Buffalo man charged in NJ gambling case

Brian R. Cohen, 61, of Buffalo NY, was charged May 27 with money laundering and gambling promotion in connection with a New Jersey-based Lucchese Crime Family online gaming racket, according to a story by Chris Megerian of  the Star-Ledger. The racket processed wagers amounting to $2.2 billion in a 15-month period, prosecutors said. Bets were routed through a wire room in Costa Rica, where Cohen (right) maintains a residence. Detectives arrested Cohen May 16 at Buffalo Niagara International Airport as he got off a plane from Central America. Two days earlier, prosecutors announced a 34-count indictment against alleged Lucchese Crime Family members and associates, including the alleged current and former leaders of the crime family's operations in New Jersey.

Rochester's Frank Valenti dies at 97

A longtime boss of the Mafia in Rochester, NY, Frank J. Valenti died Sept. 20 at a Houston, TX, nursing home, according to a story by Gary Craig of the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle. He was 97.

Valenti (right) and his brother Constenze "Stanley" Valenti were attendees of the 1957 mob convention at Apalachin, NY. In Rochester, he is believed to have supervised gambling, extortion and prostitution rackets. Authorities say he steered clear of involvement in narcotics. While he was regarded as leader of the Rochester underworld, he reportedly took his orders from Stefano Magaddino, Buffalo-Niagara Falls-based boss of the western New York Mafia.

In 1961, Valenti moved to Pittsburgh after a Rochester conviction for voting fraud. He returned to Rochester in 1964. In the 1970s, younger racketeers attempted to seize control of the Valenti organization. Valenti left Rochester and headed west, living first in Arizona.

The Houston Chronicle reports today that Valenti died at Sugar Land Nursing Homes. The Chronicle says Valenti was connected to the Bonanno Crime Family of New York and Arizona.