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Federal agents accused the 20 men and women of importing women to dance at Cheetah's Gentlemen's Club in Times Square and Rouge Gentlemen's Club in Queens.
Federal authorities arrested 20 people Wednesday — seven of whom they said had direct links to the Gambino and Bonnano crime families — on charges that they illegally brought women from Russia and other Eastern European countries to New York to work as dancers at mob-run strip clubs.
Several of the defendants also arranged for many of the women to enter into sham marriages with U.S. citizens, according to the indictment, which was unsealed Wednesday in Manhattan.
Preet Bharara, the U.S. attorney for Manhattan, said the scheme "ran the gamut of criminal activity — from racketeering and extortion to immigration and marriage fraud."
"The defendants themselves had one thing in common — the desire to turn the women they allegedly helped enter this country illegally into their personal profit centers," Bharara said.
The indictment alleges that the operations recruited Russian and other Eastern European women with false job offers and helped them obtain false summer work and travel visas. Once in the country, the women worked as exotic dancers at the strip clubs, in violation of visa regulations that prohibit employment in the adult entertainment industry.
The establishments were identified as Cheetah's Gentlemen's Club in Times Square, famous for its Body Sushi promotion — in which patrons eat sushi off the bodies of naked women — and Rouge Gentlemen's Club in Queens.
Five of the suspects were charged with arranging marriages for many of the women with U.S. citizens to obtain legal status in the U.S.
The investigation involved not only Bharara's office, but also homeland security investigators from Immigration and Customs Enforcement and agents of the State Department's Diplomatic Security Service.
Robert Goodrich, special agent in charge of the diplomatic service's New York field office, said the State Department took part because passport and visa fraud "oftentimes leads to other criminal activities."
The suspects — who face charges of racketeering, extortion, visa fraud, marriage fraud, transporting and harboring illegal aliens, and conspiracy — were scheduled for initial court hearings Wednesday afternoon. They were identified as:
- Alphonse Trucchio, 34, of Howard Beach, N.Y.
- William Pazienza Sr., 64, of Bronxville, N.Y.
- Christopher Colon, 37, of Howard Beach, N.Y.
- Richard Gutkowski, 40, of Ridgewood, N.Y.
- Anthony Frascone, 62, of East Meadow, N.Y.
- Paul Casella, 45, of Franklin Square, N.Y.
- Lawrence Zaino, 44, of Westbury, N.Y.
- Aleksandr Kravets, 42, of Brooklyn, N.Y.
- Thomas Devitt III, 43, of East Meadow, N.Y.
- Gerald Monfort, 54, of West Babylon, N.Y.
- Yong Wang, 36 of Flushing, N.Y.
- Boris Yusupov, 36, of Brooklyn, N.Y.
- Vitaliy Mindyuk, 43, of Brooklyn, N.Y.
- Zhanna Kuznetsova, 24, of Brooklyn, N.Y.
- Elena Turubanova, 24, of Dix Hills, N.Y.
- Natalia Ivanova, 43, of Kew Gardens, N.Y.
- Christine Gunning, 46, of Windsor, N.Y.
- Jeffrey Rinchey, 38, of Kew Gardens, N.Y.
- Oscar Zeledon, 39. of East Hampton, N.Y.
- Alexander Beleson, 53, of Manalapan, N.J.
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The flip side they may have legal business, such as nursing.
Wow even the stripper jobs are now being outsourced, we are so screwed..
That's a direct consequence of the obesity epidemics. I guess strip clubs, like many businesses, have a hard time finding "qualified" employees.
How'd this guy get in the Russian mob? LOL
The Work and Travel USA is a program run by the United States government. Under this program, international students can legally enter the US for 4 months during their vacations and work for US employers. This program is beneficial both for US-based businesses who use seasonal staffing to cover their rising work force needs during the busy month, and for students who get a perspective on American culture, travel, and earn money. Thousands of overseas students have been enrolled in this program since it was started.
And what does this program have to do with bringing illegals into the country to engage in illegal marriages or work as strippers?
Excellent point AP-1414066 !!
There was just an article on line about the program Ruslan Lysak quotes. many of these foreign students feel that they are taken advantage of by these American employers who use this program, when they finally get these part time jobs here. These "good deal" legislative efforts by our Congressmen and Senators is nothing but a program of modern day slave trade for rich corporations, mostly. My best friend's daughter went to school in England for a year and the Britts wouldn't give her a job in the field she was studying in. Other countries protect their jobs FOR THEIR PEOPLE. Not in this "whore House" of ours in the U.S. Go to the Department of State's web site: http://travel.state.gov/visa/visa_1750.html and study it! Your government would rather cow-tow to the wishes of a few Billionaires Like Big Gates and others who support all the damn visas they can shove through the system which in effect screws our college kids and other high tech workers out of decent JOBS at decent wages. These 'free for all' Visa programs need to be Ham-Strung. Let's put Americans to work FIRST!
