Lucchese captain Anthony Villani sentenced for illegal gambling racket

That’s a La Cosa No-No-stra.

A Mafia captain was sentenced Wednesday for running an illegal online betting operation that netted nearly $25 million over the past 25 years, according to federal prosecutors.

US District Judge Kiyo Matsumoto gave Anthony Villani, a reputed Lucchese crime family soldier, 21 months in the slammer for his involvement in the racket, officials said.

Villani, a 60-year-old resident of Elmsford, pleaded guilty earlier in the year to racketeering, money laundering and illegal gambling.

The captain owned Rhino Sports, an online business employing Mafia figures as local bookmakers.

The operation, which was based in the Bronx and Westchester county, took in at least $1 million annually from thousands of gamblers, federal prosecutors said.

Villani recruited and employed “trusted associates” to help him manage the illegal gambling outfit, officials said. 

He also extorted someone between October 2019 and October 2020, threatening them over $300,000 they stole from Rhino Sports, according to prosecutors.

“I’m not going to repeat myself.  I’m not going to ever say this again.  We’re just going to have a problem if I find out.  Alright?  And I don’t want to threaten you with my friends or anything, I’m not gonna, you put me in a f—–g hole with this guy,” Villani reportedly warned on April 27, 2020.   

“Listen, get the f—–g money.  I’m telling you right now, you don’t get this money – f—–g run away,”  he said, according to prosecutors. “Go get this f—–g money,” Villani demanded months later, prosecutors said.

The man on the receiving end of the threats believed Villani or other members of the Lucchese crime family would physically hurt or kill him if he did not repay the debt.  

The case was investigated by the Eastern District of New York’s Organized Crime and Gangs Section.