Feds seek $1.2M in assets linked to area gambling ring case

PHOTOGRAPHER: Steven Cook

Federal prosecutors filed paperwork Monday to seize more than $1.2 million from bank accounts connected to an alleged gambling ring, the investigation into which led to the arrest of two Albany County jail guards.

The filing relates to 12 bank accounts connected to the alleged principals or runners in the organization, one of whom has homes in Saratoga Springs. The two local corrections officers arrested in the wider investigation are not named in the seizure paperwork.

Authorities made arrests related to the alleged operation in April, charging people in either U.S. District Court in Albany or Albany County Court.

Among those charged in the main operation are Philip Gurian, of Boca Raton, Fla., and Michele Lasso, of Delray Beach, Fla. They were charged in April with conspiracy to launder monetary instruments.

Also charged in April were Jay Goldman, of Lake Worth, Fla., and Alan Gould, of Plantation, Fla. They face a federal count of transmission of wagering information.

Goldman, also known as Jay Bird, is identified in paperwork as also having the homes in Saratoga Springs.

The four were charged after a lengthy investigation into an illegal organized gambling network that accepted wagers on professional sporting and other gaming events through a series of websites, according to papers filed in court.

The organization allegedly took wagers from bettors in New York, Florida and elsewhere.

The bank accounts cited were used by the organization to help launder the proceeds of the operation, according to the filing.

One account, allegedly controlled by Goldman, saw $1.9 million in illegal gambling proceeds pass through between October 2008 and April 2012, prosecutors estimate.

Federal criminal cases against the individuals remain pending.

Five others were charged in Albany County Court in connection to the operation, including Albany County corrections officers Timothy Robillard and James Cerniglia, both of Clifton Park.

Cerniglia and two others admitted to related charges in court last week. Cerniglia pleaded guilty to one count of second-degree promoting gambling. He also agreed to resign. Cases against Robillard and another person in state court remain pending.