{"id":104159,"date":"2019-05-03T09:04:29","date_gmt":"2019-05-03T16:04:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=104159"},"modified":"2019-05-03T12:24:36","modified_gmt":"2019-05-03T19:24:36","slug":"genovese-crime-family-reputed-associate-vincent-coppola-pleads-guilty-to-charge-on-illegal-betting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/genovese-crime-family-reputed-associate-vincent-coppola-pleads-guilty-to-charge-on-illegal-betting\/","title":{"rendered":"Genovese Crime Family Reputed Associate Vincent Coppola Pleads Guilty to Charge on Illegal Betting"},"content":{"rendered":"

Vincent Coppola — who authorities link to the Genovese crime family — has pleaded guilty for his alleged role in running illegal offshore sports gambling activities out of New Jersey, that were uncovered in a wider investigation.<\/p>\n

\"\"
New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal announced that five defendants, including Vincent Coppola, linked to the Genovese crime family, pleaded guilty to charges this week. (Image: WABC TV)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Coppola, 42, of Union City, New Jersey, was part of a network of reputed Genovese associates who ran the scheme, authorities said. The operation also used a wire room in Costa Rica where bets were processed, according to New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal.<\/p>\n

On Wednesday, Coppola pleaded guilty to a single count of third-degree promoting gambling. Prosecutors in Morristown Superior Court want him to be sentenced to 180 days in jail, followed by probation.<\/p>\n

Coppola allegedly was an \u201cagent\u201d who managed sub-agents or package holders, each of whom had a \u201cpackage\u201d of bettors under him.<\/p>\n

Agents typically decide which bettors can open accounts and gamble. They are given access to the operation\u2019s website and toll-free phone number.<\/p>\n

They also routinely decide how much a bettor can gamble per game and per week. Agents also monitor the action and balances of the packages they oversee.<\/p>\n

Coppola allegedly supervised sub-agents John W. Trainor, 44, of Brick, N.J., and Jerry J. Albanese, 48, of Scotch Plains, officials said. Eventually, Coppola gave the subagents more control of the bettors in their packages.<\/p>\n

Coppola\u2019s packages allegedly handled more than $1.7 million in bets in 2011 alone. The operation allegedly made more than $400,000 in profits that year.<\/p>\n

Coppola is the son of imprisoned Genovese \u201ccapo\u201d Michael Coppola, New Jersey officials said. A capo typically has higher rank in an organized crime family.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Coppola’s History of Illness<\/h2>\n

In 2014, Vincent Coppola sat in a wheelchair as he appeared in Superior Court in Morristown, on earlier charges, via closed-circuit television due to illness, according to NJ.com<\/em>. Authorities said he spent six weeks at Morristown Medical Center that year for treatment of the undisclosed ailment.<\/p>\n

Back then, he also claimed to meet the financial requirements to have a judge appoint a public defender. Defendants in New Jersey are given a public defender based on income and assets as well as their expenses and debts.<\/p>\n

Coppola also told court officials he had a son who was diagnosed with autism and needed parental help.<\/p>\n

Related Check-Cashing Operation<\/h2>\n

Four other defendants \u2013- each from New Jersey — also pleaded guilty in Morristown court this week to related criminal schemes that generated millions of dollars through illegal loansharking, unlicensed check cashing and money laundering. Much of the revenue was collected and allegedly laundered through licensed and unlicensed check-cashing businesses in Newark.<\/p>\n

The defendants are identified as: Domenick Pucillo, 61, of Florham Park; Robert Spagnola, 71, of Morganville; Vito Alberti, 60, of Morristown; and Manuel Rodriguez, 53, of Chatham.<\/p>\n

Each of the five defendants is scheduled to be sentenced on Sept. 20, 2019.<\/p>\n

When those involved in traditional organized crime engage in schemes such as loansharking and illegal gambling, they profit at the expense of victims who are struggling with debt, gambling problems, and other issues,\u201d Attorney General Grewal said in a statement.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u201cBy prosecuting the men who ran these schemes and putting key defendants behind bars, we send a message that we will not tolerate these corrosive criminal activities that harm individuals, families and society as a whole.\u201d<\/p>\n

The schemes were scrutinized in an inquiry dubbed \u201cOperation Fistful,\u201d which was investigated by authorities from both New Jersey and New York.<\/p>\n

The five defendants were indicted by a grand jury in 2016 after jurors heard evidence connected with racketeering allegations.<\/p>\n

