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Resident of Buffalo, New York arrested under suspicion of running internet sports betting and online casino ring

The June 15, 2023, By Bernard Livette

A resident of Buffalo, New York has recently been arrested by New Jersey police under suspicion of running an internet sports betting and online casino, for the Lucchese crime organization. According to the states Attorney General, Paula Dow, Ronald Cohen had been apprehended and charged with laundering funds and operating an illegal and criminal business.

In a statement to the press, Dow said that "We allege that this man was the primary facilitator for the Lucchese crime family's offshore gambling operation." The state alleges that Cohen oversaw the acceptance of billions of dollars in wagers and ensured that the website though which the wagers were placed was up and running.

Over thirty alleged members of the Lucchese family have been indicted in the last month as a result of the Gamgs and Organized Crime Bureau's Operation Heat. Among those charged are two top members of the Mafia family, Ralph Perna and Nicodermo Scarfo.

While many forms of online gambling are debatably legal under US courts' interpretation of the Wire Act, no such ambiguity exists for online sports betting. Both the Wire Act and the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act specifically outlaw all forms of sports betting, including online gambling.

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