{"id":14463,"date":"2025-10-24T01:30:11","date_gmt":"2025-10-24T01:30:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/14463\/"},"modified":"2025-10-24T01:30:11","modified_gmt":"2025-10-24T01:30:11","slug":"portland-trailblazers-coach-indicted-in-elaborate-poker-scam-with-nyc-mob-ties","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/14463\/","title":{"rendered":"Portland Trailblazers coach indicted in elaborate poker scam with NYC mob ties"},"content":{"rendered":"

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.\u2014 What do an NBA great and a Staten Island mobster have in common? According to the federal government, it\u2019s an elaborate poker scheme that milked unsuspecting players of more than $7 million. <\/p>\n

In an indictment unsealed this week in Brooklyn Federal Court, 31 defendants across 11 states are named as playing various roles in the scheme, which authorities say dates back to 2019. <\/p>\n

Defendants include current Portland Trailblazers coach Chauncey Billups, another former NBA player, and several members of La Cosa Nostra; including Staten Islander and Gambino captain Joseph Lanni<\/a>. <\/p>\n

\"ChauncyChauncy BillupsMark Graves\/Oregonian<\/p>\n

The sophisticated, multi-faceted hustle used electronic devices, and spanned several underground Texas Hold \u2018em games at locations in Manhattan, Las Vegas, East Hampton and elsewhere, court documents allege. <\/p>\n

The rigged games often were carried out at already established underground poker games in Manhattan controlled by La Cosa Nostra; one on Lexington Avenue and the other on Washington Place, according to federal prosecutors.<\/p>\n

Well-known former professional athletes, including Billups, acted as \u2018face cards\u2019 to lure unsuspecting victims to high-stakes poker games, \u201cwhere they were then at the mercy of concealed technology,\u201d said Joseph Nocella, Jr., U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York. \u201cToday\u2019s indictment and arrests sounds the final buzzer for these cheaters.\u201d<\/p>\n

How it worked\"RiggedRigged shufflerCourtesy of EDNY<\/p>\n

Over the course of an indictment and detainment requests by federal prosecutors, they described how a law enforcement investigation offered insight into how the alleged operation was run. <\/p>\n

\u201cOrganizers\u201d hosted the games at mob-protected venues. They would recruit famous faces referred to as \u201cface cards\u201d as a way to draw in wealthy, unsuspecting victims referred to as a \u201cwhale\u201d or \u201cbig fish.\u201d<\/p>\n

Billups and fellow NBA retiree Damon Jones were among the \u201cface cards\u201d and are both charged as participating in the illegal poker games. <\/p>\n

Victims were taken for tens of thousands of dollars at a time, including one victim who lost more than $100,000. <\/p>\n

Defendants deemed \u201corganizers\u201d of the games included:<\/p>\n

Ammar Awawdeh, 34, of BrooklynSaul Becher, 45, of the BronxZhen \u201cStanley\u201d Hu, 37, of BrooklynSeth Trustman, 43, of Queens\"SurveillanceA federal investigation determined “organizers” of rigged poker games \u2014 including defendants Seth Trustman, Zhen Hu, and Saul Becher \u2014 were backed by members of organized crime, “suppliers” and “cheat teams.”Courtesy of EDNY<\/p>\n

\u201cSuppliers\u201d provided the technology to carry out various cheating tactics to ensure winning hands, court documents say. Devices included a rigged card shuffler, an X-ray poker table and special contact lenses. Alleged suppliers, who in some cases doubled as players, are said to include:<\/p>\n

Shane \u201cSugar\u201d Hennan, 40, of Las Vegas, NevadaCurtis \u201cCurt\u201d Meeks, 41, of Elgin, TexasRobert \u201cLil Robbie\u201d Stroud, 67, of Louisville, Kentucky<\/p>\n

An \u201coperator,\u201d meanwhile, was off-site, receiving real time information from the technology, indicating what type of hand each player was holding. <\/p>\n

Other gadgets included card analyzers that used software on a decoy cellular phone that could surreptitiously detect which cards were on the table, and playing cards that had markers visible only to individuals wearing specially designed contact lenses or sunglasses.<\/p>\n

According to the court documents: \u201cCheat teams\u201d were the players at the table. One of them acted as the \u201cquarterback\u201d or \u201cdriver,\u201d who would receive texts from the \u201coperator\u201d about who was likely holding what. The \u201cdriver\u201d would then deliver signals to other players at the table based on that information. <\/p>\n

\"CheatA text exchange between participants illustrates how they would communicate real time to hustle other players. Courtesy of EDNY<\/p>\n

In some cases, the \u201ccheat team\u201d would try to coordinate how to lose purposefully to keep a \u201cbig fish\u201d at the table for longer, or to avoid suspicion of cheating, it is alleged. <\/p>\n

\"VeiledAuthorities said in a text sent by one of the organizers, Seth Trustman, he eluded to the fact he threatened someone with a veiled threat about the mafia. Courtesy of EDNY<\/p>\n

According to the indictment, members of cheat teams who played at the tables included:<\/p>\n

