SPORTSBETTING ACCUSED SENTENCED
New Jersey man faces 3 to 4 years in jail Vincent "Big Vince" Filipelli (53) the Philadelphia man convicted in a federal court of promoting Internet sportsbetting and possession of prohibited weapons earlier this year (see previous InfoPowa report) has been sentenced to 3-4 years in state prison after completing a 5-year federal prison sentence for threatening an undercover detective. Filipelli admitted he ran an internet-based gambling operation, and that he had been in possession of two billy clubs and a dagger. Filipelli made the headlines when he was caught on video and audio tape threatening an undercover New Jersey state trooper as he tried to collect a gambling debt in a club parking lot, saying: "Because I will come to your house. I'll hunt you down until I'm paid…" and "He turns it into me. I turn into my people downtown. Okay, this ain't the Sopranos, this is real f****** life." Filipelli's lawyer has insisted his client never meant to hurt anyone. "He never injured anybody, never put his hands on anybody, never raised his hands to anybody. He yelled at a guy to get him to pay the debt," he told the court. Filipelli pleaded guilty last year in Federal Court to one count of interstate travel in aid of racketeering.