Mob-connected gambler gets unlucky seven years in prison

by Michaelangelo Conte
Friday September 07, 2007, 6:09 PM

It's snake eyes for Hudson County gambling racketeer Peter "Petey Cap" Caporino, who is on his way up the river after being sentenced to an unlucky seven years in prison today, officials said.

Caporino ran illegal numbers and sports betting rackets for more than 40 years and was an FBI informant for two decades.

Helping the feds got him off the hook but he just couldn't give up the business he operated out of the Character Club, on Monroe Street in Hoboken. A portion of his take was passed up the chain to Genovese crime family bosses, law enforcement officials said.

"We are gratified that this book has reached it's final chapter," said Hudson County Prosecutor Edward DeFazio.

In 2002, Caporino pleaded guilty to money laundering involving illegal gambling proceeds and was sentenced to five years in prison. That sentence was suspended when he agreed to wear a wire for the FBI and help prosecute 15 reputed Genovese associates.

Caporino could have walked away but he didn't -- and things spiraled from there.
In June, he was arrested at his Hasbrouck Heights home and charged with leading an organized crime network, promoting gambling and possession of gambling records.

On Aug. 16 last year, he was arrested in Hoboken by Jersey City police and charged with promoting gambling and possession of gambling records, officials said. Following this arrest, the feds washed their hands of Caporino and DeFazio reinstated the five year suspended sentence.

Caporino was given seven years today by state Superior Judge Peter Vazquez, sitting in Jersey City, for leading an organized crime network, and five years for promoting gambling. Under the terms of the plea deal, the terms will run concurrently.

The sweep that netted Caporino in June also resulted in the arrest of his wife, Ann Caporino, 68, on the charge of possession of gambling records. The charge against her was dropped as part of his plea dea

Rat got ratted out, feds say

Hoboken Now

The Star-Ledger has a story today about Peter "Petey Cap" Caporino, a mobster who ran a gambling racket out of a Hoboken club. He also wore a wire for the FBI, helping to put 16 Jersey-based members and associates of the Genovese crime family behind bars.

But even as Caporino was cooperating with the feds, he was continuing to work his own illegal activities -- even after his FBI handlers told him to stop -- from his members-only social hall in Hoboken called the Character Club.

And in the end, the rat was ratted out. Anonymous letters were sent to Jersey City police, county prosecutors and newspaper reporters, identifying locations where Caporino was said to be still operating.

Caporino, 70, struck a plea deal with Hudson County prosecutors last week, agreeing to a seven-year prison term. His sentence could prove longer than most of the men he helped put away.

If you're going through Sopranos withdrawl, check out the story about the rise and fall of a real-life wiseguy.

==========================================

As the snitch ran his racket, a rat was watching
Tipster helps put mob turncoat Caporino behind bars
Sunday, July 29, 2007
BY JOHN P. MARTIN
Star-Ledger Staff

Peter Caporino stood in a Jersey City courtroom last week in a green prison jumpsuit and blue slippers, with his hands cuffed behind his back. He held his head high but looked tired.

"Mr. Caporino, are you thinking clearly today?" Superior Court Judge Peter Vazquez asked him. "Yes," Caporino replied, nodding.

The exchange began the final ironic twist in the strange, sorry tale of "Petey Cap," one of the better-known and well-liked mobsters to grace or -- depending on your view -- plague North Jersey.

Caporino was the Hasbrouck Heights wiseguy who traded four decades of service in the mob for an FBI wire and the chance to spare himself and his wife from prison. He secretly recorded hundreds of conversations, and later helped federal prosecutors win convictions against 16 Jersey-based members and associates of the Genovese crime family.

But as most of them marched off to prison last summer, a whisper campaign was in the works: Caporino, the rumors went, was not only back on the streets, but still brazenly running the lucrative six-figure gambling racket the feds had ordered him -- twice -- to shut down.

A new nickname was in the air. Greedy Petey, they called him.

Anonymous letters found their way to the Jersey City police, the county prosecutors, even The Star-Ledger, identifying locations where Caporino and underlings were said to still be operating.

Someone was ratting out the rat.

Last month, police raided his home, seized betting records and cash and charged Caporino and his wife. The end came Thursday, when the 70-year-old mobster admitted his crimes in a plea deal with Hudson County prosecutors, and agreed to a seven-year prison term, most of which will probably be spent in isolation.

Caporino's punishment could ultimately be longer and lonelier than any given to most of the men he helped put away.

