Mob associates among those charged in gambling crackdown

Friday, Jan. 14, 2005 | 9:53 a.m.

NEW YORK -- A plot to fix a race by giving a horse a performance-enhancing substance was among crimes alleged in a crackdown on sports gambling that resulted in charges against 17 defendants, including three reputed mobsters, authorities said Thursday.

The horse won the Dec. 18, 2003, race at Aqueduct Raceway in a scheme that included the cooperation of a racehorse trainer and a harness driver, federal prosecutors said in a release. Both men were among those charged.

Another man arrested in the scheme had placed bets on the fixed race and encouraged others to do so, the government said.

The fixed race was part of an indictment that described a sprawling gambling operation that processed more than $200 million in bets over four years. Three reputed Gambino organized crime family members were charged.

The defendants were accused of taking bets on horse racing and other sporting events as law enforcement authorities capped a two-year probe into the gambling operation in New York, New Jersey, Florida, Nevada and New Hampshire.

Charges included gambling conspiracy, money laundering, horse-doping conspiracy, loan sharking and wire fraud.