Posted By: Judy Smith

Thu Nov 9, 8:44 PM ET

NEW YORK - Eleven people, including members and associates of the Genovese and Lucchese organized crime families, have been indicted on charges of running an illegal gambling ring at one of the world's largest food distribution centers, prosecutors said Thursday.
ADVERTISEMENT

var lrec_target="_top";var lrec_URL=new Array();
lrec_URL[1]="http://us.ard.yahoo.com/SIG=12f165t9f/M=540720.9558277.10292386.1442997/D=news/S=8903239:LREC/_ylt=A9FJqaldLVRFciQA9wBH2ocA/Y=YAHOO/EXP=1163151741/A=4104668/R=0/id=flash/SIG=11m6h82to/*http://www.asseenontvnetwork.com/track/click/257466/";
var lrec_fv="clickTAG=javascript:lrec_window(1)";
var lrec_swf="http://us.a2.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/a/li/livemercial/110706_ny_lrec_swf.swf";
var lrec_altURL="http://us.ard.yahoo.com/SIG=12f165t9f/M=540720.9558277.10292386.1442997/D=news/S=8903239:LREC/_ylt=A9FJqaldLVRFciQA9wBH2ocA/Y=YAHOO/EXP=1163151741/A=4104668/R=1/id=altimg/SIG=11m6h82to/*http://www.asseenontvnetwork.com/track/click/257466/";
var lrec_altimg="http://us.a2.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/a/li/livemercial/110706_ny_lrec_gif.gif";
var lrec_w=300;var lrec_h=250;
if (window.yzq_a == null) document.write("");if (window.yzq_a)
{
yzq_a('p', 'P=V2nax0LaS.b.rBSH87YM5hWFSDRIwkVULV0ACAx7&T=17vi07qgi%2fX%3d1163144541%2fE%3d8903239%2fR%3dnews%2fK%3d5%2fV%3d1.1%2fW%3d8%2fY%3dYAHOO%2fF%3d1696630548%2fH%3dY2FjaGVoaW50PSJuZXdzIiBjb250ZW50PSJjcmltZTtidXNpbmVzcztsb2FuO21vbmV5O21hbjtlbnRlcnByaXNlO2NvcnJ1cHRpb247IiByZWZ1cmw9IiIgdG9waWNzPSIi%2fS%3d1%2fJ%3dA9A949D1');
yzq_a('a', '&U=13a3na361%2fN%3dXTULBULaSs4-%2fC%3d540720.9558277.10292386.1442997%2fD%3dLREC%2fB%3d4104668');
}

A 17-month probe revealed the defendants took sports and numbers bets at the massive Hunts Point market area in the Bronx and earned about $800,000 between January 2005 and January 2006, Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau said.

Morgenthau said the defendants operated in two of the markets inside the Hunts Point complex, where hundreds of businesses sell huge quantities of meat, vegetables and other goods.

Anyone who wanted to place a bet and happened to be in the area could do so, he said. Only one of the defendants actually had a business or job at Hunts Point.

Authorities seized gambling records and $162,937 in cash, Morgenthau said. He also froze $800,000 worth of the defendants' property as ill-gotten gambling gains and another $150,000 in the defendants' assets related to loan-sharking charges and would seek to claim that money if they're found guilty.

Ten of the defendants were arrested Thursday, prosecutors said. One man was already in jail on federal charges.

The defendants were to be arraigned later in the day, eight of them on an enterprise corruption charge punishable by up to 25 years in prison, as well as on charges of gambling and loan sharking.

Two other defendants were charged with gambling-related offenses that carry penalties of up to four years in prison, and another defendant was charged with loan sharking, which is punishable by up to 15 years in prison.

The information reported above is property of Yahoo! inc. and reprinted or modified with legitimate permission.