14 reputed Gambino family members charged in NYC [View All]

[cory777]

Source: AP

By TOM HAYS, Associated Press Writer

NEW YORK – A reputed boss of the Gambino organized crime family and 13 other people are facing an array of charges, including what prosecutors called new criminal territory for the mob: sex trafficking of a minor, according to an indictment unsealed Tuesday.

Papers filed in federal court in Manhattan allege that Gambino soldiers and associates recruited prostitutes at strip clubs, including a 15-year-old, and advertised their services on the Internet.

Prosecutors said the mobsters drove the prostitutes to appointments in Manhattan, Staten Island, Brooklyn and New Jersey, splitting their earnings with them. The defendants also "made the young women available for sex to the players at the regular high-stakes poker games" hosted by the family, the court papers said.

At a news conference, U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara called the sex trafficking ring both a "new low" and an apparent "first for the mob."

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100421/ap_on_re_us/us_gambino_arrests