"It's poetic justice, that's what it is," said Joseph Ferrante, a defense attorney who grilled Caporino on the witness stand during a federal racketeering trial last year. "You can't go and be a rat and put it in everybody's face."

THE ONLY LIFE HE KNOWS
Caporino wasn't a boss or even a ranking member in New Jersey's most dominant crime family. But he was a fixture -- a slight, chatty fellow, known and liked by cops, criminals and politicians alike, fond of fine wines and quick to pick up the tab. With his white hair and silver-rimmed glasses, he was more lottery agent than bruiser.

He was also the proprietor of a Hoboken members-only social hall, the Character Club, that occupied a faded brick building in the shadow of gleaming new condos. Like the building, its owner represented the new realities of the modern mob in New Jersey. A lifelong Genovese associate, Caporino turned informant to save the family that mattered most to him, but couldn't abandon the job.

"It's all he knows," said his defense attorney, Sam DeLuca.

Caporino isn't the first wiseguy cooperator to return to his criminal ways. It happens so often that some in Garden State law enforcement circles have a saying about their witness protection participants: You can take the wiseguy out of Jersey, but you can't take Jersey out of the wiseguy.

Caporino refused to enter the program, even after he was forced to testify at the May 2006 trial of reputed Genovese soldier Michael Crincoli. On the stand, Caporino calmly admitted peddling information to the FBI for more than 15 years, including intelligence that helped in the prosecution of Louis "Bobby" Manna, a reputed Genovese underboss who ran operations in New Jersey.

He also acknowledged under oath that agents had repeatedly ordered him to end his numbers racket. But at the hearing Thursday, Caporino admitted he was running it again last June, weeks after the Crincoli trial, raising the prospect that he never really shut it down.

"It certainly looked that way," said Assistant Hudson County Prosecutor Thomas Carroll.

Caporino was first arrested and released last summer on minor gambling promotion charges. At the time, Jersey City Police Lt. Gary Lallo credited "community complaints in various sectors of the city" for jump-starting the investigation, but declined to say more.

But there was no shortage of suspects behind the campaign to topple him, according to attorneys, investigators and others who know him.

Near the top would be the wiseguys he helped convict, or their friends, looking to exact some revenge, even if it's not a traditional form.

"They like to see a guy suffer," said Assistant U.S. Attorney V. Grady O'Malley, a veteran organized crime prosecutor who oversees that office's Strike Force. "He's going to suffer with this. You're talking about spending the remaining good years of his life in jail."

There are other theories. One blames competitors coveting his lucrative turf. Or federal authorities angry at Caporino or looking for a way to force him into the protective custody he had repeatedly refused. Or local law enforcement, relishing the chance to embarrass the FBI by nailing one of its informants.

Another grapevine theory said Caporino's arrest was police payback after one of his right-hand men, Steve French, became a federal witness against a Jersey City detective, Frank D'Agosta, who was convicted of extorting the ring operators.

French became a cooperator after his arrest in a gambling raid by Hudson County investigators in 2002, the same one that snared Caporino, his wife, Ann, and more than a dozen others.

By that point, Caporino had secretly been an FBI informant for more than a decade. But the prospect of he and his wife being sent to jail turned him into a full-fledged cooperating witness. In the two and a half years that followed, he recorded more than 300 conversations, most often with a microphone embedded on the pager he wore on his belt.

THE MONEY MAN
The racketeering indictment that ensued outlined loan-sharking operations, extortion attempts, and shakedowns against bettors by associates, soldiers, and Lawrence "Little Larry" Dentico, believed to be one of the ranking captains in the crime family.

One of Caporino's recordings captured Joseph Scarbrough, the reputed Jersey crew boss who presided at his own Hoboken social club, musing about whether to execute one gambler before his debts got too big. On another, Scarbrough waxed nostalgic about a particularly ruthless killer from Chicago.

"Good man. Good (bleeping) man," said Scarbrough, who later pleaded guilty and was sentenced last year to five years in federal prison. "I loved the guy."

Caporino's role was more benign. He was the bank, the financier of an illegal daily lottery across North Jersey. He and his wife owned a house in middle-class Hasbrouck Heights, where they cared for their adult disabled daughter. Petey Cap's "office" -- the headquarters for the betting operation -- was a rented apartment in Staten Island, he admitted Thursday.

