’s two sons and three of his associates for their involvement in the ring.
Vallario, 76, of Staten Island, is the brother of Louis Vallario, a reputed Gambino captain and a onetime aide to John Gotti.
Gambling Ring Under InvestigationDeluise’s ring used online gambling sites set up offshore, including one called Wagerspot.com (which is now for sale). But Deluise, who lives in Hazlet, N.J., and his associates also faced charges for taking bets from locals over the phone and via text.
Deluise and associates collected payments and paid winnings to bettors at bars in Brooklyn's Bay Ridge section. A Dyker Heights Nathan’s restaurant parking lot was another place they used to meet up.
One Deluise associate, Pasquale Marrone of Bay Ridge, is accused of running a similar illegal-gambling ring connected to Deluise that took in more than $2 million.
Vallario, who drives a Cadillac and lives in Staten Island's Charleston neighborhood, has a history of loan-sharking, according to prosecutors.
To avoid surveillance, Vallario had his son-in-law Stephen Cucich collect payments from Deluise.
Aside from shaking down Deluise, Vallario is believed to have lent exorbitant sums to other unnamed victims, according to the court documents.
In 2005, in Brooklyn Federal Court, Anthony pleaded guilty to one count of making extortionate extensions of credit and earned two years of probation.
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