BROOKLYN, NY (October 23, 2025) — Louis Apicella, a 50-year-old New Rochelle, New York, resident and associate of the Gambino Crime Family known as “Lou Ap,” was among 24 defendants charged in a federal indictment unsealed this week for a multimillion-dollar scheme to rig illegal poker games using advanced wireless technology across the United States.
The indictment, filed October 9, 2025, in the Eastern District of New York, accuses Apicella and co-defendants of participating in the “Rigged Poker Scheme” starting in at least 2019. Apicella is alleged to have been a key member of the “Cheating Teams” that manipulated games, including weekly illegal poker sessions at locations on Washington Place and Lexington Avenue in Manhattan.
Prosecutors described the operation as a complex fraud that defrauded victims of millions of dollars by secretly altering automatic shuffling machines to read cards and relay information via interstate wires to players on the cheating teams. Victims, believing they were in “straight” non-rigged games protected by La Cosa Nostra organized crime families, lost tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars per session to unsuspecting opponents who were actually co-conspirators.
The Washington Place Game was operated with the express permission of Gambino Crime Family members and associates, who provided protection and collected a portion of the illegal gambling proceeds. The Lexington Avenue Game was similarly backed by the Bonanno Crime Family. Apicella’s involvement tied directly to these Gambino-linked games, where cheating teams used the technology to predict the best hands and signal plays discreetly, such as by touching chips.
Apicella’s alleged role in the scheme comes amid a history of legal troubles dating back more than a decade, including drug possession, theft, time theft from his former employer, the New Rochelle Board of Education, and a 2023 guilty plea for disorderly conduct after attempting to run over journalist Robert Cox with his vehicle.
In a detention letter submitted October 23, 2025, to U.S. District Judge Ramon E. Reyes Jr. ahead of the defendants’ arraignments, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York requested that Apicella be detained pending trial, citing the serious nature of the charges, strong evidence of guilt and the risk of obstruction by organized crime associates.
“The proof in the case includes, among other things, (1) witness testimony; (2) text messages, photographs, videos, audio recordings, and other materials recovered from cellular telephones and iCloud accounts of the defendants and their co-conspirators; and (3) financial records,” the letter stated.
Apicella faces charges including conspiracy to commit wire fraud, operation of an illegal gambling business and related counts under federal statutes such as 18 U.S.C. §§ 1349, 1955(a) and others, carrying potential penalties of up to 20 years in prison.
Apicella’s prior record includes a November 19, 2021, arrest by New Rochelle Police for disorderly conduct and petit larceny after allegedly stealing steaks worth under $150 from a ShopRite butcher shop. During his January 19, 2022, arraignment in New Rochelle City Court on those charges, Apicella confronted Cox, who was covering the case as publisher of Talk of the Sound. Apicella allegedly asked Cox, “Why are you using my name?” and “You got a problem with me?” before following him out of the courthouse.
As Cox walked along North Avenue, Apicella, driving a black Cadillac sedan with Connecticut plates, shouted threats including, “I’m going to get you.” Moments later, at the intersection of Garden Street and North Avenue, Apicella made a U-turn and attempted to strike Cox with the vehicle, missing by about one foot. CCTV footage from the New Rochelle City Courthouse captured the sequence.
Apicella was arrested February 7, 2022, and charged with first-degree harassment, a misdemeanor, and second-degree harassment, a violation. The case transferred to Mount Vernon City Court. He pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct in November 2023, receiving a one-year conditional discharge and a one-year stay of sealing.
Apicella’s criminal history also includes a May 30, 2018, arrest by New York State Police during a traffic stop on I-95 in New Rochelle as part of the “Buckle Up New York” campaign. Officers found 46.3 grams of marijuana and a 500 ml bottle of concentrated cannabis oil strewn about his vehicle, charging him with fifth-degree criminal possession of marijuana, a Class B misdemeanor, and seventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, a Class A misdemeanor, plus a seat belt violation. A law enforcement source described him as “a sloppy criminal,” earning him the nickname “Sloppy Louie.” He was arraigned June 8, 2018, in New Rochelle City Court and due back June 29, 2018.
