www.CostaRicaTicas.com

Fugitive from mob gambling charges returns to NJ

Associated Press
2:40 PM, Dec. 28, 2011 |

MORRISTOWN, N.J. — A fugitive who allegedly helped run a mob-influenced gambling operation in Costa Rica is back in New Jersey.
State Attorney General Paula Dow says Frank Cetta was arrested in Costa Rica on Dec. 5. He's being held in New Jersey on $350,000 bail and will be arraigned next week. It's not known if he's retained a lawyer.
Cetta was indicted in May 2010, along with nearly three dozen others, for allegedly running an illegal gambling operation that processed more than $2 billion in wagers over a 15-month period.
Cetta allegedly supervised a wire room in Costa Rica where bets were processed.
Also indicted was Nicodemo Scarfo Jr., whose father, Nicodemo "Little Nicky" Scarfo, is serving a life term for running the Philadelphia-Atlantic City mob in the 1980s.

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Pura Vida
Only Irish coffee provides in a single glass all four
essential food groups:
alcohol, caffeine, sugar and fat.
Alex Levine

mob influenced gambling operations in Costa Rica (now this is news )

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BKTUNA/Boyd
I am never going home

They kept that pinch pretty quiet in CR and in the states, at least I for one didn't see any ink on it here or there until today, probably didn't want someone elst to know just yet, usually they are on the high horse with this stuff.

What surprises me is why so many gringo's on the run come here. CR and US authorities and thicker than thieves and CR eventually will find you and give you up, barring one of their constitutional exceptions, eg, CR citizen or what he's wanted for in the US would not be a crime in CR so no extradition, or the goofy judicial made exceptions recently, women hiding with their K*ds down here to keep them from gringo dad. I've read of several instances this year of CR falling for the "abuse" BS even though an American court has already ruled on those issues and ordered visitation or custody. I'd rather see her get pinched then a bookie.

Published: Wednesday, December 28, 2011, 6:55 PM Updated: Thursday, December 29, 2011, 7:39 AM
By Dan Goldberg/The Star-Ledger
"Bail was set at $350,000 for the man accused of running a Costa Rican “wire room,” where the Lucchese crime family processed billions in illegal sports bets.

Frank Cetta, 73, had his first court appearance this morning. He is being held in Morris County jail and appeared in Judge Stuart Minkowitz’s courtroom via video link for a hearing, which lasted only a few minutes.

Cetta was named in a sweeping indictment in May 2010, which charged leading members of the Lucchese crime family in New York — Joseph DiNapoli and Matthew Madonna, as well as 32 others — with racketeering, conspiracy and money laundering.

The New Jersey State Police Fugitive Unit discovered that Cetta may have been hiding in Costa Rica. The case was referred to the U.S. Marshals, and Cetta was arrested by Cosa Rican authorities on Dec. 5.

“Organized crime cannot evade our determined efforts, not even by hiding in Central America,” said New Jersey Attorney General Paula Dow.

“Frank Cetta is charged with crimes that reached from Costa Rica to New Jersey. We’ve demonstrated that the reach of justice is equally long. We are grateful to the U.S. Marshals Service for their efforts in apprehending this fugitive.”

Cetta is scheduled to be arraigned on Jan. 3 at 9 a.m. before Superior Court Judge Thomas V. Manahan in Morris County."

I mean it has always been that way and will always be that way......Trust me on this one......


the DR

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“In the midst of chaos, there is also opportunity"

CR isn't a safe haven like it used to be. Just curious why you wouldn't go to a country with no extradition?

Historically, they have not come down and rounded up gambling guys, seems to be happening more these days. I assume he came here because the back end of his business was already here.

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BKTUNA/Boyd
I am never going home

No doubt his interests kept him near by and I am sure he was keeping a low profile but somehow he left a trail.

Any experts on the board on extradition? I'd like to see what countries didn't belong to the Geneva Convention which I think is the controlling document. My hunch is they will not be very inviting places and now regardless of where, tough to transfer money.

Look at where Whitey Bolger was hiding? He was the Boston outfit's head and was on FBI's most wanted for a decade at least, suspected but false sightings in Europe et al. His girlfriend got ID'd by a beautician, led to him. Where? A lower-middle class apartment complex in CA under an alias for years.

Added 1:00pm: It's not the Geneva Convention, it's individual treaties with each country. Here's a list that won't or don't, any sound like a cool place, maybe VietNam haven't been there in a long time.

Question:Which countries currently lack extradition treaties with the United States?

Answer:
No US extradition treaty, but maintains diplomatic relations with the US:
Afghanistan, Algeria, Armenia, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Bophuthatswana (now defunct), Brunei, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, China, Ciskei (now defunct), Comors, Ivory Coast, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Indonesia, Jordan, South Korea, Kuwait, Laos, Lebanon, Madagascar, Mali, Marshall Islands, Mauritania, Micronesia, Moldova, Mongolia, Mozambique, Burma (a.k.a. Myanmar), Namibia, Nepal, Niger, Oman, Principe and San Tome, Qatar, Russia, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Sudan, Syria, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, Western Samoa, Yemen, Zaire, Zimbabwe.

No US extradition treaty, and no diplomatic relations with the US:
Andorra, Angola, Bhutan, Bosnia, Cambodia, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Libya, the Maldives, Serbia, Somalia, Taiwan, Transkei (now defunct), Vanuatu, Vietnam.

If you want to read up on extradition from Costa Rica to the US, here is a link to the treaty signed between the US and Costa Rica.
http://www.costaricalaw.com/extradition ... glish.html

Costaricalaw.com has answers to many of the legal questions I have seen pop up periodically on this forum. Check it out.

Is a Lincoln better than a Cadillac... forget a bout it
Capish

Some nice antipasto anyone

Would have thought Venezuela to be on that list. Was thinking Brazil also, even though US is somewhat friendly. If they ever break through the current identity I use, I'm thinking Vanuatu.

Probably the most notorious individual to flee to CR was Robert Vesco, who resided in CR from 1973 to 1978. He fled there in the corporate jet, after being charged with securities fraud and various other charges in the States. He was accused of embezzling about $220 million dollars! While in CR, he donated over $2 million dollars to a company founded by the president of CR at the time, Figueres. In return, Figueres helped enact an extradition law (the 'Vesco Law') that essentially prevented Vesco from being extradited to the U.S. In 1978, the next president of CR (Carazo) repealed the law.

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"In a nation ruled by swine, all pigs are upwardly mobile, and the rest of us are phucked until we can put our acts together; not necessarily to win, but mainly to keep from losing completely"...Hunter S. Thompson (RIP)

I'm 99.9% sure Brazil has no policy with usa

It didn't until the spring of '61 just before Cuban Bay of Pigs, one has to wonder if CIA under Kennedy Administration wasn't wondering if Castro's guys would be heading there, we'll never know since we blew that.

http://internationalextraditionblog.com ... ed-states/

Frank is a really nice guy who was often in the DR playing video poker. Had a ton of stories.

He was hiding from the feds on a one year old indictment in CR playing video poker in the gulch?