Illegal lottery operation broken up

NEW CITY – Law enforcement authorities in Rockland County Thursday arrested eight people and broke up a multi-million dollar illegal lottery operation being run out of a number of storefronts in Spring Valley.

The Investigation began in October of last year with intelligence information from the Spring Valley Police Department. The Rockland County Intelligence Center used confidential sources, controlled bets, surveillance and wiretapping of phones and fax machines to discern the nature and structure of the illegal gambling operation.

The group took bets from individuals and paid out based on real lottery drawings including the Dominican Republic lottery.
Besides Spring Valley, lottery betting rooms were located in Ramapo, Elizabeth and East Orange, NJ.

Nine search warrants were executed in New York and New Jersey Thursday with eight individuals arrested for enterprise corruption, money laundering in the fourth degree and promoting gambling in the second degree.

Another person was charged with a misdemeanor facilitation charge.
Seized during the investigation were betting records, betting slips, fax machines, cellular phones, vehicles and over $200,000 in cash.

Police said during the investigation, information was developed about other crimes including robberies, burglaries and human smuggling.

All eight persons arrested were from Rockland County:

Jose Delores Rojas, 42, Stony Point
Olga Rojas, 37, Stony Point
Julio Rojas, 46, of Stony Point
Franklin Clemente, 40, of West Haverstraw
Jesus Antonio Clemente, 29, of West Haverstraw
Antonio Hernandez, 42, of Haverstraw
Luis Alberto Umpierre Ramos, 24, of Haverstraw
Francisco Antonio Cespedes Vega, 29, of Haverstraw
Jimmy Torres, 19, of Spring Valley