BOOM! Mob gambling at Rutger

El_Jefe

All-American
Oct 11, 2021
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Article is paywalled ... but 2 recent former Rutger Fight Club members (Cetta and Raimo) were among 14 college athletes swept up in a mob gambling sting.

Unlike Jaws Brands, they weren't merely gamblers -- they were agents for the mob bookie.

(The embedded linked article shows the mob structure. Link is before the paywall kicks in, in the first article.)

 

ElDuce

All-Conference
Oct 29, 2022
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The Sopranos Hbo GIF
 

Corby2

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Jul 14, 2025
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Cetta was on the roster last year and made the 2024 NCAA tournament. Raimo started at ASU and then went to Rutgers he was injured in a car accident and never wrestled a match at Rutgers.
Wonder if this will keep books from having Rutgers wrestling lines this season.
 

Matter7172

Senior
Oct 30, 2021
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Article is paywalled ... but 2 recent former Rutger Fight Club members (Cetta and Raimo) were among 14 college athletes swept up in a mob gambling sting.

Unlike Jaws Brands, they weren't merely gamblers -- they were agents for the mob bookie.

(The embedded linked article shows the mob structure. Link is before the paywall kicks in, in the first article.)


Only 3 college athletes, not 14. There was a John Perna from Belleville that wrestled in the 1990s (3x finalist and 1x champ), and he may be included in the sting (his current age is listed as 47, which would be consistent with someone who graduated hs in 1995, which John Perna did). He was, however, definitely involved in the ripping off of an OW award from one of my wrestlers in our county junior high tournament in 1991 (Perna got the award instead). I can tell the story of the OW ripoff if people are interested.


And, maybe not shockingly, not the first time at the rodeo for the leaders of the operations.


John Perna was not involved in this sting. He was convicted in the two investigations I linked.
 
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Hlstone

Senior
Oct 11, 2021
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Only 3 college athletes, not 14. There was a John Perna from Belleville that wrestled in the 1990s (3x finalist and 1x champ), and he may be included in the sting (his current age is listed as 47, which would be consistent with someone who graduated hs in 1995, which John Perna did). He was, however, definitely involved in the ripping off of an OW award from one of my wrestlers in our county junior high tournament in 1991 (Perna got the award instead). I can tell the story of the OW ripoff if people are interested.


And, maybe not shockingly, not the first time at the rodeo for the leaders of the operations.



I want to read about the OW ripoff story.
 
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Matter7172

Senior
Oct 30, 2021
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I want to read about the OW ripoff story.
Perna won his 6th junior high county title, but not overwhelmingly. I coached a kid who was a first year wrestler that wrestled in the mid-weights and was the only wrestler to pin his way through the tournament. It was a very tough county at that point in time and he was in a difficult weight class. When we coaches were voting for the OW, Perna's coaches were pushing that he was the first to win 6 county titles. My response was that this wasn't a lifetime achievement award, it was for OW of this tournament. My kid was only wrestler to have four pins in four matches to get his title and he deserved the OW. My peers were not impressed. I attribute it to some long-since-past issues with our program (well before I was running it) that caused long-term resentment.
 
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NJwrestling26

Junior
Oct 16, 2025
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Cetta is related to the Pernas and seems like he’s pretty screwed ,he was in pretty deep. Raimo might get off okay from this but RICO cases roll up ”mostly“ innocent people all the time. Mocco father got rolled up in one when he was in HS
 

namenoonechose

Sophomore
Oct 31, 2021
69
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Article is paywalled ... but 2 recent former Rutger Fight Club members (Cetta and Raimo) were among 14 college athletes swept up in a mob gambling sting.

Unlike Jaws Brands, they weren't merely gamblers -- they were agents for the mob bookie.

(The embedded linked article shows the mob structure. Link is before the paywall kicks in, in the first article.)


Has anyone heard from @RUCrackers in a while?
 

Matter7172

Senior
Oct 30, 2021
175
596
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During the height of "The Sopranos" tv show, we were wrestling Belleville in a dual. At weigh-ins, kid steps on the scale and his coach says "Soprano" for the wrestler's last name. Then, after a tick "I'm not kidding. First name is James".
 

NJwrestling26

Junior
Oct 16, 2025
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During the height of "The Sopranos" tv show, we were wrestling Belleville in a dual. At weigh-ins, kid steps on the scale and his coach says "Soprano" for the wrestler's last name. Then, after a tick "I'm not kidding. First name is James".
He was region champ , believe he beat James green at states his senior year
 

Sandy2176

Redshirt
Nov 1, 2025
27
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Why doesn't the FBI arrest people from the computer companies that manipulate them , mail ballots drop boxes or fauci or pharmaceutical companies that killed thousands many people in my nursing home.. I'm not against gambling but it does have a history of sports corruption .
 
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manatree

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Oct 6, 2021
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Why doesn't the FBI arrest people from the computer companies that manipulate them , mail ballots drop boxes or fauci or pharmaceutical companies that killed thousands many people in my nursing home.. I'm not against gambling but it does have a history of sports corruption .
Damn. How big is your nursing home?
 

NJwrestling26

Junior
Oct 16, 2025
226
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This whole thing is a really a joke, you can’t turn on a radio,tv, open an app on the internet without being flooded with gambling commercials, we have kids turning into full blown gambling addicts before they leave college and it’s being pushed by companies like espn. But some Italians get there own thing going and the Feds spend millions of dollars to swoop in and act like these guys were out here supporting isis
 

PSU Mike

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Jul 28, 2001
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Why doesn't the FBI arrest people from the computer companies that manipulate them , mail ballots drop boxes or fauci or pharmaceutical companies that killed thousands many people in my nursing home.. I'm not against gambling but it does have a history of sports corruption .
Not here.
 
Oct 12, 2021
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tikk

Senior
Nov 6, 2015
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I'm not clear on exactly what happened here because gambling is essentially legal now, throughout the country. So long as you're not fixing outcomes (and maybe that's part of this) the opportunity to actually break laws isn't obvious, like skirting age restrictions, using straw accounts to circumvent some third-party restrictions (like what happened in Iowa), or is adjacent to the gambling itself, like money laundering.
 
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NJwrestling26

Junior
Oct 16, 2025
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And with all the legal outlets, why would a gambler use an illegal bookie who could potentially break your knee caps if anything goes wrong?
Age, convenience, maybe some guys dont want to pay taxes on winning …very rare nowadays but I still know some old timers that live cash only lives with no debit or credit cards , can’t use an app if you don’t have a credit card
I'm not clear on exactly what happened here because gambling is essentially legal now, throughout the country. So long as you're not fixing outcomes (and maybe that's part of this) the opportunity to actually break laws isn't obvious, like skirting age restrictions, using straw accounts to circumvent some third-party restrictions (like what happened in Iowa), or is adjacent to the gambling itself, like money laundering.
They were operating “private” casinos so the government can’t tax them 50 percent like they do with the sport books and Atlantic City casinos so that in turn constitutes money laundering , the younger guys and athletes involved were allegedly taking bets from classmates who were probably under 21. Whole thing is a joke just bc the government wants there cut $$
 

Cstroke

Senior
Feb 10, 2019
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Did I hear Willie say that he was out drinking with some of those caught up in this???
Maybe some of you should stop Dicking with Willie...
Lil Willie Carbonara..