Eric Esposito, Conducting Illegal Gambling, Pennsylvania 2014

PHILADELPHIA, PA – Eric Esposito, a 43-year-old Philadelphia resident, has been sentenced to 27 months in prison for conducting an illegal gambling business on behalf of the Philadelphia La Cosa Nostra Family.

U.S. District Judge Eduardo C. Robreno handed down the sentence, which also includes three years of supervised release and a fine of $4,000. The conviction stems from a week-long trial in February 2014, where a jury found Esposito guilty of running an illegal gambling operation involving video poker machines at the ‘First Ward Republican Club’ in South Philadelphia.

According to evidence presented at the trial, Esposito was a fully initiated mob soldier who worked in concert with other mob members to carry out the illegal gambling business on behalf of the Philadelphia La Cosa Nostra Family.

Esposito’s conviction is part of a larger case that has resulted in the conviction of 13 leaders, members, and associates of the Philadelphia La Cosa Nostra Family. To date, 12 defendants have been sentenced, and one is awaiting sentencing.

The case was investigated by the FBI, the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigations, the Pennsylvania State Police, the New Jersey State Police, the Philadelphia Police Department, and the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Inspector General Office of Labor Racketeering and Fraud Investigations.

The case was prosecuted by Trial Attorney John S. Han of the Criminal Division’s Organized Crime and Gang Section and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Frank A. Labor III and Suzanne B. Ercole of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

Esposito’s sentencing brings to light the ongoing efforts of law enforcement to combat organized crime in the Philadelphia area. His conviction serves as a reminder that those who engage in illegal activities will be held accountable for their actions.

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