That arrest followed district action against Apicella, a 17-year New Rochelle Board of Education employee as a painter-working foreman. On May 25, 2018, he was confronted with evidence of time theft, shown photographs and given a choice to resign or face termination and criminal referral to the Westchester County District Attorney’s Office. He refused to resign, leading to a June 5, 2018, board vote to end his probationary period effective June 15, 2018, demote him to painter with a salary decrease, and suspend him without pay for 30 days. He faced an Article 75 hearing under Civil Service Law Section 75. He ultimately resigned.
Earlier reports linked Apicella to drug deals on school grounds, partnerships with Andrew Zayac—convicted in 2011 for the 2009 kidnapping and murder of Edward Rivera over 68 pounds of marijuana—and Vincent “Vinnie Limo” Zarcone, a Gambino crime family associate. He was accused of running illegal poker games in Harrison while on district time and received a 15-day unpaid suspension in early 2015 amid a Vigilant Resources International corruption probe targeting him, James Bonanno Sr., Anthony Raffa, Werner Graefe and James Bonanno Jr.
In 2011, Apicella threatened Cox and his wife at Quaker Ridge Shopping Center, later apologizing publicly. Cox alleged Apicella used the pseudonymous account “RickyRat” on Talk of the Sound for threats, including following him on Webster Avenue in 2012 with car lights off. Cox reported seven vandalism incidents, including nails in his tires and eggs at his house, attributed to Apicella, possibly with James “Little Jimmy” Bonanno, another district employee.
Other defendants charged alongside Apicella include Bonanno Crime Family member Ernest Aiello; Ammar Awawdeh, known as “Flapper Poker” and “Flappy,” an associate of the Gambino family and organizer of the Washington Place Game; and Robert Stroud, known as “Black Rob,” who orchestrated the scheme beginning in 2019 and supplied cheating devices like modified DeckMate shuffling machines and x-ray poker tables.
The cheating teams, which included Apicella, also employed former professional athletes like Chauncey Billups and Damon Jones as “Face Cards” to lure high-stakes victims, referred to as “whales” or “fish,” into the underground games held in locations including the Hamptons, Manhattan, Las Vegas and Miami.
In one example from September 2024, co-defendants including Nelson Alvarez organized a rigged game in Miami using an altered shuffling machine, defrauding a victim of at least $60,000. Messages recovered from devices detailed player lists and logistics for the cheat.
Additional roles in the scheme involved suppliers like Tony Goodson and Shane Hennen, who provided rigged technology; game organizers such as Saul Becher and Seth Trustman; and money launderers including Anthony Shnayderman, who routed victim funds through shell companies and cryptocurrency.
The government argued that the involvement of inducted La Cosa Nostra members like Apicella heightens the flight and obstruction risks, noting acts of violence including robberies and extortions committed by some co-conspirators to enforce debts from the games.
RELATED
Former New Rochelle School Foreman Louis Apicella Pleads Guilty for Targeting Journalist (5/18/2025)
Former New Rochelle Schools Employee, Louis “Sloppy” Apicella, Arrested for Stealing from Costco (12/26/2021)
Former New Rochelle Board of Education Employee Arrested for Attempting to Run Over Local Journalist (2/9/2022)
New Rochelle Schools Moves to Terminate Employee for Time Theft (6/18/2018)
New Rochelle School Foreman Arrested by New York State Police for Drug Possession (6/1/2018)
New Rochelle Board of Education: Criminal Enterprise Masquerading as an Educational Institution – Part XVIII (3/16/2015)
New Rochelle Board of Education: Criminal Enterprise Masquerading as an Educational Institution – Part XIV (2/28/2015)
New Rochelle Board of Education: Criminal Enterprise Masquerading as an Educational Institution – Part XII (2/26/2015)
TOTS Report’s Notebook: January 30, 2015 (1/30/2015)
This article was drafted with the aid of Grok, an AI tool by xAI, under the direction and editing of Robert Cox to ensure accuracy and adherence to journalistic standards.
Discover more from Talk of the Sound
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
