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Press Release

Connecticut Man Sentenced On Gambling Charges

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Western District of New York

CONTACT:       Barbara Burns
PHONE:           (716) 843-5817 
FAX:               (716) 551-3051


ROCHESTER, N.Y. – U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul, Jr. announced today that Mark Ruff, 40, of Connecticut, who was convicted of conducting an illegal gambling business and conspiracy to commit money laundering, was sentenced to nine years n prison and three years supervised release by Chief U.S. District Judge Frank P. Geraci, Jr. Ruff was also ordered to forfeit $230,000.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert A. Marangola, who is handling the case, stated that Mark Ruff conducted an illegal gambling business with his brother Joseph Ruff, 32, and Paul Borrelli, 67, both of Rochester. The gambling operation involved sports betting through multiple offshore internet gambling websites. Mark Ruff also conspired with Joseph Ruff and others to launder $230,000 in illegal gambling proceeds. Ruff transferred the gambling proceeds from Rochester to an associate in Connecticut to conceal their source by depositing proceeds into a credit line and making subsequent cash withdrawals and writing checks from the credit line for Mark Ruff and Joseph Ruff.  Those checks included $40,000 to a local country club for Joseph Ruff which the federal government seized on August 11, 2014.

On June 24, 2014, the defendant was indicted by a federal grand jury along with Joseph Ruff and Paul Borrelli. Joseph Ruff was convicted and is awaiting sentencing on April 15, 2015. The charges against Paul Borrelli are pending. The fact that a defendant has been charged with a crime is merely an accusation and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.

The sentencing is the culmination of an investigation conducted by the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force, which included the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Internal Revenue Service, under the direction of Shantelle P. Kitchen, Special Agent in Charge, New York Field Office, Rochester Police Department, under the direction of Chief Michael Ciminelli, Drug Enforcement Administration, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge James J. Hunt, New York Field Division, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Delano A. Reid, New York Field Division, Greece Police Department, under the direction of Chief Patrick Phelan, the Webster Police Department, under the direction of Chief Gerald Pickering, and Monroe County District Attorney’s Office, under the direction of District Attorney Sandra Doorley.

Updated March 27, 2015