Damn, we really are importing everything now days...even hookers.
This story doesn't state whether these women were strippers prior to coming to the U.S., just that they were forced to strip upon arrival. Nor does it state anything about hooking.
Makes my blood boil to think that we are doing things that keep Americans unemployed.
Yeah, tons of American women out there just dying to become strippers and prostitutes. I don't think, in this case, this stuff is taking a lot of jobs from Americans.
NY clubs..NJ's Bada Bing never gets raided..Tony be pissed!
I'm surprised that there wasn't more from NJ, especially in the Linden/Elizabeth area. A friend of mine used to live by a "rooming house", and when he would run down to the gas station on the same block, he would see girls from the "rooming house" being escorted by very large men, obviously carrying. He called the cops once, and was told that he shouldn't call again. Good old Dirty Jersey cops.
Satin Doll's sucks though...
Hold on there Mike. Respect the Bing!
not getting the entire news, but seems pretty straightforward. not sure if intended to give some rare media credit for policework or to shame an organization that refused to cooperate in some way. always feels like the real interesting story is just beneath what gets posted...
and they won't be punished...the women will just be deported...to much mob money in the nyc police dept.
You need to pay your import taxes, don't you know that.
They recruited them with "false job offers." Why doesn't this fall under human sex trafficking and false imprisonment?
How is that any different from the websites that promote "Russian brides"? Those girls aren't coming over here for the marriage, it's for the citizenship and whatever they can bilk out of the chump before moving on.
What, where did you get that it's different ?
Not much the US can do about Russian websites, which I might add are more prostitution then love connections. I think a prospective bride can come here for 90 days, so you go to Russia, pick out your prospective brides, and they send them over for 90 days. Perfectly legal and no shame marriages, just a new woman every 90 days. But you have to actually meet them in person, hence the trip to meet 'potential' brides.
Too bad it was not Bankers / CEOs of wall street, then it would mean something!
Let's see if this impacts the stripper demogrpahic at the local clubs in CT. If the Russians aren't dancing then it will probably go back to a more Brazilian mix. Almost never see a local girl around anymore
Italian crime families are now working with the Russians?
Importing strippers....that's what you get when you eliminate import tariffs.
Only thing these guys did wrong was take jobs away from American strippers.
Yes in dee dee SLAVERY IS ALIVE AND WELL HERE IN THE US.No matter what shape it's in.
It's called HUMAN SEX TRAFFICIKING.
Body sushi? That just sounds disgusting, not to mention unhygienic...
I will need to see the plate before I pass judgment
I am surprised they are not being arraigned under the federal laws against human trafficking as the penalties for that are justifiably steep. My supposition is that they are holding them on what they can for now and building a case for more serious offenses. Hopefully additional charges are in the works.
see a lot of NON-italian names listed there.....seen a couple of Iski's and Quang's....thought it was the "mob"
....could have been a worse thing.....didn't say they were being mistreated
Wong Yang? How the hell did Wong Yang get inside the mafia?
must make a low-mein with tomato sauce......Geez chrise
Obviously he prepares the sushi.
Those poor girls... Well...one down and LORD only knows how many more out there.... Between the Molestation and this kind of craziness it's a wonder we are considered a civilized nation....
Sounds strange to have a law against people on visas becoming exotic dancers. Being dragged here or lied to and forced to prostitute is one thing, but if someone is informed beforehand of an offer of a legal job, and gives consent, they should be allowed to come here and strip. It's one of the few remaining legitimate ways to make money in this country. I support single mothers.
I'm not getting where stripping is sex trafficking. A stripper is usually the least likely person in the world who is going to have sex with you. It is legal, etc. The only bad thing I could see here is if there were other obligations, or they were forced into unfair, exploitative deals. Otherwise, this is a way for women from destitute eastern European s***hole to come to the US and make hundreds of dollars a night, if they want to. Key word if they want to.
Hey Bill
To some people...showing / seeing a bare ankle is sex..........
Lots of those east european countries are largely muslim. I wonder which club imported Burka Betty.
How did Yong Wang get mixed up in this?
He`s my favorite actor, after Barney Rubble of course.
This is terrible if they flood the market with imported strippers lap dances will come down in price ..uh wait a minute uh belay my last . Someone tell me why is this a crime again? ;-)
"Welcome to the club, gentlemen! What kinda girls ya like fer yer table?"
"Ummm....What have you got?"
"Whatta we got? We got everything! We got domestic, we got imported....ya want something special? We got something new.....just in from Chechnya!"
The oldest profession in the world, shame