Vincent Procopio + 23 Others Indicted for Borgata Poker Room Gambling Ring

Poker player Vincent Procopio (at right with Tiffany Michelle), who last year finished 8th at the WPT LA Poker Classic, has been officially indicted along with 23 other people who probably eat a lot of pasta and begin or end all of their sentences with "eh?" for their alleged roles in a mob-linked sports gambling ring run out of the Borgata Poker Room in crap-heap Atlantic City.

The indictments were handed out yesterday by a state grand jury, with Procopio one of 15 who were hit with the most serious charges, including racketeering, conspiracy and money laundering, as well as a third-degree charge of promoting gambling.

According to the Courier Post, Vincent Procopio, 42, acted as the right-hand man to Andrew Micali, who controlled the day-to-day gambling operation that reportedly took in more than $60 million in bets in 20 months.

Jack Buscemi Jr. was apparently the "boss" of the ring, which was busted up last November after a 18-month sting operation dubbed by feds as Operation High Roller. It's considered to be the most serious mob incursion into AC's casino industry since the first casino opened in 1978.

Among those indicted yesterday include two guys whose names strangely don't end in vowels and who worked as poker room managers: Joseph Wishnick, a former Borgata poker room supervisor, and Jeffrey Ebert, a former Tropicana poker room supervisor.

According to news reports, bets for college and professional football and basketball games were either taken by phone at a Philadelphia location or processed via accounts on password-protected Web sites, including EaglesDP.com and Justwagers.com. The Borgata Poker Room was used to accept or settle up bets and casino chips were used to launder money.

For more on the indictments and those who were charged, go here.

For what Roman Moroni might say about the indictments go here.