Grand Jury Indicts Seven In Alleged Rochester Illegal Sports Gambling Business

A federal grand jury has returned an indictment charging seven individuals for their roles in an illegal gambling business in Rochester, NY.

Louis P. Ferrari II, Dominic Sprague, and Tomasso Sessa are charged with two counts of conspiracy, one count of transmission of wagering information, and two counts of operating an illegal gambling business.

Anthony Amato, Joseph Lombardo, Jeffrey Boscarino, and James Civiletti are charged with one count of conspiracy, one count of transmission of wagering information, and one count of operating an illegal gambling business.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Meghan K. McGuire, who is handling the case, said that according to the indictment and a previously filed complaint, the defendants conspired to operate illegal poker games and an illegal sports betting operation through sport700.com.

Ferrari and Sprague co-owned and operated the illegal poker games at 565 Blossom Road, and Ferrari operated the illegal sports betting, managing individual bettors and overseeing sub-agents, including Sprague, who had their own books of individual bettors.

In addition, Ferrari owns and operates Ferrari Excavating in Rochester, where he collected cash payment of gambling losses from players and then laundered the illegal proceeds through the Ferrari Excavating business.

Sprague also owned and operated a pawn shop on Stone Road in Greece, NY, where he collected cash payments of gambling losses from bettors and paid gambling winnings to bettors.

Defendant Amato administrated sport700.com and assisted Ferrari and others in creating accounts, usernames, and passwords, and managing individual bettors and overseeing sub-agents who had their own books of individual bettors on sport700.com.

Defendant Sessa managed the day-to-day operations at 565 Blossom Road. Defendants Lombardo and Boscarino were sub-agents under Ferrari through sport700.com. Defendant Civiletti was an employee of Sprague’s pawn shop, collecting payments of gambling losses from people on behalf of Ferrari and Sprague.

During the course of the investigation, investigators intercepted a series of calls and text messages between targets of the investigation, sub-agents and individual bettors discussing the placement of bets, collection of winnings, and payment of losses. The investigation revealed that Ferrari generated $1,241,172 in winnings, while Amato generated winnings totaling $8,945,629.

On April 17, 2021, as investigators arrived to execute a search warrant at 565 Blossom Road, they interrupted an ongoing illegal card game, which sent individuals fleeing.

An unknown number of individuals successfully fled, eight were temporarily detained.

Former New York State Trooper Thomas Loewke, who was charged separately in connection with this case, was previously convicted and is awaiting sentencing.