Illegal Gambling Ring Gets Busted

State law enforcement officials last week broke up an illegal sports gambling ring that had operated out of a poker room inside Atlantic City's Borgata Hotel Casino and charged the leader and 22 other participants, according to the Office of the Attorney General.

The gambling ring had allegedly

used a network of agents to take in more than $22 million in bets in college and professional football and basketball since March 2006. The alleged ringleader, Andrew Micali, 32, of Ventor, was arrested on charges of promoting gambling, money laundering and criminal usury, while three of Micali's associates and a supervisor in the Borgata poker room were also arrested on a charge of promoting gambling.

Eighteen other individuals, including five other Borgata employees, were charged with promoting gambling, money laundering or conspiracy, but were not arrested. The casino employees allegedly ignored exchanges of cash and casino chips made by the ring and avoided filing financial reports that are required for transactions that exceed $10,000 or are suspicious in any way.

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Borgata was the site of an illegal gambling ring.