Lucchese Mobster Anthony Villani Locked Up for Rhino Sports Racket

Lucchese Mobster Anthony Villani Locked Up for Rhino Sports Racket

On Wednesday, a Lucchese criminal family capo was given a 21-month sentence in a federal prison for operating an illicit sports betting business that, according to the prosecution, brought in millions of dollars for the Mob.

Anthony Villani, 58, of Elmsford, New York, was sentenced to 21 months in prison by US District Judge Kiyo A. Matsumoto for managing the long-running online gambling ring Rhino Sports.  In 2022, a federal indictment was unveiled that implicated Villani and more than a dozen other wise men.

According to court documents, up to 1,300 gamblers exploited the enterprise every week during its 16-year run till 2020.  It used a network of over 60 bookies who accepted wagers via www.betsrus777.com, a website situated in Costa Rica.

Organized crime was financed by profits.

Since 1988, the appropriately named Villani has been arrested for gambling-related offenses.  Prosecutors claim that he received about $1 million annually from Rhino Sports and gave some of the money back to the Lucchese family.

The accused gangster was sentenced to prison and ordered to surrender $4 million and two homes, including a condo in Florida and a home in Westchester County.

According to the indictment, Rhino Sports was a "large-scale illegal gambling business" that took advantage of new technology and traditional gang strength to profit from sports bettors all around the United States.

The website, which was situated in Central America to evade US investigation, kept Villani away from daily operations while enabling agents to manage bettors.

According to court documents, Villani cashed cheques through a plumbing company in the Bronx and laundered funds through shell corporations.

Threatening and intimidating

Co-defendant Louis “Tooch” Tucci, a Lucchese soldier, entered a guilty plea to comanaging the operation in August 2023.  In court, Tucci acknowledged that he and his codefendants had enforced debts through intimidation and threats.

In addition, three more people were charged: Louis Gigante, Dennis Filizzola, and Robert Mancino.  They were charged with being collectors or bookmakers.

In December 2023, Villani entered a guilty plea to one count of operating an unlawful gambling operation.  His lawyer at the time characterized him as a "family man" who had "moved on from his past."

To disagree, prosecutors pleaded.  Villani will start his sentence right now.

The length of the prison sentence was misstated in an earlier version of this article.  This has been fixed.