Closing arguments made in case of ex-Nassau Det. Hector Rosario accused of helping mobsters

A former Nassau County detective helped the Bonanno crime family shut down illegal gambling clubs operated by rival mobsters on Long Island, choosing to protect the crime family than the public he swore to protect, a prosecutor said in federal court in Brooklyn on Monday

Hector Rosario, 51, led false raids on rivals’ gambling dens and forwarded tips about their operations to other Nassau detectives, Assistant U.S. Attorney Sean Sherman said in his closing arguments. It was all part of an effort to intimidate the competition into shutting down their operations, ceding Long Island’s lucrative illicit gambling market to the Bonanno crime family, he said.

"The defendant, Hector Rosario, is a corrupt cop who sold his badge to the Bonanno family," Sherman said as he pointed at the former detective, "and then he lied to cover it up."

During her closings, Kestine Thiele, Rosario's attorney, told the jury that prosecutors had failed to prove their case. Knowing members of organized crime, or doing favors for them, is not a crime, she said.

After the closings, U.S. District Judge Eric N. Vitaliano said he would instruct the jury on Tuesday so they can begin deliberations.

On Monday, Sherman said Rosario lied to FBI agents investigating illegal gambling on Long Island, hampering a probe that ultimately led to the arrest of eight Bonanno family members accused of running backroom operations in cafes and shops between 2012 and 2019.

"The defendant had a choice," Sherman told the jurors during his closings. "He could serve the public or he could serve the Bonanno crime family. The defendant chose the Bonannos."

The former police detective Rosario was charged with obstruction of justice and lying to the FBI in 2022. Nassau officials terminated Rosario, who had been a member of the department for 15 years, after the indictment was unsealed.

He faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted on the obstruction charge and up to five years in prison if found guilty of lying to the FBI. Opening statements began on Feb. 25.

According to testimony, Rosario received $1,500 a month over several months for his work with the organized crime family. Authorities have also said that Rosario helped the Bonanno family by tipping off members about law-enforcement investigations and helping to find sources of heroin for a Long Island-based crew.

Thiele argued Rosario could not have obstructed justice because he did not know that a grand jury had been investigating illegal gambling on Long Island.

The government’s case, according to Thiele, was built on the testimony of three untrustworthy mobsters. Alleged Bonanno soldier Damiano Zummo and accused Bonanno associate Sal Russo began cooperating with federal investigators after they got caught selling a kilo of cocaine to an undercover police officer in 2017. Another prosecution witness, Salvatore "Sal the Shoemaker" Rubino, pleaded guilty last year to operating a gambling club in Merrick for the Genovese family.

Thiele said the three men cooperated with prosecutors to avoid lengthy prison sentences. "These men have always been motivated by their own wants and their own needs," Thiele said.

Thiele also told the jury that there was no surveillance video of photos at locations where illegal gambling took place. There were no witnesses besides the cooperators who testified against Rosario. There are no financial records linking Rosario to payments from the Bonannos, she said.

The Bonanno family earned as much as $10,000 per week from proceeds of electronic poker machines and card games in the back rooms of legitimate businesses, including the Gran Caffe, a Lynbrook gelato store, prosecutors said, but competition from nearby gambling dens cut into those profits.

The Bonanno family was also unhappy after the Genovese family staked a claim in the Gran Caffe. The crime families agreed to share the profits from the illicit gambling in the back of the cafe, Sherman said, but neither side was satisfied with the arrangement.

The Bonanno crime family drafted Rosario to conduct a raid at the business. The gangsters felt comfortable asking Rosario for help, Sherman said, because they knew him as a "street guy," someone willing to break the law.

Rosario denied working for the mob when the FBI came to his Mineola apartment in January 2022 and confronted him with secret recordings and cooperating witness statements, Sherman said.

"He lied to hide information about illegal gambling and organized crime," Sherman said. "He lied to protect the Bonanno crime family and he lied to protect himself."