Illegal Poker Den Busted Above Union Square Lingerie Store
September 15, 2015 by admin
Filed under Latest Lingerie News
Illegal poker and high-end lingerie isn’t exactly a combination we see every day. But maybe there’s something to it, after an underground gambling club was busted in a room above a Journelle location in Union Square.
Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance, Jr.’s office says it broke up a gambling room that was operating 3 tables of Texas Hold ‘Em at 3 East 17th Street. (To be clear, Journelle was not involved. That would be very weird.)
According to a criminal complaint from the DA, an NYPD vice squad obtained a search warrant for the address, and on August 25 raided the location where they found about fifteen men sitting around poker tables. In the antiseptic, ultra-literal language of police statements, one of the officers “observed that there were playing cards and poker chips on top of each table.”
Three suspects were arrested, including Jin Feng, 35, who the complaint identifies as the dealer, Sergio Velentin, 46, who was “operating” the game, and Rafael Lugo, 42, who was the “floor guy,” like a caisson pit boss, charged with monitoring play making sure things are on the up-and-up. (We’re hoping, but cannot confirm, that the defendants were all chomping on big cigars and wearing transparent green visors and talking about “the fuzz” when apprehended)
All three were charged with promoting gambling in the second degree. But things got a bit worse for Lugo, who was also nabbed with a jar of reefer. The officer was able to identify it based in part on “the odor emanating from the substance.”
They apparently weren’t the only ones that noticed that particular aroma, either. An employee at Journelle told the Town and Village blog, which originally reported the story, “we could smell weed inside the store.” During a followup call to Journelle, an employee who answered the phone told the Voice she was unaware of the goings-on upstairs, and then declined to comment further.
An official at the DA’s office commenting on background said Valentin, the alleged operator, pleaded guilty as his arraignment and was sentenced to time served. The cases against Feng and Lugo continue, and they’ll be back in court in mid-October.
