Bucks County Detectives busted an alleged illegal sports betting ring.
The multi-year investigation into the alleged operation ended this week with the arrest of Ralph “Sharky” Sabatini, 77, of Bristol Borough, and Valerio “Val” / “Nicky” Ungarini, 56, of Bristol Township. Both men are accused of running the illegal sports betting operation.
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A 2012 tip from “cooperating individuals” (CIs) led to county investigators beginning their probe. Court papers say Sabatini and Ungarini were involved in running the telephone betting ring that was in operation for several years.
The betting ring focused mostly on football games, one of the CIs told authorities.
In 2012 and 2013, the CIs stated the men ran the ring and Sabatini drove from his Radcliffe Street home in Bristol to Ungarini’s Palmer Avenue home in Bristol Township to man the betting line before the start of football games, according to detectives.
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The two men reportedly recorded phone bets in case there were disputes over wagers.
The 65-page probable cause affidavit filed against the men meticulously details the the alleged operation and survalliance carried out against the two defendants.
Sabatini, who is reported to be Bristol Mayor Pat Sabatini’s uncle, handed out the winnings and Ungarini dealt with the losers, court papers say. The two men allegedly met on Tuesdays to settle the bets and contacted the winners and losers as the week within a few days.
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During the NFL season in 2012 and 2013, investigators conducted surveillance and had conversations with alleged bettors to gather more information. A review of records for the phone number reportedly used to call in bets showed 97 percent of the calls were incoming and the majority happened on days when NFL or college football games were scheduled.
The investigation became inactive when the football seasons were over and restarted when they began again.
In January 2014, a wiretap warrant was approved and police began monitoring calls to the alleged betting operation. “On all the calls in which audio was recorded, Ugarini is either taking bets/wagers on NFL games, discussing information related to gambling/bets/wagers or speaking with Sabatini regarding the bets and wagers of other,” detectives wrote in court papers.
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Following the 2014 Superbowl, detectives conducted a search warrant at Ungarini’s Bristol Township home and Sabatini’s Bristol Borough home. Court papers note computers, materials used for bookmaking, the recorded conversations of bettors and more were located.
Sabatini was approached as he got in his car and told investigators he was at the house to “feed the birds,” according to court papers. A single white sheet of paper with two columns – one representing payoffs and the other for collections – was found on the 77 year old, authorities allege. The paper reportedly contained a list of names and the amount they were owed or they owned.
Court papers do no list how much money was to have been involved with the alleged ring.
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One of the CIs is listed as an “established businessman” in Bristol Borough; the other has previously provided information related to bookmaking to the Pennsylvania’s Attorney General’s Office.
Both men are facing more than 15 charges including corrupt organizations, conspiracy and criminal use of a communication facility. The men were arraigned Friday afternoon and released on $100,000 unsecured bail.
