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Warren search nets $455,000
By JOHN GRANT EMEIGH Tribune Chronicle
WARREN - Nearly a half million dollars in suspected proceeds from illegal gambling had gone undiscovered for at least 12 years before being seized by federal agents inside a Carlton Drive N.W. residence Wednesday afternoon.
FBI agents and Warren police officers found $455,000 in cash during a search of residence about 4:30 p.m., FBI Special Agent Jeff Sadlak said Thursday. Sadlak said investigators believe the money was left over from an illegal sports bookmaking operation that was run by Joseph Perfette of Howland in the 1980s.
''Crime does pay for a while, then it catches up to you,'' Sadlak said.
The money was found in the home of Joseph Perfette's brother and sister, Robert and Lucy Perfette. No one was arrested, and no charges have been filed.
Robert Perfette, who works in the engraving department of the Tribune Chronicle, declined to comment Thursday afternoon about the search.
Joseph Perfette, who resides at 332 Avalon Drive, Howland, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in 1990 to running an illegal gambling business and signing a false tax return. According to affidavits filed by the FBI in 1990, Joseph Perfette was head of all organized crime gambling activities in Trumbull County at the time.
The FBI described him as a bookie who ran sports betting, a daily numbers game and various casino games and as having ties to organized crime families in Cleveland and Pittsburgh. These operations reportedly netted more than $3.5 million in wagers between December 1987 and January 1988, according to the FBI.
Two affidavits unsealed in 1990 said Perfette ran a sports-betting business out of an apartment above a hair salon on Parkman Road N.W. The operation ran under the name of J & P Novelty.
His was described as ''the large operation'' in Warren, with at least 20 bookmakers laying off bets to him.
Perfette also was charged with running a numbers bank at a club on East Market Street and an illegal craps game played in the back room of a club on Elm Road N.E.
Informants tipped off the FBI, and agents tapped telephone lines, listened to thousands of calls, then conducted raids in February 1988. Investigators speculated that the $3 million-a-year business may have been the biggest bookmaking and numbers ring in northeast Ohio.
Informants also linked the operations to Pittsburgh and Cleveland mob families. Informants told agents the Pittsburgh family's attempt to gain control over Perfette's operations in 1978 touched off a gang war that left six dead and gambling in Warren under Cleveland control.
A dispute in 1986 ended with mob factions sharing profits but left the Cleveland family unhappy with the arrangement, informants said.
The FBI also reported Joseph Perfette made false statements on federal income tax returns in 1987 and 1988 by failing to report his occupation and under-reporting the income he derived.
Joseph Perfette was sentenced to 14 months in prison, a $10,000 fine and three years supervised probation.
A federal search warrant was obtained Wednesday from U.S. Magistrate George J. Limbert to search the home on Carlton Drive. Sadlak wouldn't say how agents were tipped off about the money or where in the home they found the money. Detective Fred Hoolihan of Warren Police Department assisted in the search, but referred all questions to the federal agency.
The search warrant was ordered sealed by the judge, meaning it was not available to the public.
Sadlak said the FBI will begin civil forfeiture procedures to determine where the money will go. If the money turns out to have been obtained through criminal activity, the money could go to the various law enforcement agencies who participated in the investigation to be used for operational expenses.
By JOHN GRANT EMEIGH Tribune Chronicle
WARREN - Nearly a half million dollars in suspected proceeds from illegal gambling had gone undiscovered for at least 12 years before being seized by federal agents inside a Carlton Drive N.W. residence Wednesday afternoon.
FBI agents and Warren police officers found $455,000 in cash during a search of residence about 4:30 p.m., FBI Special Agent Jeff Sadlak said Thursday. Sadlak said investigators believe the money was left over from an illegal sports bookmaking operation that was run by Joseph Perfette of Howland in the 1980s.
''Crime does pay for a while, then it catches up to you,'' Sadlak said.
The money was found in the home of Joseph Perfette's brother and sister, Robert and Lucy Perfette. No one was arrested, and no charges have been filed.
Robert Perfette, who works in the engraving department of the Tribune Chronicle, declined to comment Thursday afternoon about the search.
Joseph Perfette, who resides at 332 Avalon Drive, Howland, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in 1990 to running an illegal gambling business and signing a false tax return. According to affidavits filed by the FBI in 1990, Joseph Perfette was head of all organized crime gambling activities in Trumbull County at the time.
The FBI described him as a bookie who ran sports betting, a daily numbers game and various casino games and as having ties to organized crime families in Cleveland and Pittsburgh. These operations reportedly netted more than $3.5 million in wagers between December 1987 and January 1988, according to the FBI.
Two affidavits unsealed in 1990 said Perfette ran a sports-betting business out of an apartment above a hair salon on Parkman Road N.W. The operation ran under the name of J & P Novelty.
His was described as ''the large operation'' in Warren, with at least 20 bookmakers laying off bets to him.
Perfette also was charged with running a numbers bank at a club on East Market Street and an illegal craps game played in the back room of a club on Elm Road N.E.
Informants tipped off the FBI, and agents tapped telephone lines, listened to thousands of calls, then conducted raids in February 1988. Investigators speculated that the $3 million-a-year business may have been the biggest bookmaking and numbers ring in northeast Ohio.
Informants also linked the operations to Pittsburgh and Cleveland mob families. Informants told agents the Pittsburgh family's attempt to gain control over Perfette's operations in 1978 touched off a gang war that left six dead and gambling in Warren under Cleveland control.
A dispute in 1986 ended with mob factions sharing profits but left the Cleveland family unhappy with the arrangement, informants said.
The FBI also reported Joseph Perfette made false statements on federal income tax returns in 1987 and 1988 by failing to report his occupation and under-reporting the income he derived.
Joseph Perfette was sentenced to 14 months in prison, a $10,000 fine and three years supervised probation.
A federal search warrant was obtained Wednesday from U.S. Magistrate George J. Limbert to search the home on Carlton Drive. Sadlak wouldn't say how agents were tipped off about the money or where in the home they found the money. Detective Fred Hoolihan of Warren Police Department assisted in the search, but referred all questions to the federal agency.
The search warrant was ordered sealed by the judge, meaning it was not available to the public.
Sadlak said the FBI will begin civil forfeiture procedures to determine where the money will go. If the money turns out to have been obtained through criminal activity, the money could go to the various law enforcement agencies who participated in the investigation to be used for operational expenses.