Wayne Men Charged With Helping To Run International Gambling Ring

Editor's note: one name was removed from this article as the case was expunged.

Forty-six people, including several from Wayne, Franklin Lakes, and Wyckoff, in three states were arrested and $2 million seized in connection with a massive, multi-million gambling, racketeering, and money laundering ring, said Acting Bergen County Prosecutor Gurbir S. Grewal.

An investigation by the prosecutor’s office Special Investigations Squad revealed that Robert “Elvis” D’Alessio, 62, of Totowa, was running the illegal enterprise in and around Bergen County.

The enterprise involved hundreds of people organized in a hierarchy of 50 gambling “package holders” or “agents” who oversaw about 320 bettors, Grewal said.

The “package holders” would oversee the individual gamblers, collect money from losses, and pay out winnings; they managed 22 gambling accounts, Grewal said.

D’Alessio allegedly ran the operation with the help of an off-shore “wire room” in Costa Rica that utilized various “1-800” telephone numbers and a website that “package holders,” “agents,” and bettors used to place bets, Grewal said.

Authorities estimate the operation processed “ten of millions” of dollars in bets annually, the acting prosecutor said.

Robert Beatty, 40, of Wayne, Alfonc Pilinci, 59, of Franklin Lakes, and Dante Monaco, 53, of Hackettstown, helped manage the enterprise, Grewal said.

D’Alessio, Esteban “Steve” Cueli, 56, of Doral, Fla., and allegedly managed the enterprise, authorities said.

Beatty was charged with racketeering, promoting gambling, and conspiracy to promote gambling.

Three other Wayne residents, Jeffrey Badaan, 33, Jared Petruska, 30, and (removed), were each charged with promoting gambling and conspiracy to commit gambling.

D’Alessio, Beatty, Monaco, Pilinci, and Gregory Farace, 51, of Pequannock, are lodged in the Bergen County Jail. Those individuals arrested out of state are being lodged pending extradition to New Jersey. All others were charged and released on their own recognizance, authorities said.

The investigation is continuing.

Mugshots of the 46 people charged as a result of the investigation.

Bergen County Prosecutor's Office