Long Island cop accused of ‘selling the badge’ to the mafia – staged fake raids on rival gambling dens
It sounds more like the plot of a movie than the real-life goings on in Nassau County as ex-cop Hector Rosario is accused by prosecutors of “selling his badge” to the mob.
In something akin to an episode of The Sopranos, Assistant US Attorney Sean Sherman told a Federal Jury at Rosario’s trial that the allegedly dirty cop took $1,500 a month from the Bonanno Crime family and helped them to evade the law “time and time again.”
The accusation levelled at Roasario includes accusing him of staging fake police raids on rival gambling dens across Long Island and that the Bonnano’s didn’t even see him as a cop, such was his use to them.
“The Bonannos knew the defendant. They trusted him,” Sherman said as reported in the New York Post.
Rosario’s alleged raids included busting in rival illegal gambling dens and intimidating them out of business.
Rosario, 51, was arrested in 2022 alongside eight others, and has been charged with obstructing the Grand Jury probe into racketeering and lying to the FBI. Sherman added that Roasrio was a cop in name only and had lied to the FBI on more than 30 occasions.
A feud between three local crime families led to the arrest
“He chose the crime family over the public he swore to protect,” Anna Karamigios, assistant US attorney for the Eastern District, told jurors.
On Monday, Rosario’s attorney, Kestine Thiele, claimed during closing that the government failed to prove their case because of the focus on the Bonannos, not Rosario’s alleged actions.
“You cannot convict our client on the word of three convicted members of the mafia who all have lied in the past, who have lied to hundreds of people over the course of their criminal behaviors and in their personal lives.”
Following the completion of closing arguments, the jury will begin their deliberations today (Tuesday).
Featured image courtesy of Ciorra Photography
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