A medicine kingpin from Lynn, Mass. pleaded responsible Tuesday to flooding the North Shore space with lots of and 1000’s of fentanyl drugs over a three-year interval.
Vincent “Fatz” Caruso favored accumulator bets to clean his alleged drug cash, an unconventional technique of on line casino cash laundering. (Picture: Salem Information)
In accordance with courtroom filings, Vincent “Fatz” Caruso laundered at the least a few of his ill-gotten features via the sportsbook on the Brook On line casino in Seabrook, NH. He made common journeys to the on line casino together with his co-defendant and mom, Laurie Caruso, federal prosecutors stated.
Caruso is accused of heading up a drug community that manufactured and distributed fentanyl disguised as Percocet drugs. These bought on the road for $10 to $12 every. His community of runners and distributors, which included his personal mom, additionally dealt cocaine and marijuana.
The alleged gangster pleaded responsible to prices of conspiracy to fabricate and distribute medication, conspiracy to make use of firearms in a drug offense, utilizing or carrying a firearm in furtherance of a drug crime, conspiracy to commit theft, and conspiracy to commit cash laundering.
Caruso’s operation had hyperlinks to native road gangs the Tiny Rascal Gang and the Little Crip Gangsters. He bragged on-line about proudly owning six capsule presses, together with one machine that might produce 15,000 fentanyl drugs an hour.
Fentanyl is an artificial opiate that’s cheaper and extra highly effective than heroin. In accordance with the Massachusetts Division of Well being, there have been 1,895 opioid-related overdose deaths in 2020, the place a toxicology display was additionally accessible. Of those, 92 p.c had been linked to fentanyl.
The potential for overdosing on the drug is excessive as a result of a lethal dose could be as little as 2 milligrams.
Washing within the Brook
Investigators obtained data from The Brook On line casino. They discovered that Caruso, his mom, and one other codefendant, Nicole Benton, had been betting huge at its sports activities e book utilizing Benton’s VIP card.
In accordance with FBI investigators, the Carusos and Benton had been cautious to wager quantities beneath $10,000. That is the edge at which a on line casino should file a foreign money transaction report (CTR) with monetary authorities. They favored accumulator bets that includes favorites, as a result of these provided excessive returns on comparatively low stakes when one got here in.
Between February and June 2021, the trio positioned 150 bets in money totaling greater than $400,000. They misplaced roughly $20,000 throughout that interval. However this meant they had been in a position to covert $380,000 in allegedly soiled cash into “authentic” on line casino winnings.
‘Gangster Influencer’
One other defendant within the case is Ernest Johnson, identified to his associates and social media followers as “Yo Pesci” or “Mr Dwell, Mr Drive.” Johnson has turn into one thing of a “gangster influencer” on social media for detailing his involvement in shootings, beatings, and drug trafficking.
The video that launched Johnson’s web celeb went viral as a result of he was shot at whereas filming himself in his automotive.
Caruso has prior arrests for firearms, house invasion, theft, assault, and drug offenses. He’s intently related to a rap outfit known as Epic Nation the Label and was just lately sentenced to fifteen days in jail for breaking right into a property to shoot a music video with the group.
He faces 15 years to life in jail when he’s sentenced June 30
