New York: Two firemen suspected in gambling ring

More Charges For The Men Accused Of Running An Illegal Gambling Ring
Ashley Hassett posted on April 17, 2012

More charges for the two Batavia firefighters and another man accused of running an illegal gambling ring. The three were back in Batavia city court Tuesday afternoon.

39-year old Gregory Philips, 43-year old Brian Bordinaro and 41-year old Lance Engel were originally charged with possessing gambling records in the first degree.

The men plead not guilty to two additional charges, Tuesday. The first a class D felony of Promoting gambling in the first degree and the second a higher charge, a class B felony of Criminal Enterprise Corruption.

Genesee County Sheriff’s Sergeant Steven Mullen said the men were dealing with a lot of money in order to be charged under the State’s organized crime statute.

“That involves criminal activities revolved around gambling with bets accepted in excess of $1 million and profits in excess of $70,000,” said Mullen.

Text messages and some phone records were already seized. Mullen said they are still waiting for additional cell phone records, but it’s possible that Phillips and Bodinaro could have accepted bets while on duty.

Engel’s Attorney Joseph LaTona said he has a lot of discovery materials to go through following Tuesday's court appearence.

“I know enough about the case to know that we plead not guilty and I stand by that. There will be further proceedings down the road when we’re in a position to have analyzed this case a little more then we have thus far.

A grand jury has until October 23rd to indict the men or take another course of action.

Two firemen suspected in gambling ring
Published : Tuesday, 17 Apr 2012
George Richert
Posted by: Eli George


BATAVIA, N.Y. (WIVB) - Two Batavia firefighters and a chef at the VA nursing home are all facing more serious felony charges for a suspected gambling operation that police say involved at least a million dollars.

Batavia firefighter Brian Bordinaro, his fellow firefighter Gregory Phillips, and his brother-in-law Lance Engel are now all charged with a Class B Felony of enterprise corruption, and a Class E felony of promoting gambling in the first degree. The men all fell under suspicious in February.

Genesee County Sheriff's Sgt. Steven Mullen said, "With bets accepted in excess of a million dollars, and profits in excess of $70,000."

Investigators say many of the bets would take place by use of cell phones and text messaging, and it may very well have happened in the firehouse while the two firemen were on duty, but investigators have yet to match up the times that the paid city firefighters were on duty. Regardless, investigators say this was not a typical office pool type of gambling, but one in which those accused profited thousands.

"Some people have lost $10, $12, $15,000 in the course of a year," Sgt. Mullen said.

All three were released on their own recognizance after each of their lawyers pleaded not guilty for them. Off camera, some say what they're accused of is no different from legalized gambling or the lottery that the state operates now. Joseph Latona represents Lance Engel, a chef at the VA nursing home in Batavia.

"As you can see, I got a ton of discovery material that was just handed to me today by the DA's office, so it's got to be thoroughly analyzed and reviewed before I form any legal opinion. I know enough about the case to enter a plea of not guilty," he said.

Enterprise corruption carries a mandatory minimum of a year in prison if convicted. There are no further court dates until October unless a grand jury indicts before then.