Another day, another gambling indictment with clear connections to sports.
But this one isn’t a product of the new age of legalized, normalized, and heavily monetized sports betting. It’s an old-school tale of a mob-backed gambling ring.
Via David Purdum of ESPN.com, a member of the Lucchese crime family allegedly ran a nationwide illegal betting ring that used offshore sites to facilitate $2 million in illegal bets from 2022 through 2024.
New Jersey prosecutors allege that Joseph “Little Joe” Perna oversaw a network of bookmaking operations, with “several college athletes” operating sportsbooks. New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin declined to identify the colleges or sports involved.
The NCAA told Purdum that it is investigating the situation.
One of the 14 named defendants, Spencer Speziale, is a certified National Basketball Players Association agent. He has been recently licensed to represent players, and he currently has no clients.
One of the common arguments cited by proponents of legal gambling is that it has made illegal gambling irrelevant. Obviously, there’s still a demand for it.
Whether it’s the availability of credit or the inability of people under 21 to use the apps on their phones for quick and easy gambling, an apparently robust market remains for La Cosa Nostra kind of wagering.
