Philadelphia La Cosa Nostra Associate Pleads Guilty to Illegal Gambling
| U.S. Attorney’s Office February 27, 2013 |
PHILADELPHIA—Robert Verrecchia, 43, of Philadelphia, pleaded guilty today to conducting an illegal gambling business. U.S. District Judge Eduardo C. Robreno scheduled a sentencing hearing for June 19, 2013.
At the plea hearing, Verrecchia pleaded guilty to assisting Philadelphia La Cosa Nostra family underboss Joseph Massimino in operating an illegal gambling business involving video poker machines and sports bookmaking activities at an establishment known as “Lou’s Crab Bar” in South Philadelphia. Verrecchia faces up to 12 months in prison under federal sentencing guidelines.
The case is being investigated by the FBI, the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation, the Pennsylvania State Police, the New Jersey State Police, the Philadelphia Police Department, and the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Inspector General Office of Labor Racketeering and Fraud Investigations, and the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration. Additional assistance was provided by the New Jersey Department of Corrections.
The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney John S. Han of the Criminal Division’s Organized Crime and Gang Section and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Frank A. Labor, III and Suzanne B. Ercole of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. Valuable prosecutorial assistance was provided by the Pennsylvania Office of the Attorney General.