72-year-old admits being gambling ‘enforcer’
A 72-year-old Cheektowaga man accused of being a bookie and enforcer is going to prison.
Eric Battistoni admitted threatening a gambler who bet on professional football and owed $24,000 to his former co-defendant, Thi C. Nguyen, a West Seneca nail salon owner.
Prosecutors said the gambler, a Vietnamese native living in Buffalo, went to the FBI after Battistoni and Nguyen visited him at his restaurant in early 2013 and demanded the money he owed Nguyen.
“He would testify that the tone of that conversation indicated violence would be used to settle the debt,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Anthony M. Bruce said of the unidentified gambler.
Bruce said Battistoni, in two subsequent meetings with the gambler, repeated the threats of violence.
Battistoni pleaded guilty to extortion and will face a recommended sentence of up to 30 months in prison when he is sentenced by U.S. District Judge Richard J. Arcara.
Nguyen and Battistoni were arrested in May of 2013 after a search of Nguyen’s West Seneca home revealed ledgers detailing a gambling operation. Nguyen also pleaded guilty to extortion.
The convictions are the result of an investigation by the FBI’s Safe Streets Task Force; Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; and the Buffalo Fire Department.
http://www.buffalonews.com/city-reg...r-old-admits-being-gambling-enforcer-20151029
A 72-year-old Cheektowaga man accused of being a bookie and enforcer is going to prison.
Eric Battistoni admitted threatening a gambler who bet on professional football and owed $24,000 to his former co-defendant, Thi C. Nguyen, a West Seneca nail salon owner.
Prosecutors said the gambler, a Vietnamese native living in Buffalo, went to the FBI after Battistoni and Nguyen visited him at his restaurant in early 2013 and demanded the money he owed Nguyen.
“He would testify that the tone of that conversation indicated violence would be used to settle the debt,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Anthony M. Bruce said of the unidentified gambler.
Bruce said Battistoni, in two subsequent meetings with the gambler, repeated the threats of violence.
Battistoni pleaded guilty to extortion and will face a recommended sentence of up to 30 months in prison when he is sentenced by U.S. District Judge Richard J. Arcara.
Nguyen and Battistoni were arrested in May of 2013 after a search of Nguyen’s West Seneca home revealed ledgers detailing a gambling operation. Nguyen also pleaded guilty to extortion.
The convictions are the result of an investigation by the FBI’s Safe Streets Task Force; Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; and the Buffalo Fire Department.
http://www.buffalonews.com/city-reg...r-old-admits-being-gambling-enforcer-20151029
