Mortician Joseph Fumando Convicted of Running High-Profile Illegal Poker Game

There have been numerous incidences of illegal poker games being cracked down by the law in New York and the latest among them happens to be this high-profile case. Out of 13 suspects arrested, a mortician from Staten Island, Joseph Fumando (cover image), has been convicted of operating illegal Texas Hold‘em poker games. He faces almost 16 months in prison on account of these charges. The conviction may also see him lose his mortician’s license.

As reported by the New York Daily News, Fumando was convicted on Thursday in Brooklyn Federal Court. Prosecutors charged him with running an illegal poker game at a building on the Victory Boulevard. The gambling den was called ‘The Press’. Though Fumando’s lawyer Felix Gilroy contended that Fumando was a player, and not the operator of the illegal poker game, it was of no avail.

42-year-old Fumando, who goes by the nickname ‘The Undertaker’, was handed the guilty verdict within 20 minutes of deliberations by the jury. Deborah Berardi, a card dealer from Staten Island who made a deal with the government, said in her testimony that the poker game featured prizes for winners, hot food as well as a waitress giving shoulder massages to poker players.

Attorney Chris Nasson reported in the court papers that the game operators made 5% from all bets wagered there. Investigators also found out that the defendants were running illegal games at four locations in rotation and made more than $2,000 on some nights.

The court papers point out that authorities got wind of the game through Richard Palase in 2010, when he happened to blabber about this illegal gambling club in Staten Island on wiretap.

Internal Affairs Bureau of NYPD then launched a probe and the feds raided “The Press” in 2011. 13 people, including Fumando were arrested. Among others arrested were two fire fighters and a retired NYPD sergeant.