An investigation led by the Massachusetts State Police Special Services Section and the office of Attorney General Maura Healey, with assistance from several other State Police units and other agencies, led to the indictments last week of nine people in connection with an illegal sports gambling and money laundering operation.
LON HILLSON SR., 74, and his son, LONNIE HILLSON JR., 55, both of Melrose, were indicted on charges of Organizing and Promoting Gambling, Registration of Bets, Use of the Phone for Gambling, Conspiracy to Register Bets, and Attempted Extortion.
HILLSON Sr. was indicted on two counts of the charges of Organizing and Promoting Gambling, Conspiracy to Register Bets, and Registration of Bets and one count of each the remaining charges and his son was indicted on one count of each of the charges.
LON HILLSON SR.'s wife, MARCIA HILLSON, 72, and PAUL LIMONE, 58, of Medford, were also indicted on one count each of Registration of Bets, Use of the Phone for Gambling, and Conspiracy to Register Bets.
DENNIS WILCOX, 43, of Everett; ANTHONY DIMARE, 57, of Medford; DONALD DIMARE, 65, of Medford; and JOHN WHALEN, 52, of Medford were each indicted on one count of Attempted Extortion.
JOHN ROTHFUCHS, 62, of Boxborough, was also indicted on single counts of Organizing and Promoting Gambling, Registration of Bets, Use of the Phone for Gambling, and Money Laundering.
The investigation by the State Police and the Attorney General's Office developed evidence that the HILLSONS allegedly were running an illegal gambling operation out of their Melrose residences. They allegedly took illegal bets exclusively over the phone, while WILCOX, the DIMARES, and WHALEN assisted them in extorting money owed to them from an undercover officer posing as a bettor.
ROTHFUCHS was allegedly running a second large-scale gambling operation in which he registered bets through an offshore online bookmaking website.
LON HILLSON SR. was also allegedly running a football parlay card betting and loansharking operation with LIMONE. Authorities allege that HILLSON SR. and LIMONE were extending loans at exorbitant interest rates.
All of these charges are allegations and the defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant Attorneys General Gina Masotta, of AG Healey’s Criminal Bureau, and Tom Caldwell, Deputy Chief of AG Healey’s Gaming Enforcement Division. The case was investigated by the Massachusetts State Police Special Service Section and the Attorney General's Gaming Enforcement Division, with assistance from the State Police Detective Unit assigned to the Attorney General's Office, the State Police Detective Unit for Middlesex County, the State Police Technical Services Unit, the State Police Troop A Community Action Team, Boston Police, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Massachusetts Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission.
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