Phillip J. Bauco, 56, of Bridgeport, a man who authorities said is a collector for a downstate gambling ring pleaded guilty to a charge of racketeering conspiracy Thursday in U.S. District Court in Hartford.
Federal prosecutors said Bauco’s role was to collect losing bets from gamblers and payoffs from bookmakers who were under the control of the gambling ring, which operated from Bridgeport to New Haven.
Bauco and his co-defendant Raul "Sonny" Suner were indicted last June, and at that time
Suner and Bauco claimed that they had Gambino family backing and that the New York gangsters had authorized Suner to run illegal sports betting operations in New Haven and Bridgeport, according to the indictment.
The U.S. attorney's office said the two used "threats, violence and intimidation" to persuade bookmakers and gamblers to work and bet with them. When mobsters take over bookmaking operations, they customarily collect a percentage of the profits, ostensibly in return for providing protection and assistance with collecting debts from losing bettors.
Bauco owns Auto Town Sales in Stratford, and the gambling ring used the business as a headquarters, prosecutors said.
Under the terms of a plea agreement with the U.S. attorney's office, he is likely to be imprisoned for about two years and fined up to $50,000 when he is sentenced May 5 in Hartford.
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