The take was sometimes as high as $40,000 a day, he testified last year, and he passed the proceeds both up and down the organizational ladder. Assistants and the legions of runners got paid for taking daily bets in office buildings, housing projects and storefronts. Scarbrough took as much as $5,000 a month, his "tribute" payment.

Caporino's cooperation won him a five-year suspended sentence in connection with the 2002 arrest and persuaded prosecutors to drop the charges against his wife.

The plea deal announced Thursday calls for Vazquez to reinstate the five-year term when he formally sentences Caporino in September. The judge is also expected to add a concurrent seven-year term for being the leader of an organized crime network.

Again, prosecutors will drop their charges against Ann Caporino.

Thursday's plea hearing lasted just 15 minutes. Caporino stood at the defense table, guarded by two sheriff's officers and flanked on his left by DeLuca, his lawyer for more than 20 years.

"Are you satisfied with the services of your attorney?" the judge asked.

"Totally," Caporino said.

DeLuca then asked him a brief series of pre-arranged questions about the gambling ring and his role. Caporino limited his answers to one- or two-word replies. He wasn't asked to explain why he committed the crimes, though he'll get the chance to do so at sentencing.

By that time, about half of the defendants he cooperated against will be free.

DeLuca said he hopes that Caporino will be eligible for parole in less than two years, although prosecutors said that was unlikely. Meanwhile, DeLuca said he will ask that Caporino serve his time somewhere outside of North Jersey.

He also can't expect any 11th hour assistance from the federal government.

"We're not going to step in now and rescue him," said O'Malley, the federal prosecutor. "He takes the entire weight -- and he deserves it."

John P. Martin may be reached at (609) 989-0379 or jmartin@starledger.com.

A PRISON 'CAP' TO PETEY'S LIFE OF GAMBLING

Friday, July 27, 2007
By MICHAELANGELO CONTE
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

"Petey Cap" could have cashed in his chips and gone home, but he just couldn't give up his illegal gambling racket in Hudson County. And now it's going to land the 70-year-old back in prison for up to seven years.

"He just doesn't know how to do anything else," attorney Sam DeLuca said of his client, Peter Caporino, who pleaded guilty before Superior Court Judge Peter Vazquez yesterday.

Caporino ran illegal gambling for more 40 years and was an FBI informant for two decades. He operated out of his social club, the Character Club, on Monroe Street in Hoboken. A portion of his take was passed up the chain of Genovese crime family bosses.

In 2002, Caporino pleaded guilty to money laundering involving illegal gambling proceeds and was sentenced to five years in prison, Hudson County Prosecutor Edward DeFazio said.

That sentence was suspended when he agreed to wear a wire for the FBI and help prosecute 15 reputed Genovese crime family associates. During that federal prosecution last year he testified that he continued to run his illegal gambling business even though the feds told him to stop.

After those prosecutions Caporino could have walked away and never looked back. Instead, things quickly fell apart.

Last month, he was arrested at his Hasbrouck Heights home and charged with leading an organized crime network, promoting gambling and possession of gambling records, officials said.

On Aug. 16 last year, he was arrested in Hoboken by Jersey City police and charged with promoting gambling and possession of gambling records, officials said.

The plea deal struck yesterday includes reinstatement of the five-year suspended sentence. Yesterday, he pleaded guilty to leading an organized crime network and prosecutors are asking that he be sentenced to seven years for that crime. He also pleaded guilty to promoting gambling, and prosecutors are seeking a five-year term for that. The prison terms are to run concurrently.

The sweep that netted Caporino in June also resulted in the arrest of his wife, Ann Caporino, 68, on the charge of possession of gambling records; and Andy Rush, 70, of Liberty Avenue in North Bergen, on the charge of conspiracy to promote gambling, officials said. The charge against Ann Caporino was dropped as part of her husband's plea deal. The charge against Rush stands.

Caporino was in prison from June 21, 1996 to April 21, 1997, corrections officials said. He is scheduled to be sentenced on Dec. 7.

Another danger to our families was cut short. Can we also get arrested the Indian guys who sell lottery tickets in their stores? It's like betting, isn't it?

'Petey Cap' back in court today

Thursday, July 26, 2007

Mob rat Peter "Petey Cap" Caporino just couldn't give up his illegal gambling business after testifying against reputed Genovese crime family associates and he will be back in court today on the numerous gambling charges he faces, officials said.

The 70-year-old was last arrested at his Hasbrouck Heights home on June 21 and charged with leading an organized crime network, promoting gambling and possession of gambling records, officials said.

