Guilty pleas expected in rigged poker game case, court records show

Two reputed organized crime figures charged last year in a massive case allegedly involving rigged poker games are among a group of defendants expected to plead guilty in the coming weeks, according to documents filed Tuesday in a federal court in Brooklyn.

Set to plead guilty are Angelo Ruggiero Jr., 53. of Howard Beach, and Joseph Lanni, 54, of Staten Island, court records show. Ruggiero and Lanni, considered by the FBI to be members of the Gambino crime family, are among a group expected to plead guilty to one count of wire fraud, according to filings by prosecutors.

A total of 31 persons were charged in the case when indictments were unsealed in October 2025. Among them were seven men with reputed ties to New York crime families, as well as Chauncey Billups, head coach of the Portland Trail Blazers of the National Basketball Association. After he was charged, Billups, who has denied any wrongdoing, was placed on administrative leave.

The indictments allege a wide-ranging scheme to fix poker games with sophisticated electronic devices, causing victims to lose millions of dollars. Games were played in Manhattan, Staten Island and East Hampton, according to court records.

While Ruggiero, who is the son of the late Gambino crime family member Angelo Ruggiero, and Lanni have decided to plead guilty, a number of other defendants have not indicated in court records that they want to take government plea bargains. Among them are Ernest Aiello, 46, of Wantagh, a reputed high-ranking member of the Bonanno crime family; Lee Fama, 57, of Brooklyn, said by investigators to be a member of the Gambino crime family; and Matthew Daddino, 43, of Franklin Square, whom the FBI allege is a member of the Genovese crime family. Records showed Billups has also not indicated he will enter a guilty plea.

Attorneys for Aiello and Daddino couldn’t be reached. Attorneys for Fama declined to comment. Ruggiero’s defense attorney, James Froccaro Jr., declined to comment.

In recent weeks, Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael W. Gibaldi and the rest of the prosecution team have stated in court that the government has been in active and serious negotiations that could end some of the case with plea bargains. Tuesday’s new filing indicated that a total of 13 defendants are expected to plead guilty. Lanni’s attorneys Fred Sosinsky and Michael Bachrach stated in a separate letter to the court that their client could plead guilty during the week of July 27.

Even if the 13 defendants mentioned in court records enter guilty pleas, there are still more than a dozen, including Billups, who could go to trial. U.S. District Judge Ramon E. Reyes Jr. has been pushing for a trial date in November. The case has generated a large amount of discovery material.

Ruggiero has been in federal detention since his arrest in October. One attorney familiar with the case said that prosecutors had offered some defendants plea bargains of up to 10 years in prison, something that many of the reputed mobsters have rejected.

By Anthony M. DeStefano

tony.destefano@newsday.comtonynewsday

Anthony M. DeStefano has been a reporter for Newsday since 1986 and covers law enforcement, criminal justice and legal affairs from its New York City offices.