Nelson \u201cSpanish G\u201d Alvarez, 53, of UniondaleEric \u201cSpook\u201d Earnest, 53, of St. Louis, MissouriMarco Garzon, 39, of Elizabeth, New JerseyJamie \u201cJamie Friend\u201d Gilet, 40, of JerichoTony \u201cBlack Tony\u201d Goodson, of GeorgiaKenny Han, 40, of QueensSophia \u201cPookie\u201d Wei, 40, of QueensJohn \u201cJohn South\u201d Mazzola, 43, of GeorgiaMichael Renzulli, 42, of Islip, New York Nicholas Minucci, 39, of East NorthportLa Cosa Nostra\"Surveillance\"Ziliani and Fama meet up at Sally’s Bar in Manhattan near one of the poker games.Surveillance<\/p>\n

According to the indictment, made members and associates of La Cosa Nostra crime families oversaw the rigged games, provided muscle, and received a chunk of the profits.<\/p>\n

They included:<\/p>\n

Joseph Lanni, 54, of Staten IslandErnest Aiello, 46, of Wantagh, New YorkJulius \u201cJay\u201d Ziliani, 54, of New Jersey Lee Fama, 57, of BrooklynAngelo Ruggiero Jr., 53, of Howard BeachMatthew \u201cThe Wrestler\u201d Daddino, 43, of Franklin SquareLouis \u201cLou Ap\u201d Apicella, 50, of New Rochelle, New YorkThomas \u201cJuice\u201d Gelardo, 42, Scarsdale, New YorkJohn Gallo, 53, of BrooklynMoney laundering<\/p>\n

Anthony \u201cDoc\u201d Shnayderman, 39, of Brooklyn, was one of multiple people who laundered proceeds from the games, federal prosecutors alleged. <\/p>\n

Game organizers would sometimes instruct victims to send money via bank wires to shell companies controlled by Shnayderman, court documents say. <\/p>\n

In turn, Shnayderman would transfer money in cash or cryptocurrency \u2014 less a money laundering fee \u2014 back to the game organizers, they allege.<\/p>\n

Violent actors, feds say<\/p>\n

Anyone who refused to pay their debts, in some cases after suspecting they were hustled, were threatened with violence, authorities stated. <\/p>\n

In one text exchange, an \u201corganizer\u201d explains to a cohort how he threatened one person in debt by alluding to the fact he would have to check in with members of organized crime about the debt, it is alleged. <\/p>\n

On a different occasion, \u201corganizer\u201d Zhen Hu told a cohort he punched a man in the face who owed money from a rigged game, according to prosecutors.<\/p>\n

A defendant at one point texted about \u201ccracking heads open\u201d outside one of the poker rooms, while another bragged about threatening a person who owed with a photo of a gun, prosecutors allege. <\/p>\n

Prosecutors this week requested detainment for several of the defendants, on a range of arguments, including criminal background and threat to society. <\/p>\n

\"JosephIn this 2023 photo, a surveillance image from a gas station shows accused Gambino crime family captain Joseph Lanni purchasing a gas canister across the street from a restaurant he threatened to burn down, authorities claim. Lanni is accused of participation in an elaborate poker scheme.EDNY<\/p>\n

Lanni, for example, had just pleaded guilty recently in connection with a separate federal case that involved accusations of an armed robbery, menacing and arson attempt at a New Jersey bar. <\/p>\n

Minucci, meanwhile, was convicted in 2006 for first-degree robbery as a hate crime, court documents noted. <\/p>\n

In that case, Minucci beat a Black man in the head with a baseball bat while using the n-word, and told him to stay out of his predominantly Italian-American neighborhood. <\/p>\n

Gelardo, authorities said, has the means to flee. Despite there being no known source of legitimate income, the government had identified approximately $500,000 in a bank account owned by Gelardo. <\/p>\n

\u201cMoreover, Gelardo made a down payment of approximately $100,000 to purchase a Lamborghini sport utility vehicle, for which Gelardo now makes monthly payments of approximately $5,000. Gelardo also owns other luxury cars, including a Mercedes-Benz G-Class sport utility vehicle.\u201d<\/p>\n

Armed robbery, inner turmoil\"RiggedBonanno associate Gelardo and made member Ziliani are seen in a series of surveillance, along with game organizer Seth Trustman, according to the prosecution.Courtesy of EDNY<\/p>\n

In 2023, defendants from one crew operating a game \u2014 Mazzola, Minucci and Stroud \u2014 learned of a competitor who also was in possession of a rigged shuffle machine, a Deckmate 1, it is alleged.<\/p>\n

They planned to rob the man as a means to eliminate the competition, prosecutors said.<\/p>\n

The robbery unfolded in the early morning hours of Sept. 7, 2023. Mazzola was already in a car with the man under false pretenses, and co-defendant Osman \u201cAlbanian Bruce\u201d Hoti, 44, was behind the wheel, police said.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s when two unnamed actors, recruited by Minucci, approached with a gun. Hoti purposefully left the car in park as the man handed over the machine, prosecutors alleged. <\/p>\n

Then, more turmoil within the criminal network. <\/p>\n

Weeks later, Awawdeh began running his own competing poker game on Washington Place on the same night as the Lexington Avenue game, court documents continued.<\/p>\n

So on the night of Oct. 11, 2023, individuals with a competing crew including members of the Bonanno family \u2014 Gelardo, Ziliani and others \u2014 stormed into the location with weapons, according to prosecutors; Ziliani was armed with a gun and Gelardo was wielding a baton.<\/p>\n

They assaulted Awawdeh and a brawl erupted, at which point Gelardo and Ziliani took off from the location, according to court documents. <\/p>\n

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