In 2016, 13 associates of the Genovese<\/a> crime family were arrested as part of another inquiry, \u201cOperation Shark Bait,\u201d which involved millions of dollars in bets through a wire room, also in Costa Rica<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Genovese crime family was led by Vito Genovese between 1957 and 1969. More recently, authorities suspect it is being led by Liborio Bellomo.\u00a0Authorities trace its roots to a crime family led by Charles “Lucky” Luciano.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Vincent Coppola — who authorities link to the Genovese crime family — has pleaded guilty for his alleged role in running illegal offshore sports gambling activities out of New Jersey, that were uncovered in a wider investigation. Coppola, 42, of Union City, New Jersey, was part of a network of reputed Genovese associates who ran […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":104167,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1074],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nGenovese Crime Family Reputed Associate Vincent Coppola Pleads Guilty to Charge on Illegal Betting - Casino.org Reputed Genovese Crime Family Associate Vincent Coppola Pleads Guilty to Illegal Betting Charge<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Vincent Coppola -- who authorities link to the Genovese crime family -- has pleaded guilty for his alleged role in running illegal offshore sports Vincent Coppola -- who authorities link to the Genovese crime family -- pleaded guilty in his alleged role of running illegal offshore sports gambling activities out of New Jersey. It involved a wire room based in Costa Rica.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/genovese-crime-family-reputed-associate-vincent-coppola-pleads-guilty-to-charge-on-illegal-betting\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Genovese Crime Family Reputed Associate Vincent Coppola Pleads Guilty to Charge on Illegal Betting - Casino.org Reputed Genovese Crime Family Associate Vincent Coppola Pleads Guilty to Illegal Betting Charge\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Vincent Coppola -- who authorities link to the Genovese crime family -- has pleaded guilty for his alleged role in running illegal offshore sports Vincent Coppola -- who authorities link to the Genovese crime family -- pleaded guilty in his alleged role of running illegal offshore sports gambling activities out of New Jersey. It involved a wire room based in Costa Rica.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/genovese-crime-family-reputed-associate-vincent-coppola-pleads-guilty-to-charge-on-illegal-betting\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-05-03T16:04:29+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-05-03T19:24:36+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Gurber-Grewal.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1300\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"732\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Ed Silverstein\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@casinoorgedsilv\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Ed Silverstein\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/genovese-crime-family-reputed-associate-vincent-coppola-pleads-guilty-to-charge-on-illegal-betting\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/genovese-crime-family-reputed-associate-vincent-coppola-pleads-guilty-to-charge-on-illegal-betting\/\",\"name\":\"Genovese Crime Family Reputed Associate Vincent Coppola Pleads Guilty to Charge on Illegal Betting - Casino.org Reputed Genovese Crime Family Associate Vincent Coppola Pleads Guilty to Illegal Betting Charge\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/genovese-crime-family-reputed-associate-vincent-coppola-pleads-guilty-to-charge-on-illegal-betting\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/genovese-crime-family-reputed-associate-vincent-coppola-pleads-guilty-to-charge-on-illegal-betting\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Gurber-Grewal.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-05-03T16:04:29+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-05-03T19:24:36+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/b3771b02527bcbda9af984b9b1ff098e\"},\"description\":\"Vincent Coppola -- who authorities link to the Genovese crime family -- has pleaded guilty for his alleged role in running illegal offshore sports Vincent Coppola -- who authorities link to the Genovese crime family -- pleaded guilty in his alleged role of running illegal offshore sports gambling activities out of New Jersey. It involved a wire room based in Costa Rica.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/genovese-crime-family-reputed-associate-vincent-coppola-pleads-guilty-to-charge-on-illegal-betting\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/genovese-crime-family-reputed-associate-vincent-coppola-pleads-guilty-to-charge-on-illegal-betting\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/genovese-crime-family-reputed-associate-vincent-coppola-pleads-guilty-to-charge-on-illegal-betting\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Gurber-Grewal.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Gurber-Grewal.jpg\",\"width\":1300,\"height\":732},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/genovese-crime-family-reputed-associate-vincent-coppola-pleads-guilty-to-charge-on-illegal-betting\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"News\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Genovese Crime Family Reputed Associate Vincent Coppola Pleads Guilty to Charge on Illegal Betting\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/\",\"name\":\"Casino.org\",\"description\":\"Latest Casino and Gaming News\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/b3771b02527bcbda9af984b9b1ff098e\",\"name\":\"Ed Silverstein\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-6-1-96x96.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-6-1-96x96.png\",\"caption\":\"Ed Silverstein\"},\"description\":\"Ed Silverstein is a senior reporter covering gambling law and crime news for Casino.org. Ed is an award-winning journalist with credits ranging from the Associated Press to American Lawyer Media. Ed joined the Casino.org news team in 2019 after decades of experience in legal reporting. His past reporting and editing assignments include Cowles Business Media, Columbia University Press, the Connecticut Post, and Southern Connecticut Newspapers, Inc. Besides the law and its application to the gaming industry, Ed\u2019s areas of expertise span business, politics, education, and state and local government. Ed holds an undergraduate degree from the University of Connecticut and master\u2019s degrees from Harvard and Yale. His professional awards include recognition from the New England Press Association and New England AP News Executives. Ed currently resides in Connecticut, where he enjoys photography and bowling in his spare time. Contact Ed at ed.silverstein@casino.org.