Luchese Soldier, Others Indicted For Operating Longtime Illegal Gambling Business
On September 14, in Federal court in Brooklyn, an indictment was unsealed charging six defendants for their roles overseeing and operating a large-scale illegal, online gambling business under the protection of the Luchese organized crime family. In operation for more than 15 years, the gambling business known as “Rhino Sports,” utilized an offshore website and dozens of bookmakers in the New York area to take millions in illegal sports bets. Anthony Villani, middle, from 2020, as he meets with other alleged Luchese wiseguys. Four of the defendants, Luchese crime family soldier Anthony Villani and associates Louis Tucci, Jr., Dennis Filizzola and James Coumoutsos, were arrested at their residences in the New York area. A fifth defendant, bookmaker Michael Praino, was arrested in West Palm Beach, Florida. Breon Peace, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York and Michael J. Driscoll, Assistant Director-in-Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, New York Field Office