- Velentzas Family
The Velentzas crime family is a Greek-American criminal organization operating in the
New York area.Spiros Velentzas
Mostly dominant in the 1980's, Spiros Velentzas was a Greek Mobster, leading the Velentzas Family, who worked with and was aided by the
Lucchese Family inNew York . [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E0CEFD91531F933A15755C0A964958260 Man Tied to Mafia Guilty on 10 Counts] , "The New York Times",June 20 ,1992 . AccessedJuly 2 ,2008 .] [http://groups.google.com/group/soc.culture.greek/browse_thread/thread/711140bc3b986dfc/010392e8af653300] The Velentzas Family mainly controlled Greek-American areas of Queens throughout the 80's and the 90's and into the present day, setting up racketeer businesses like dice games, horse-racing parlors, and other, mostly illicit, gambling venues.Arrest
On June 20th, 1992, Velentzas was found guilty of murder, loan sharking, gambling, and tax fraud charges. Along with Velentzas arrest were two other gang members,
Peter Drakoulis andMichael Grillo . Velentzas is facing over 20 years in prison from his charges, however, the jury did not convict Velentzas guilty of the murder of a gambling rival, ordered by Lucchese. [Lubasch, Arnold H. [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E0CE7D91039F931A15756C0A964958260 Mob Murder Is Recounted By Organizer] , "The New York Times",May 22 ,1992 . AccessedJuly 2 ,2008 .]Relations with the "
Five Families "The Velentzas Family has had very good relations with the Lucchese Family, who offers protection in return for a percentage of the gambling profits. Other families have kept out of the Greek business and generally do not see them as a threat. However, there were attempts by some of the family members to expand business into
Gambino Family territory, but operations ended and receded back to Greek areas after warning from the Gambinos. [ [http://www.ganglandnews.com/column284.htm John Gotti Oct. 27, 1940 - June 10, 2002 ] ] As one Italian mobster was said to have stated those "...Greeks know the game so damn good they'd cheat us blind."Fraudulent Speculations
The "lucrative" horse racing parlors of Spiros Velentzas have been impugned by some as to using the Satellite dishes, which import races from all around the world, to view races ahead of time, in an attempt to cheat customers. Velentzas has denied this allegation.
References
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