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Michael Vitti, also known as “Peewee,” 33, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Vanessa L. Bryant, who also handed down a sentence of up to three months of home confinement and three years of supervised release to Daniel Degruttola, also known as “Dannyboy,” 33, of Stamford, the statement said. Anthony Santoro, also known as “Skinny,” 49, of Staten Island, N.Y., was sentenced to eight months in prison and three years of supervised release, the statement said.
In addition, Santoro was ordered to forfeit $25,000, and Vitti and Degruttola were each ordered to forfeit $100,000. All three previously pleaded guilty to one count of operating an illegal gambling business.
According to court documents and statements made in court, after an investigation led by the FBI Fairfield County Organized Crime Task Force, the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation and the Stamford Police Department, 20 individuals were charged in an illegal Internet sports bookmaking operation and illegal card gambling clubs in Stamford and Hamden.
The investigation uncovered a large-scale sports bookmaking operation in which gamblers placed bets with offshore Internet sports-gambling websites, particularly www.44wager.com based in Costa Rica, officials said.
FBI analysis of the sports-betting website determined that the total gross revenues of the Stamford-based gambling operation were nearly $1.7 million from October 2010 to June 2011.
The three were arrested in a roundup of suspects in June 2012. Read about the arrests here on The Daily Voice.
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