Caporino was also arrested last Aug. 16 by Jersey City police in Hoboken and charged with promoting gambling and possession of gambling records, officials said.

In 2002, Caporino pleaded guilty to money laundering involving illegal gambling proceeds and was sentenced to five years in prison, Hudson County Prosecutor Edward DeFazio said.

That sentence was suspended because he agreed to wear a wire for a federal investigation into gambling, extortion and loansharking rackets in Hudson County. It led to the prosecution of 15 people reputedly associated with the Genovese crime family.

When Caporino was arrested last August, DeFazio said he would also seek to reinstate Caporino's 2002 suspended sentence. His arrest last month exposes the 70-year-old to a possible 10-year sentence if convicted, DeFazio said.

Also arrested on gambling charges last month was his wife, Ann Caporino, 68, and Andy Rush, 70, of Liberty Avenue in North Bergen, officials said.

Caporino is scheduled to appear before Hudson County Superior Court Judge Peter Vazquez at 9 a.m.

MICHAELANGELO CONTE

The only reason they care is because he is italian.

Quote:

I feel safer now. Gambling was my major worry. :D For breaking the monopoly of betting which has been given to Donald Trump and the horse owner cartel, I suppose these people should be condemned to a life of forced labour. :D

Would you like to know what I'd do with that rat?

Man who informed against Mafia accused of running gambling ring

The Associated Press - Jun. 23

JERSEY CITY, N.J. - He testified in federal court against a reputed Genovese crime family soldier. But the goodwill earned by Peter "Petey Cap" Caporino may have run out.

Jersey City police on Thursday arrested Caporino, a longtime associate of the crime family, on charges related to running an illegal gambling ring.

Charges against Caporino include running an organized crime network, an offense that could send the 70-year-old to prison for up to 10 years if he is convicted, according to authorities.

Caporino had already been free on bail and awaiting trial for illegal gambling charges from last summer.

The operator of a members-only Hoboken establishment called the Character Club, Caporino had links the local mob in Hudson County.

It also turned out that he was a federal informant.

Federal prosecutors in New Jersey have used conversations secretly recorded by Caporino to help win convictions against more than a dozen people accused of being Genovese crime family members and associates.

The convictions helped persuade a state Superior Court judge to suspend a five-year state prison term Caporino had been serving for promoting illegal gambling.

Last year, Caporino testified against reputed Genovese crime family soldier Michael Crincoli, who was convicted of racketeering and loansharking.

During the trial, Caporino admitted he still ran a numbers racket, bringing in as much as $40,000 a day from betters, even after federal authorities told him to shut it down.

Caporino testified at the time that federal prosecutors had warned him that he would not be helped if he was arrested again.

When contacted by The Star-Ledger of Newark, U.S. Attorney's Office spokesman Michael Drewniak said it was unclear whether federal prosecutors would take a position in Caporino's case, but that their agreement with Caporino would be reviewed.

"As a rule, cooperating witnesses certainly don't get a bye if they commit new crimes," Drewniak said.

The new charges against Caporino are more severe than what he was facing from last summer, according to Hudson County Prosecutor Edward DeFazio, who said his office would also seek to revoke the previous suspended sentence.

Caporino's wife, Ann Caporino, and an associate, Andrew Rush, have been charged with promoting gambling.

Associated Press attempts to reach Caporino or one of his associates were unsuccessful on Saturday.

Information from: The Star-Ledger, http://www.nj.com/starledger

====================================

'Petey Cap,' wife seized

Saturday, June 23, 2007
By MICHAELANGELO CONTE
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

Mob rat Peter Caporino is behind bars again on gambling charges stemming from a Hudson County ring and is being held without bail pending a hearing where prosecutors will ask a judge to undo the leniency he received for cooperating with the FBI, officials said yesterday.

Caporino, 70, of Hasbrouck Heights, was arrested Thursday night at his home and charged with leading an organized crime network, promoting gambling and possession of gambling records, Hudson County Assistant Prosecutor Thomas Carroll said yesterday.

His wife, Ann Caporino, 68, was also arrested and charged with possession of gambling records, Carroll said. Andy Rush, 70, of Liberty Avenue in North Bergen, was arrested at his home and charged with conspiracy to promote gambling, Carroll said.

The charges are in connection with an illegal lottery in Jersey City and Hoboken, said Carroll, who would not give details on the operation but said lottery records were found at the Caporino house.