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/muckrack.com\/ed-silverstein\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/casinoorgedsilv\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/author\/ed-silverstein\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Genovese Crime Family Reputed Associate Vincent Coppola Pleads Guilty to Charge on Illegal Betting - Casino.org Reputed Genovese Crime Family Associate Vincent Coppola Pleads Guilty to Illegal Betting Charge","description":"Vincent Coppola -- who authorities link to the Genovese crime family -- has pleaded guilty for his alleged role in running illegal offshore sports Vincent Coppola -- who authorities link to the Genovese crime family -- pleaded guilty in his alleged role of running illegal offshore sports gambling activities out of New Jersey. It involved a wire room based in Costa Rica.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/genovese-crime-family-reputed-associate-vincent-coppola-pleads-guilty-to-charge-on-illegal-betting\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Genovese Crime Family Reputed Associate Vincent Coppola Pleads Guilty to Charge on Illegal Betting - Casino.org Reputed Genovese Crime Family Associate Vincent Coppola Pleads Guilty to Illegal Betting Charge","og_description":"Vincent Coppola -- who authorities link to the Genovese crime family -- has pleaded guilty for his alleged role in running illegal offshore sports Vincent Coppola -- who authorities link to the Genovese crime family -- pleaded guilty in his alleged role of running illegal offshore sports gambling activities out of New Jersey. It involved a wire room based in Costa Rica.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/genovese-crime-family-reputed-associate-vincent-coppola-pleads-guilty-to-charge-on-illegal-betting\/","og_site_name":"Casino.org","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews","article_published_time":"2019-05-03T16:04:29+00:00","article_modified_time":"2019-05-03T19:24:36+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1300,"height":732,"url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Gurber-Grewal.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Ed Silverstein","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@casinoorgedsilv","twitter_site":"@Casino_Org","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Ed Silverstein","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/genovese-crime-family-reputed-associate-vincent-coppola-pleads-guilty-to-charge-on-illegal-betting\/","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/genovese-crime-family-reputed-associate-vincent-coppola-pleads-guilty-to-charge-on-illegal-betting\/","name":"Genovese Crime Family Reputed Associate Vincent Coppola Pleads Guilty to Charge on Illegal Betting - Casino.org Reputed Genovese Crime Family Associate Vincent Coppola Pleads Guilty to Illegal Betting Charge","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/genovese-crime-family-reputed-associate-vincent-coppola-pleads-guilty-to-charge-on-illegal-betting\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/genovese-crime-family-reputed-associate-vincent-coppola-pleads-guilty-to-charge-on-illegal-betting\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Gurber-Grewal.jpg","datePublished":"2019-05-03T16:04:29+00:00","dateModified":"2019-05-03T19:24:36+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/b3771b02527bcbda9af984b9b1ff098e"},"description":"Vincent Coppola -- who authorities link to the Genovese crime family -- has pleaded guilty for his alleged role in running illegal offshore sports Vincent Coppola -- who authorities link to the Genovese crime family -- pleaded guilty in his alleged role of running illegal offshore sports gambling activities out of New Jersey. It involved a wire room based in Costa Rica.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/genovese-crime-family-reputed-associate-vincent-coppola-pleads-guilty-to-charge-on-illegal-betting\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/genovese-crime-family-reputed-associate-vincent-coppola-pleads-guilty-to-charge-on-illegal-betting\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/genovese-crime-family-reputed-associate-vincent-coppola-pleads-guilty-to-charge-on-illegal-betting\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Gurber-Grewal.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Gurber-Grewal.jpg","width":1300,"height":732},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/genovese-crime-family-reputed-associate-vincent-coppola-pleads-guilty-to-charge-on-illegal-betting\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"News","item":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Genovese Crime Family Reputed Associate Vincent Coppola Pleads Guilty to Charge on Illegal Betting"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/","name":"Casino.org","description":"Latest Casino and Gaming News","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/b3771b02527bcbda9af984b9b1ff098e","name":"Ed Silverstein","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-6-1-96x96.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-6-1-96x96.png","caption":"Ed Silverstein"},"description":"Ed Silverstein is a senior reporter covering gambling law and crime news for Casino.org. Ed is an award-winning journalist with credits ranging from the Associated Press to American Lawyer Media. Ed joined the Casino.org news team in 2019 after decades of experience in legal reporting. His past reporting and editing assignments include Cowles Business Media, Columbia University Press, the Connecticut Post, and Southern Connecticut Newspapers, Inc. Besides the law and its application to the gaming industry, Ed\u2019s areas of expertise span business, politics, education, and state and local government. Ed holds an undergraduate degree from the University of Connecticut and master\u2019s degrees from Harvard and Yale. His professional awards include recognition from the New England Press Association and New England AP News Executives. Ed currently resides in Connecticut, where he enjoys photography and bowling in his spare time. Contact Ed at ed.silverstein@casino.org.","sameAs":["https:\/\/muckrack.com\/ed-silverstein","https:\/\/x.com\/casinoorgedsilv"],"url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/author\/ed-silverstein\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104159"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=104159"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104159\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/104167"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=104159"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=104159"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=104159"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}