New Jersey's highest-ranking Genovese crime family member and 15 associates have been accused of racketeering and running a multimillion-dollar sports-gambling, loan-sharking and extortion ring, federal authorities say.
An indictment unsealed Wednesday says crews of Genovese associates ran numbers games and football-ticket gambling operations out of delicatessens, social clubs and bars in Hoboken and Jersey City, netting nearly $3 million for the nation's most powerful crime family.
In addition, federal authorities said the alleged mobsters - many from Bergen and Hudson counties - preyed on Greek restaurateurs and business owners, targeting them for loan-sharking and charging them for protection.
"Today's arrests are another nail in the coffin of organized crime in New Jersey," said Leslie G. Wiser Jr., special agent in charge of the FBI's Newark division.
Authorities say Lawrence Dentico - known as "Little Guy" or "Little Larry" - was among a group of crime-family members who formed the Genovese administration after boss Vincent "The Chin" Gigante's racketeering conviction in 1997.
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