Pro Poker Player Admits Running Illegal Gambling Organization

Argila, of North Bellmore, ran multimillion dollar international betting operation

MINEOLA, NY - Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice announced today that Anthony Argila, a professional poker player from North Bellmore, has admitted in court to being the boss of a multimillion dollar international gambling operation that had tentacles extending from his North Bellmore home to Florida, Arizona and Costa Rica. Following Wednesday’s guilty pleas, Rice announced that in addition to possible jail time, Argila has been hit with a lawsuit by her office seeking $4 million, the estimated amount of money wagered with the organization annually.

Argila, 52, pleaded guilty to 17 felony counts of Promoting Gambling in the First Degree, a felony count of Possession of Gambling Records in the First Degree, and two misdemeanor counts of Conspiracy in the Fifth Degree. The charges represent the entirety of a 20-count indictment lodged against Argila on June 4, 2009.  Nassau County Judge Phillip Grella presided over Wednesday’s plea and is scheduled to sentence Argila October 15. Argila faces up to four years in prison.

Rice said that Argila’s organization took bets through dozens of bookmakers and runners in Nassau and Suffolk Counties, and then placed the bets through a “wire room” in Costa Rica. Bettors would either collect their winnings or pay their losses through the operation’s local intermediaries here in Nassau County. Wagers could also be made through a sophisticated Web site or through toll-free phone numbers. Customers wagered on sporting events and online casino games.  Rice said that each Monday, Argila and his associates would meet in hotel rooms across Long Island to discuss the week’s wins and losses.

Rice said that the Nassau County Police Department’s DA Squad began investigating the ring in August 2005, eventually infiltrating it in 2007. Investigators were able to track the ring’s weekly hotel meetings. Extensive physical surveillance was conducted through photographs and global positioning system (GPS) devices and Rice’s office sought and obtained a court-ordered phone tap on the telephone of Angelo LePore, a runner with the organization.

LePore, 58, of Oceanside, pleaded guilty today to Conspiracy in the Fifth Degree, and received a conditional discharge and $1,000 fine. Alan Wayne, 52, of Las Vegas and Seaford, another runner, pleaded guilty to the same charge and received the same sentence.

“This was not a corner bookie operation,” Rice said. “This operation was as high-tech and elaborate as it gets, so to bring him down we had to match him not only in effort but in sophistication. Mr. Argila rolled the dice against our police department and my office and he lost.”

In 2006, Argila made it to the final table of the World Poker Tour’s Borgata Open, finishing fourth in the tournament and collecting more than $366,000 in winnings.

Handling the case for the DA’s Office is Jane Zwirn-Turkin of the DA’s Rackets Bureau. The defendant is being represented by Dennis Lemke, Esq.