Friends of Ours

Mobsters' Kin Sentenced In KC Gambling Ring

Last week Michael Lombardo and William Cammisano Jr. were each sentenced to a year and a day in prison after pleading guilty "for their roles in an internet sports betting operation" as reported by Mark Morris for The Kansas City Star.  William Jr. and his brother Gerlarmo are the sons of the late Kansas City, MO mob leader William "Willie the Rat" Cammisano.  Gerlarmo was sentenced last December to 14 months in prison for his role in the gambling enterprise as then reported by The Associated Press.  Three others who were sentenced in December were Vincent Civella and brothers Michael and Anthony Sansone who are the son or grandsons of the late mob boss Anthony "Tony Ripe" Civella.

Another Guilty Plea In KC Gambling Ring

In Kansas City, MO Michael Lombardo has pleaded guilty for his role in an online gambling operation as reported by Tony Rizzo for the Kansas City Star.  Lombardo was among the four defendants indicted in March 2009 in connection with the alleged enterprise, and the others were Gerlarmo Cammisano, James Moretina, and James Dicapo.  Gerlarmo Cammisano -- son of the mob leader William "Willie the Rat" Cammisano -- pleaded guilty last April.  Prior to the indictments six individuals pleaded guilty in connection with the investigation including Gerlarmo's brother William Cammisano Jr.  Three others who pleaded guilty -- Vincent Civella and brothers Michael and Anthony Sansone -- are the son or grandsons of the late mob boss Anthony "Tony Ripe" Civella.  Charles Simone and Michael Badalucco also have pleaded guilty.

Mobster's Son Pleads Guilty In KC Gambling Ring

Gerlarmo Cammisano, son of the late Kansas City, MO mob leader William "Willie the Rat" Cammisano, "pleaded guilty this morning to organizing and running an illegal online sports bookmaking ring" as reported by Tony Rizzo for The Kansas City Star.  Cammisano was indicted last March together with James Moretina, Michael Lombardo and James Dicapo for their alleged roles in the ring.  Prior to the indictments six individuals pleaded guilty in connection with the investigation including Gerlarmo's brother William Cammisano Jr.  Three others who pleaded guilty -- Vincent Civella and brothers Michael and Anthony Sansone -- are the son or grandsons of the late mob boss Anthony "Tony Ripe" Civella.  Charles Simone and Michael Badalucco also have pleaded guilty.

Gambling Indictment In Kansas City, MO

In Kansas City, MO the feds have indicted Gerlarmo Cammisano, James Moretina, Michael Lombardo and James Dicapo for allegedly "operating a multimillion-dollar Internet gambling scheme" as reported by Mark Morris for The Kansas City Star:

Cammisano, son of William "Willie the Rat" Cammisano, one of Kansas City’s most fearsome mob leaders decades ago, served as the "master agent" of the sports bookmaking operation, which was based in the Kansas City area, prosecutors alleged. Gerlarmo Cammisano's brother, William D. Cammisano Jr., pleaded guilty in February for his role in the sports bookmaking operation. Gerlarmo Cammisano served jail time in the early 1990s for refusing to testify before a grand jury investigating a previous gambling case. * * * As for Moretina, in January 1992, he pleaded guilty to a federal money laundering charge and was sentenced to 37 months. Moretina served as president of a firm that distributed illegal video gambling machines. He and his business partner, purported mob underboss Peter J. Simone, operated the Be Amused Vending and Amusement Co., which prosecutors now could seize should Moretina be convicted. Moretina is the son of Charles Moretina, who was convicted in the 1980s for skimming Las Vegas casino gambling receipts.

Prior to the indictment six individuals pleaded guilty in connection with the investigation including three -- Vincent Civella and brothers Michael and Anthony Sansone -- who "are the son or grandsons of former Kansas City mob boss Anthony 'Tony Ripe' Civella."  The three others who have entered guilty pleas in the case are William Cammisano Jr., Charles Simone and Michael Badalucco.

What's Going On In Kansas City?

Following the five guilty pleas in an ongoing federal investigation into a sports gambling racket in Kansas City, MO which has nabbed William Cammisano Jr., the son of former boss "Willie the Rat," and Michael and Anthony Sansone, the grandsons of mobster Tony Civella, Steve Vockrodt from the Kansas City Business Journal asks "whether there was some re-emergence of mob-related organized crime going on around town":

Don Ledford, spokesman for the [U.S. Attorney's office in Kansas City], says that the feds can't say much at this point. A former mob investigator says he's not sure either. "I'm so far out of it now that I don't really know," said Gary Jenkins, a former officer in the Kansas City Police Department's intelligence unit during the '70s and '80s. "Something is going on. Obviously, look at these people who had this organized gambling. There's a book out there." Jenkins remembers the Cammisanos and wasn't necessarily surprised to see one of them pop up in the news again. "The leaves don't fall too far from the tree and the beat goes on," Jenkins said. * * * "From a historical standpoint, organized crime, left untouched, will continue to sow the seeds of corruption more and more. They always deal in vices, addiction and related things. For the most part, gambling, sex drugs — there's always corruption in and around those things. That's where they are."