Report Says Dominican-Based Ring Fixed Horse Races, College Games

Federal investigators are exploring allegations that the owners of a $1-billion-a-year telephone gambling ring fixed results of horse races and college sports, according to a published report.

The operation, whose clients phoned in their bets toll-free to the Dominican Republic, was run by a former San Francisco man with alleged ties to organized crime, according to court papers cited by the San Francisco Examiner on Sunday.

The man, identified by investigators in the court papers as Ronald Sacco, 48, owned a Santo Domingo house that served as the ring’s operations center. Associates in the United States collected bets and dished out winnings.

The house, equipped with a mainframe computer and 40 toll-free toll lines, was one of two raided in January by Dominican and U.S. FBI agents.

Sacco has not been indicted, but the government described him in court records and interviews as a managing partner who earned as much as $7 million a year from the high-tech ring.

Attempts to reach Sacco on Sunday were unsuccessful and regional FBI officials were unavailable for immediate comment.

One of his two main partners is believed to have been a member of New York’s Gambino crime family, the Examiner said, citing unidentified federal officials.

Two informants who worked for the ring told investigators Sacco boasted of paying a referee to fix a college sports game, the officials said.

The investigation is also studying allegations that the ringleaders fixed horse races in Toronto, Chicago and San Francisco.

Twenty-three U.S. citizens and 12 Dominicans were arrested during the January Santo Domingo crackdown.