Gambino Mob Meets Craigslist? Trafficking Women Online for Sex, Say Authorities

NEW YORK (CBS/AP) A reputed boss of the Gambino organized crime family and 13 other people are facing an array of charges for allegedly trafficking women including a minor, and advertising their "services" online.

At a news conference, U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara called the sex trafficking ring both a "new low" and an apparent "first for the mob."

According to papers from federal court in Manhattan, Gambino soldiers and associates recruited prostitutes at strip

clubs, including a 15-year-old, sold their sexual deeds online and then forced them to be "available for sex to the players at the regular high-stakes poker games" hosted by the crime ring.

Prosecutors said the mobsters drove the prostitutes to appointments in Manhattan, Staten Island, Brooklyn and New Jersey, splitting their earnings with them.

An indictment also charged Daniel Marino, an alleged member of the Gambino ruling panel, with ordering a hit from prison on his own nephew, because the nephew was cooperating with the FBI. Gunmen allegedly lured the victim to a Staten Island nightspot in 1998, where they shot him three times in the face and back.

Marino, 69, was charged in a second murder of a gangland rival in 1989. The charges also included extorting construction firms and running an illegal gambling operation. The income "sustained Marino's own lavish lifestyle," the court papers said.

Twelve of the suspects were arrested Tuesday, and one was arrested April 16. Federal authorities are still seeking Steven Maiurro, 31, of Staten Island, a fugitive believed to be in the New York area and considered armed and dangerous.

The case marked the latest in a series of indictments and prosecutions that have crippled the Gambino family since notorious boss John Gotti, the so-called Dapper Don, was sentenced to life in prison in 1992. He died in 2002.

Federal authorities though the Gambinos now maintain a lower profile, they are still 200 strong. "It's still about making money," said George Venizelos, head of the New York FBI office.

Marino was detained after pleading not guilty on Tuesday. Afterward, his lawyer, Charles Carnesi, said his client had just been released Monday from a New York hospital, where he had been since Friday.

"It could be heart-related, stroke-related," Carnesi said. Otherwise, the lawyer added, "He's in remarkably good health."