In 2002, Caporino, known as "Petey Cap," pleaded guilty to money laundering involving illegal gambling proceeds and was sentenced to five years in prison, Hudson County Prosecutor Edward DeFazio said. That sentence was suspended because he agreed to wear a wire for the feds in an investigation into gambling, extortion and loansharking rackets in Hudson County. It led to the prosecution of 15 people reputedly associated with the Genovese crime family.

Caporino, who had been feeding information to the feds for years but had not previously worn a wire, was arrested again on Aug. 16 by Jersey City police in Hoboken and charged with promoting gambling and possession of gambling records.

Police said he had $6,500 in cash and records of at least $50,000 in gambling receipts when he was busted.

After that arrest, DeFazio said his office would revisit that 2002 sentence, saying, "We have had a conversation with the federal authorities and they say Caporino is on his own."

At DeFazio's request, a judge has ordered Caporino held without bail at the Hudson County jail in Kearny pending a hearing next week, at which prosecutors will ask the judge to reverse the suspension of that five-year-sentence. If granted, that could put Caporino in jail for a long while, and the 70-year-old will then face up to 10 years if convicted on the most recent charges.

When arrested, Caporino was out on a $500,000 bail that was posted by his wife with $50,000 cash. An additional bail of $500,000 has been set since his arrest Thursday, but that is moot at this point. If he is allowed to bail himself out after next week's hearing, officials will not accept the money until after determining it has not come from nefarious activities.

Rush and Peter Caporino have long records of gambling related convictions and this isn't the first time Ann Caporino is been behind bars, either. She was arrested with her husband in 2002 but was not prosecuted as part of his deal with the feds.

With all the mess in the world who and why would anyone give 2 shits about a lowlife Bookie ???

Come on folks......

CK

Mob rat may face time for'02 plea
Thursday, August 31, 2006
By MICHAELANGELO CONTE
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

Mob rat Peter Caporino's recent arrest on gambling charges means the FBI will no longer fight to keep him out of jail - and that could mean serving time for an old arrest out of Hudson County.

In 2002, Caporino pleaded guilty to money laundering involving illegal gambling proceeds, and he was sentenced to five years in prison, Hudson County Prosecutor Edward DeFazio said.

But after pleading guilty, Caporino - who had already been cooperating with the FBI for a number of years - agreed to wear a wire for the feds during their investigation into gambling, extortion and loansharking rackets in Hudson County, and the five-year sentence was suspended, DeFazio said.

That investigation eventually led to the successful prosecution of 15 people reputedly associated with the Genovese crime family.

But on the witness stand earlier this year, Caporino admitted he continued running his illegal gambling business even while cooperating with the feds.

Last week, Caporino was arrested by Jersey City police on charges of promoting gambling and possession of gambling records. Police said he had $6,500 in cash and records of at least $50,000 in gambling receipts in his car when he was arrested.

"We have had a conversation with the federal authorities and they say Caporino is on his own," DeFazio said. "He is at this point facing the new charges, plus he is facing a hearing on the previous sentence which was suspended."

The new charges each carry possible five-year prison terms upon conviction, but DeFazio said he wants the five-year suspended sentence to be looked at again as well.

"We will be revisiting it because, as a general rule of suspended sentences, you are not to be involved in criminal activity," DeFazio said. "That will be subject to a court hearing concerning whether there is a violation, and the judge could then impose a suspended sentence."

The two biggest fish netted and jailed earlier this year with the help of the hundreds of recorded conversations made by Caporino were reputed Genovese "capo" Lawrence Dentico, 81, of Seaside Park, and Joseph "Big Joe" Scarbrough, 67, of West Orange, who reportedly oversaw loansharking and gambling operations from a Hoboken social club.

Caporino has been released after posting $500,000 bail, DeFazio said yesterday.

Messages for two attorneys working for Caporino weren't returned last night.

Genovese informant arrested for running gambling racket

Friday, August 25, 2006
BY JOHN P. MARTIN
Star-Ledger Staff

Peter "Petey Cap" Caporino, the Hasbrouck Heights mobster who saved himself from prison by ratting out his Genovese crime family associates, was arrested for running the same gambling racket the FBI had ordered him to shut down, authorities said.

After an investigation that spanned nearly three months, police arrested Caporino as he drove along a Hoboken street Wednesday evening, said Lt. Gary Lallo of the Jersey City Police Special Investigations Unit. Police found $6,500 in cash and records of at least $50,000 in gambling receipts in the car, Lallo said.

"We're still counting," he said.

