Anthony Villani, soldier in Lucchese crime family, pleads guilty to role in betting scheme

Lucchese crime family soldier Anthony Villani, center, pleaded guilty Thursday to his role in an illegal betting operation. Credit: USANYE
A soldier in the Lucchese crime family admitted his role Thursday in an illegal sports betting business that earned millions annually, federal prosecutors said.
Anthony Villani, 60, of Elmsford in Westchester County, pleaded guilty in federal court in Brooklyn to racketeering, money laundering and illegal gambling, according to a press release from the U.S. Department of Justice.
Villani faces up to 20 years in prison at sentencing and, as part of his plea agreement, agreed to forfeit $4 million, authorities said.
He is the fifth member of the Lucchese family to plead guilty in recent weeks to operating Rhino Sports, an illicit online gambling business based largely in Westchester and the Bronx, since the early 2000s, according to federal prosecutors.
"These guilty pleas represent a victory for the rule of law over the pernicious activities of organized crime that undermine the safety of our communities," said John Durham, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District, in the release. "Illegal gambling businesses require enforcement and protection from mob rivals that carry the persistent threat of violence. However, the defendants’ luck ran out."
Henry Mazurek, Villani's Manhattan-based defense attorney, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Prosecutors contend Villani has been involved in gambling operations for roughly 25 years, using servers in Costa Rica and employing Lucchese family members as bookmakers to pay and collect winnings.
Rhino Sports, prosecutors said, took wagers from 400 to 1,300 bettors each week, the bulk of whom were in the metropolitan area.
At Villani’s direction, Dennis Filizzola, 61, a Lucchese associate from Cortlandt Manor in Westchester, used proceeds from the business to purchase Postal Service money orders under false names, officials said. Those money orders were made payable to one of Villani’s property's companies to appear as legitimate rental payments, prosecutors said.
Filizzola pleaded guilty last week to illegal sports betting and money laundering and faces up to 20 years in prison.
Another associate, Louis Tucci Jr., 61, of Tuckahoe, also in Westchester, pleaded guilty Monday to illegal sports betting and faces up to five years in prison.
Earlier this month, James Coumoutsos, 62, of the Bronx, and Michael Praino, 47, of Lake Worth, Florida, each pleaded guilty to illegal sports gambling and face up to five years in prison apiece.
"Our investigations involving members of the Five Families don't make the same headlines as they have historically," James Dennehy, assistant director-in-charge of the FBI's New York office, said in the release. "However, the men pleading guilty in this case illustrate how entrenched the traditional mafia are in their noxious and familiar criminality."
A sixth defendant remains at large.
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