{"id":30135,"date":"2015-07-29T12:30:54","date_gmt":"2015-07-29T19:30:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=30135"},"modified":"2015-07-29T12:32:00","modified_gmt":"2015-07-29T19:32:00","slug":"joseph-graziano-sentenced-for-owning-illegal-gambling-website","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/joseph-graziano-sentenced-for-owning-illegal-gambling-website\/","title":{"rendered":"Joseph Graziano Sentenced for Owning Illegal Gambling Website"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Graziano
BetEagle.com took millions in sports bets and used members of an organized crime family to collect on debts. (Image: Ted Sherman\/NJ Advance Media)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

New Jersey<\/a> has famously become one of the first states to welcome online gambling with open arms, but that doesn\u2019t mean that just anyone can run a betting site and get away with it.<\/p>\n

Joseph Graziano was sentenced to 18 months in prison after pleading guilty to a racketeering conspiracy charge related to his ownership of Beteagle.com.<\/p>\n

The sentence was imposed by US District Judge Claire Cecchi on Tuesday. According to authorities, Beteagle.com was not only a sports betting site that offered real money gambling to Americans, but also had ties to the Genovese Crime Family.<\/p>\n

While Graziano owned the site, he was not the leader of the operation.<\/p>\n

The US Attorney\u2019s Office says that the real ringleader was Joseph \u201cPepe\u201d Lascala, a made member of the Genovese family who is still awaiting charges in the case.<\/p>\n

In addition to the jail time, Graziano will have to pay a $16,000 fine and forfeit $1 million to the US government. He will also serve three years of supervised release once his prison term is up.<\/p>\n

Gamblers Collected Winnings, Paid Debts in Person<\/b><\/h2>\n

Beteagle.com may have looked like a typical sports betting site, but behind the scenes, authorities say it was essentially little different than any mob-backed bookie organization.<\/p>\n

The \u201cbookies\u201d referred to themselves as agents instead, and while money wasn\u2019t transferred on the website, winnings were paid out and debts were collected in person.<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

If a gambler couldn\u2019t pay up, the family would threaten them in order to collect. It was a mix of modern technology and the classic bookmaking structure that organized crime has been using for a century or more.<\/p>\n

The site proved to be a lucrative scheme.<\/p>\n

On surveillance recordings, Graziano could be heard bragging about how much money he was making by operating the site.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf at the end of the year I can make two million and I gotta give away, like four or five hundred, that\u2019s a million and a half, you know,\u201d Graziano said. \u201cMy money.\u201d<\/p>\n

Graziano worked in conjunction with Dominick Barone to run Beteagle.com. Barone was sentenced last month, and is also facing 18 months in prison.<\/p>\n

Sports Betting Remains Illegal, For Now<\/b><\/h2>\n

This is far from the only case in which organized criminals have entered the business of sports betting<\/a>, and taking the bets remains a lucrative opportunities for them, as the activity is illegal throughout most of the United States.<\/p>\n

Just last month, six members of the Lucchese family pleaded guilty to racketeering charges in New Jersey for operating an international sports betting ring that took in billions of dollars in bets.<\/p>\n

While dealing with offshore sites or mob-linked bookies may be the only options for New Jersey residents who want to bet on sports at the moment, that may not be the case for long.<\/p>\n

The state has been fighting in federal court in an effort to allow racetracks and casinos in New Jersey to offer sports betting to residents legally.<\/p>\n

Oral arguments for that case, which pits the state against the NCAA and the major North American sports leagues, were heard in front of the Third Circuit Court of Appeals in March.<\/p>\n

Legal experts expected a ruling from the court in June, but no decision has been released as of yet.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

New Jersey has famously become one of the first states to welcome online gambling with open arms, but that doesn\u2019t mean that just anyone can run a betting site and get away with it. Joseph Graziano was sentenced to 18 months in prison after pleading guilty to a racketeering conspiracy charge related to his ownership […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":42,"featured_media":30136,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21,13,16],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nJoseph Graziano Sentenced for Owning Illegal Gambling Website<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Joseph Graziano was sentenced to 18 months in prison after pleading guilty to owning an illegal sports betting site that allegedly had ties to organized crime.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Joseph Graziano Sentenced for Owning Illegal Gambling Website\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Joseph Graziano was sentenced to 18 months in prison after pleading guilty to owning an illegal sports betting site that allegedly had ties to organized crime.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/joseph-graziano-sentenced-for-owning-illegal-gambling-website\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-07-29T19:30:54+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2015-07-29T19:32:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/beteagle-screenshopjpg-7d8370e1a1ae4fd5.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"792\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"491\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Casino.org Staff Writer\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Casino.org Staff Writer\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/joseph-graziano-sentenced-for-owning-illegal-gambling-website\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/joseph-graziano-sentenced-for-owning-illegal-gambling-website\/\",\"name\":\"Joseph Graziano Sentenced for Owning Illegal Gambling Website\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/joseph-graziano-sentenced-for-owning-illegal-gambling-website\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/joseph-graziano-sentenced-for-owning-illegal-gambling-website\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/beteagle-screenshopjpg-7d8370e1a1ae4fd5.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-07-29T19:30:54+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-07-29T19:32:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/8c48bf89dc86da77b4d856c7b3b78d77\"},\"description\":\"Joseph Graziano was sentenced to 18 months in prison after pleading guilty to owning an illegal sports betting site that allegedly had ties to organized crime.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/joseph-graziano-sentenced-for-owning-illegal-gambling-website\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/joseph-graziano-sentenced-for-owning-illegal-gambling-website\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/joseph-graziano-sentenced-for-owning-illegal-gambling-website\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/beteagle-screenshopjpg-7d8370e1a1ae4fd5.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/beteagle-screenshopjpg-7d8370e1a1ae4fd5.jpg\",\"width\":792,\"height\":491,\"caption\":\"BetEagle.com took millions in sports bets and used members of an organized crime family to collect on debts. 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