For Caporino, a slight, white-haired man with glasses, the charges could mean an abrupt and unlikely end to the freedom that he had so dangerously earned.

The 69-year-old spent more than a decade as an FBI informant and three years ago began secretly recording conversations with his associates. Prosecutors used the tapes, which spanned hundreds of hours, to charge and convict 15 reputed mob members or associates who ran a multimillion-dollars gambling, sports betting and loan sharking operation in North Jersey.

In the May trial of one defendant, Caporino took the witness stand in Newark, admitting for the first time his 45 years in the mob and a decade as a snitch. Caporino testified he agreed to wear the wire for the FBI after he and his wife were arrested on state gambling charges in 2002.

"My wife had been to prison before, and I knew she couldn't do it again," he testified. "I knew she wouldn't be able to do the time."

A Superior Court judge was so impressed by the cooperation that he sentenced Caporino last fall to five years in prison but suspended the sentence, effectively freeing him. Caporino didn't even attend the hearing.

But he later testified that he continued running his numbers racket even after FBI agents had ordered him to stop, and that they warned him he could be prosecuted again.

Lallo said yesterday the new charges were unrelated to the federal investigation. Caporino was charged with promoting gambling, possession of gambling records and conspiracy to promote gambling, First Assistant Hudson County Prosecutor Guy Gregory said.

A judge ordered him detained at Hudson County Jail under $500,000 bail. His attorney, Samuel DeLuca, did not return a call for comment.

A second defendant in the car, Frank Rodriguez, 45, of Hoboken was jailed on identical charges.

The lead prosecutor in the federal mob case, Assistant U.S. Attorney Leslie Faye Schwartz, said yesterday she didn't know Caporino had been arrested.

A spokesman for the office, Michael Drewniak, said it would be "inappropriate for us to inject ourselves into this new prosecution, which is best handled by the Hudson County Prosecutor's Office." FBI spokesman Steve Siegel said his office would have no comment.

Rumors of Caporino's continued involvement in illegal gambling had been swirling for months in Jersey City and Hoboken, especially after he testified that he refused FBI witness protection.

Earlier this year, police arrested several of his co-defendants in the 2002 case on new gambling charges. Anonymous letters were sent to law enforcement agencies, government offices and The Star-Ledger alleging that Caporino was still running numbers.

Lallo declined yesterday to discuss how the recent probe began, except to say, "It was a result of community complaints in various sectors of the city.

MOB RAT BUSTED

'Petey Cap' couldn't stay away from taking bets, police say

Friday, August 25, 2006
By MICHAELANGELO CONTE - JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

For the three years mob rat Peter "Petey Cap" Caporino wore a wire, he had a deal with the FBI that kept him out of jail. But once Caporino stopped recording mobsters for the feds, all bets were off.

And Caporino, 69, just couldn't keep in nose clean, officials say.

The Jersey City Police Special Investigations Unit arrested Caporino in Hoboken Wednesday night on charges of promoting gambling, conspiracy to promote gambling and possession of gambling records - essentially running his own gambling operation, officials said.

In his car at the time was $6,500 and records totaling as much as $50,000 in bets, said SIU Lt. Gary Lallo.

Yesterday, wearing olive-colored prison garb, the once dapper Caporino appeared in court via video link from the Hudson County jail in Kearny and pleaded not guilty.

Caporino's arrest was the result of a three-month investigation, Lallo said. Details about the operation were not released, because the investigation is ongoing, authorities said.

Caporino's mob-informing days spanned 18 years, during which he helped convict 16 people in a probe into gambling and extortion rackets associated with the Genovese crime family in Hoboken and Jersey City.

The two biggest fish netted in that operation - reputed Genovese crime chieftains Lawrence Dentico, 81, of Seaside Park, and Joseph "Big Joe" Scarbrough, 67, of West Orange - were sentenced last week.

To build the gambling case, the feds gave Caporino permission to commit gambling crimes while he was working for them. But Caporino admitted in court on May 17 that when the permission ended on Aug. 12, 2005, his criminal activity did not.

Arrested with Caporino, who has served time before for gambling offenses, was Frank Rodriguez, 45, of Hoboken, Lallo said. Rodriguez faces the same charges as Caporino, Lallo said.

Caporino's bail was set at $500,000. His Jersey City lawyer, George Taite, wasn't sure Caporino could post the 10 percent required to get out of jail. Caporino faces three to five years in prison on each of the new charges if convicted, officials said.