Florida Sheriff Seeks Civil Forfeiture of $1M+ Seized in Illegal Gambling Probe

A sheriff inwards South Everglade State wants to keep more than $1.2 1000000 inward cash, along with other items. The bounty was seized earliest this yr during searches tied to an illegal bookmaking investigating that has yet to make any malefactor charges.

The South FL Sun Sentinel reported Thursday that the Office of the Statewide Prosecutor has told IV men they are under investigation. While none currently hold been indicted, tribunal records exhibit Broward County Sheriff Gregory XII Tony first sought-after(a) to prehend the money on May 7, trio weeks after searches at tetrad locations. The haul included ix $1,000 poker chips and 25 atomic number 79 coins with an estimated value of more than $44,000.

Tony and so filed an amended petition on Aug. 23.

Like all other US states, FL has civic forfeiture statutes that allow practice of law enforcement to hold assets taken during searches or stops. According to FindLaw.com, Florida’s statute only if requires that natural law enforcement turn up “beyond a sensible dubiety that the holding is linked to a crime.”

According to an Orlando Sentinel article, Sunshine State jurisprudence enforcement officials seized more than $265 trillion inward hard currency and personal attribute inwards 2018. That was more than any other country inward the country.

According to the Institute for Justice, nation and federal jurisprudence enforcement agencies feature used civic forfeiture laws to arrogate more than $68.8 billion, according to the Institute for Justice.

Investigation Started Three Years Ago

According to Tony’s petition, his office’s Organized Crime Unit got a lead from a Crime Stoppers telephone call in December 2018. The content was that a piece named William Cascioli was component of a grouping running an illegal gambling and money laundering band in South Florida.

“The tout further advised that members of the organization run an illegal sports betting surgical procedure comprised of multiple partners and that the organisation receives hundreds of thousands of dollars inward proceeds weekly,” the complaint stated.

After the call, sheriff’s officers began to runway Cascioli. During that time, the officers noted Cascioli held several meetings in Davie, a Broward County community. He was also found pick upward an unidentified lily-white male with a pack from Terminal 3 of the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport. The II drove off, but returned proceedings later to the Terminal 1 going building. There, the unknown male person exited the railroad car with the backpack.

From the airport, the civic forfeiture petition says officers saw Cascioli turn to a CVS Pharmacy, where he purchased ii Yahtzee plank games. Less than an time of day later, he went to a FedEx location to ship the Yahtzee games. One went to TX and the other to California.

While inward business line with the clerk, Cascioli was overheard utilizing his cellular gimmick communicating with an single(a) he referred to as ‘Stevie Boy’ and discussing the peak spreads, betting odds on the Super Bowl, and gymnastic horse racing,” the complaint states.

FedEx officials would open up the boxes as part of the company’s policies against cargo ships illegal contraband. They found to a greater extent than $200,000 in hard cash inwards both Yahtzee boxes.

That money was eventually seized, and farther investigating found that the illegal bookmaking ringing was allegedly prevalent inward Broward, Miami-Dade, Palm Beach, Collier, and Steve Martin counties.

Civil Forfeiture Attempt Fought

The Broward County Sheriff’s Office also alleges the anchor ring used a website, betbigcity.ag, to execute its operation, with an calculate naturalized past Cascioli. The complaint states that 23 agents of the ringing had accounts, with 115 clients using the site.

This past times April, the sheriff’s office staff filed for seek warrants for Cascioli’s Palm Beach County place and for residences of III other people, Sweeney Todd Schettino, Joel Harris Steinhart, and Dean Martin Zarcadoolas. Warrants were also filed for accounts connected to Zarcadoolas, Cascioli, and Voehringer Realty LLC.

The sheriff’s petition alleges that Zarcadoolas was a high-ranking member of the organization, and accounts inward his figure were used to “conceal the proceeds of their illegal bookmaking activity.”

Among the holding seized from Zarcadoolas included the gold coins and poker chips, as wellspring as to a greater extent than $183,000 from a closet safe at his residence. Law enforcement also confiscated several electronic devices, such as a MacBook, a Chromebook, iPads, and jail cell phones, and men’s Breitling, Cartier, and Rolex watches.

Bank seizures from Zarcadoolas included nearly $600,000 from an calculate at Salmon P. Chase Bank, and to a greater extent than $165,000 from a Bank of America account.

Zarcadoolas has denied his involvement in the illegal gaming ring. Court documents demo he has fought efforts to experience his possessions seized through civil forfeiture.

“The seizing natural law enforcement authority effectuated an unconstitutional hunting of Zarcadoolas’ home inwards infringement of the Fourth Amendment to the Everglade State Old Ironsides and the United States Constitution,” Zarcadoolas’ response to the amended complaint states.

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