Bergen County Man Pleads Guilty To $2.2B Gambling Ring Involvement

A Bergen County man and high-ranking member of the Lucchese crime family has plead guilty to racketeering as a result of an investigation by the state Division of Criminal Justice called Operation Heat, authorities announced.

Joseph M. Perna, 45, of Wyckoff, faces 10 years in state prison for allegedly running the day-to-day gambling operations of the entire Lucchese crime family’s enterprise, New Jersey Acting Attorney General John J. Hoffman said.

Authorities said the family ran an international criminal enterprise that conducted $2.2 billion in sports wagers in 15 months. Members often extorted individuals and used violence to collect debts, Hoffman said.

Perna is one of six members of the New York-based Lucchese crime family who pleaded guilty to racketeering charges as a result of Operation Heat investigation, authorities said.

The gambling operations involved ”package holders” who brought in bets from a group of gamblers. Authorities estimate there were hundreds or “even thousands” of gamblers.

Proceeds were divided by the package holders and the members they worked under, Hoffman said, and “tribute” payments to the New York-based bosses.

“Whether they are members of traditional organized crime or street gangs – and this case involved both – we have put criminals on notice that illegal narcotics, extortion, violence and gambling will not be tolerated in New Jersey,” said Elie Honig, director of the Division of Criminal Justice.

Perna is scheduled to be sentenced Sept. 30.

Other individuals charged include:

• Ralph V. Perna, 69, of East Hanover, the top capo of New Jersey faction of the Lucchese family. The state will recommend he be sentenced to 8 years in prison.
• John G. Perna, 38, of West Caldwell, one of Ralph Perna’s son.
• Matthew Madonna, 80, of Seldon, New York. The state will recommend he be sentenced to five years in state prison. He allegedly controlled the family’s New York gambling operations, along with Joseph DiNapoli, 79, of Scarsdale, New York.
• Marin Taccetta, 64, formerly of East Hanover, and the family’s former second-in-command and faces eight years in prison. Taccetta is already servicing a life sentence plus 10 years as a result of a previous prosecution in the 1990s.
• John Mangrella, 72, of Clifton, a senior member of the crime family and faces eight years in prison.

Charges are pending against Ralph M. Perna, 43, of West Caldwell.

The men were initially charged and arrested in December 2007.

The investigation also uncovered a scheme where a former New Jersey corrections officer and a high-ranking members of the Nine Trey Gangster set of the Bloods street gang allegedly forged an alliance with the Lucchese crime family to smuggle drugs and pre-paid cell phones into Easy Jersey State Prison, authorities said.

(Pictured: Joseph M. Perna/Courtesy of the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office)