Seven indicted in illegal online sports betting and poker scam

A Federal grand jury in New York has returned indictments against seven individuals for their roles in an illegal online gambling business, the Western New York District Attorney’s office has confirmed.

The jury confirmed indictments against Louis P. Ferrari II, Dominic Sprague, and Tomasso Sessa on two counts of conspiracy, one count of transmission of wagering information, and two counts of operating an illegal gambling business.

Defendants Anthony Amato, Joseph Lombardo, Jeffrey Boscarino, and James Civiletti were similarly charged with one count of conspiracy, one count of transmission of wagering information, and one count of operating an illegal gambling business.

The charges center on an illegal sports betting website, sport700.com, and an illegal poker game, run out of a property in Rochester, New York.

With regards to the illegal sportsbook, defendant Ferrari managed individual bettors, overseeing Lombardo and Boscarino, who operated as sub-agents, each with their own book of individual bettors.

First setting up the sport700.com website in April 2016, defendant Amato served as the administrator of the illegal website, providing technical support as well as managing individual bettors as a sub-agent.

Amato had 128 sub-agent accounts operating underneath his account. Collectively, these sub-agents managed 1,789 individual bettors.

Throughout the lifetime of the account, from April 2016 to January 2021, Amato’s winnings totaled $8,945,629, authorities said, with Ferrari generating $1,241,172 in winnings.

Authorities have said Sprague, a resident of Greece in Monroe County, New York, would pay winning gamblers with monies derived from a pawn shop business he operated.

The defendants were arraigned in February following the execution of a search warrant at the Rochester property in which an illegal card game was being conducted back in April 2021.

At the time, investigators seized multiple items such as documents which included gambling ledgers and timestamped website printouts of online gambling player account activities. 

In addition, authorities seized the cell phones of Ferrari and Sprague, which both contained evidence of sports bookmaking.

Former New York State Trooper Thomas Loewke, who was charged separately in connection with this case, was previously convicted and is awaiting sentencing.

Loweke was arrested after it was found that he tipped off Ferrari and would later plead guilty to obstructing a law enforcement investigation, which carries a max penalty of five years in person and a $250,000 fine.

The indictments follow a multi-agency investigation by the Department of Homeland Security, Internal Revenue Service, the New York State Police, the Greece Police Department, and the Rochester Police Department.

Defendants Ferrari, Lombardo, and Civiletti were released on condition following their arraignment, with the remaining four defendants set to be arraigned over the next week.