Upper West Side Man Indicted for Role in Billion-Dollar Sports Gambling Ring

UPPER WEST SIDE, NY — An Upper West Side man is facing charges for his role in a billion-dollar sports gambling ring.

Arthur Rossi, 66, of 54 West 74th Street was arraigned last week in Brooklyn Supreme Court, Brooklyn District Attorney Ken Thompson announced Thursday.

"Illegal gambling is not a victimless crime – it preys on peoples’ vulnerabilities and directly leads to money laundering, loansharking and a host of other crimes," Thompson said in the announcement. "The principals of this huge gambling operation – possibly the biggest one ever to be dismantled by a local prosecutor’s office – allegedly moved millions of dollars around the United States and the world and used various tactics to launder these proceeds. My Office’s diligent and long-term investigation has now put an end to this criminal enterprise and we intend to see that these defendants face justice here in Brooklyn.”

Three other men — Gordon Mitchnick, 58, of Crestline, California, Joseph Schneider, 39, of La Verne, California and Claude Ferguson, 43, of Crestline, California — were also indicted, officials said. Mitchnick was allegedly the ringleader of the operation.

Rossi was a "master agent" for the Internet-based sports gambling ring that took in a billion dollars from thousands of bettors, officials said. His role involved bringing clients into the ring and getting paid "per head."

The gambling ring was run online through the password-protected URLs www.wagerabc.com, www.thewagerspot.com and www.hustler247.ag. During the 2015 NFL season the operation took in $927,000,000 in wagers, officials said.

Bail for Rossi was set at $50,000.