Reputed mobster sentenced in Borgata betting ring

Reputed mob soldier Anthony Nicodemo was sentenced to a four-year suspended sentence and fined $10,000 Friday for his role in a mob-linked sports betting ring illegally run out of the poker lounge at the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa in Atlantic City.

Atlantic County Superior Court Judge Michael Donio imposed the sentence following a brief hearing in which he rejected the state's argument that the book-making connection was connected to organized crime.

Nicodemo, 36, was one of 24 defendants charged in the case after a 20-month investigation by the New Jersey State Police dubbed Operation High Roller. He pleaded guilty to a gambling conspiracy charge earlier this year and faced a maximum three-year sentence.

A state police affidavit filed during the investigation alleged that Nicodemo, of South Philadelphia, was a prime suspect in the 2003 gangland murder of John "Johnny Gongs" Casasanto. The Casasanto murder is one of three unsolved mob hits that are part of an ongoing federal racketeering investigation.