East Meadow Men Busted in Mob Strip Club Scheme

Two East Meadow men were arrested on federal charges along with accused members and associates of the Gambino and Bonanno crime families after a racketeering and extortion fraud investigation involving strip clubs.

Oscar Zeledon, 39, of East Hampton is accused of Visa Fraud Conspiracy and Conspiracy to Transport, Harbor, and Induce the Entry of Illegal Aliens, faces up to 15 years in federal prison. He is the owner of The Hampton Pool Company.

The multi-agency investigation included the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York and the Special Agent-in-Charge of the New York Field Office of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations and the U.S. Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service.

An unsealed indictment Wednesday included a total of 20 defendants who are alleged to have been involved in recruiting women from Russia and other Eastern European countries to illegally enter the country to work as exotic dancers at strip clubs controlled by the Gambino and Bonnano Organized Crime Families of La Cosa Nostra, according to the United States Attorney's Office. 

Some defendants arranged for the women to enter into "sham marriages" with citizens of the United States, a statement said.

Alphonse Trucchio of Howard Beach, William Paziena Sr. of Bronxville, Christopher Colon of Howard Beach and Richard Gutkowski of Ridgewood, are members or associates of the Gambino Organized Crime Family, says the U.S. Attorney's Office. Anthony Frascone of East Meadow, Paul Casella of Franklin Square, and Lawrence Zaino of Westbury are alleged members of the Bonnano Organized Crime Family, and have been charged with racketeering and extortion crimes related to their control of several strip clubs in Queens and Long Island.

Zeledon allegedly recruited women through the Internet and newspapers to work as exotic dancers.

Others charged with Visa fraud, marriage fraud, and transporting, harboring and inducing the entry of illegal aliens were Aleksandr Kravets of Brooklyn, Thomas Devitt III of East Meadow, Gerald Monfort of West Babylon, Yong Wang of Flushing, Boris Yusupov of Brooklyn, Vitaliy Mindyuk of Brooklyn, Zhanna Kuznetsova of Dix Hills, Elena Turubanova, Natalia Ivanova of Kew Gardens, Christine Gunning of Windsor, Jeffrey Rinchey of Kew Gardens and Alexander Beleson of Manalapan, NJ. 

Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said the defendants had one thing in common: "the desire to turn the women they allegedly helped enter this country illegally into their personal profit centers."

ICE Special Agent-in-Charge James T. Hayes, Jr., said in a press statement, “Today’s arrests bring to an end a long-standing criminal enterprise operated by colluding organized crime entities that profited wildly through a combination of extortion and fraud. As alleged, the defendants controlled their business and protected their turf through intimidation and threats of physical and economic harm. Today, that business model has been extinguished.”

Zeledon appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Gabriel W. Gorenstein in Manhattan federal court on Wednesday. He and Alexander Kravets remain in custody.

All of the others defendants were released on bail. If convicted of all charges, Devitt, 43, faces up to 10 years in prison, while Frascone, 52, faces life in prison, according to the release.