Officials announced charges against 14 people – including reputed members and associates of the Mafia as well as student athletes — for their alleged roles in a multimillion-dollar illegal sports betting ring in New Jersey.
In January 2024, members of the New Jersey State Police Port Investigation Unit began investigating an illegal sports betting enterprise that was operating out of Essex and Bergen counties, officials said. Between 2022 and 2024, the group used offshore gambling websites to systemically entice people to make bets as part of a sophisticated gambling operation, according to investigators.
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Officials said the enterprise transferred approximately $2 million in suspected gambling transactions.
The group – which included student athletes who operated the sportsbooks as well as a nationwide web of bookmakers – was led by 55-year-old Joseph M. “Little Joe” Perna, a soldier in the Lucchese crime family, according to investigators. Perna was the “financier” while his son, Joseph R. Perna, 25, of Oakland, New Jersey, conducted the daily operations of the sportsbook, officials said.
Other members of the organization included “Little Joe” Perna’s other son, Anthony R. Perna, 23, also of Oakland, his stepson, Frank Zito, 23, of Fairfield, New Jersey, and his nephews, Dominic Perna, 23, of Newark, New Jersey, and Michael Cetta, 23, of North Haledon, New Jersey, according to officials.
Officials identified the other co-defendants as Tyler Schnorrbusch, 23, of Wyckoff, New Jersey, Nicholas Raimo, 25, of East Hanover, New Jersey, Joseph Janish, 23, of North Caldwell, New Jersey, William Medeiros, 22, of North Kingstown, Rhode Island, Spencer Speziale, 22, of Wyckoff, and Devon Shuster, 28, of Gainesville, Florida.
Investigators also said Joseph M. Perna’s wife and Frank Zito’s mother, Kim Zito, 53, of Fairfield, New Jersey, received several payments from Frank Zito that were derived from the illegal gambling in November and December 2023.
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Investigators also said Joseph Perna’s ex-wife Rosanna Magno, 52, of Oakland, New Jersey, tried to conceal gambling ledgers from police during a stop in April 2025.
While investigators said the operation included current and former college athletes, they did not specify which schools were involved or what sports the bets were placed on.
The announcement comes less than a month after dozens of defendants – including former NBA players and Mafia members – were named in two separate indictments on an illegal sports betting scheme and rigged poker games.
“We may all think that the portrayal of organized crime we remember from movies and television shows and books no longer exists, but we are announcing charges today that allege it still does,” New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin said. “Despite the proliferation of legal betting of all kinds, gambling remains a mainstay of members and associates of organized crime. The locations and methods may have evolved, but illegal gambling – in this case, sports betting – remains a problem, and we will charge those who seek to profit from it.”
The New Jersey Attorney General’s Office listed the names of the attorneys for Dominic Perna, Joseph R. Perna, Zito, Cetta, Schnorrbusch, and Janish.
“On behalf of my client, he denies all the allegations set forth in the Complaint,” Dominic Perna’s attorney Thomas Cataldo wrote. “I don’t have enough information yet to comment on the evidence, other than to say he’s not guilty.”
We will include statements from the other attorneys who were named once we receive them.
Mafia members, student athletes charged in NJ sports betting ring, officials say – NBC10 Philadelphia
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