Six arrested running gambling operations out of Market Street bodegas, Railroad Avenue tire shop | Paterson Times Paterson Times

Six arrested running gambling operations out of Market Street bodegas, Railroad Avenue tire shop

By Jonathan Greene
Published: October 17, 2014

passaic-county-sheriffs-office

Five people were arrested on Thursday at three different locations in the city for running illegal gambling operations, according to Passaic County sheriff Richard Berdnik.

Jose C. Colon, 47; Jose E. Colon, 49; Robinson Moya, age unreleased; Domingo Urena, 48; and Freddie Castro, 29, all residents of Paterson were arrested on Thursday along with Ariel Deleon, 32, of North Haledon.

All six have been charged with various gambling offenses, according to Berdnik. Sheriff’s officers busted the Community Mini Mart, 546 Market Street, owned by the two Colons and Moya which was accepting bets on the Dominican Lottery, the sheriff said.

1st Stop Mini Mart, 548 Market Street, managed by Urena was also accepting bets on the same lottery.

Personnel at the two locations would accept money from individuals and use a computer and a receipt printer to log into a larger illegal gambling site to place bets for customers, according to the sheriff’s office.

At the Tire Road, 195 Railroad Avenue, owners Deleon and Castro had a separate room for customers where they can go to place bets. “At Tire Road LLC, there was a specific room, within the business, that customers would walk up to the window and place illegal bets on sporting events,” the sheriff’s office said.  “At this location, there was also a specific computer and receipt printer utilized for recording the bets.”

Authorities recovered $5,380 in gambling proceeds. Detectives think throughout the day a large number of people placed bets at the location but funds were quickly moved off site to an unknown location at various times of the day. Large amount of money was not being held at the locations, Berdnik said.

“Thursday, with the baseball playoffs and a major football game, was a popular night for individuals to break our State gambling laws,” Berdnik said. “Illegal gambling, like narcotics and prostitution and many other types of criminal activity, diminish the quality of life of the residents of the community.”

All six have been charged on various gambling related offenses, according to authorities. Five have been released pending court appearance. Jose C. Colon is being held in city police lockup for having a previous criminal warrant out for his arrest.

“By illegally taking bets on the Dominican Lottery, the suspects were preying on individuals who, because of their immigration status, did not feel comfortable using the New Jersey State Lottery system,” Berdnik said. “Currently unlicensed and monitored sports betting is against New Jersey Law. “


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