Reynoso

Rosado

Booking photos from
the Suffolk County
DA's office.

Jesus Reynoso, 44, of Roslindale, and his alleged bagman and enforcer, Victor Rosado, 39, of Mattapan, were arrested today by State Police, who used hidden GPS devices to track them down after an investigation that started in January, 2007. Some 30 other people were also arrested in "Operation Barbershop."

The Suffolk County District Attorney's office charges Reynoso put together a network of bookie joints at stores across Boston and in Lawrence, Leominster, and Worcester that alllegedly brought in more than $1 million a year.

Boston locations raided:

• Eclipse Boutique, 450 Hyde Park Ave., Roslindale
• Vimar Designs, 3205 Washington St., Jamaica Plain
• D&D Communications, 3142 Washington St., Jamaica Plain
• Super Mario, 3115 Washington St., Roxbury
• D'Palace, 3094 Washington St., Roxbury
• Tony's Travel, 3108 Washington St., Roxbury
• Thalia Beauty Salon, 338 Blue Hill Ave., Dorchester
• Gentileza's Market, 140 Bowdoin St., Dorchester
• La Fama Barbershop, 180 Maverick Sq., East Boston

Officials say that, like any good franchiser, Reynoso set the shops up with the tools of the trade:

Evidence developed in the course of more than a year indicates that Reynoso and Rosado set up illegal betting franchises in area barbershops and other businesses. The ringleaders provided each of their operatives with a laptop and other equipment allowing them to take and record wagers. Surveillance has demonstrated that these betting parlors were frequented by convicted drug dealers and may have been used to launder drug money. The figures who ran these individual franchises are believed to have handed 60% of their profits over to Reynoso and kept the remainder for themselves.

Ironically, Boston Police and Suffolk prosecutors began their investigation after one of the stores - the La Fama barbershop in East Boston - was held up in January, 2007, DA Dan Conley said:

The unknown perpetrators handcuffed the owner to a radiator and pistol-whipped him to find money. Subsequently, we uncovered evidence of an organized, illegal gambling enterprise that stretched far beyond this one venue. With the assistance of our law enforcement partners, the evidence we followed ultimately led to the network leaders and all of the various locations that are being searched today.

He added:

Make no mistake: this was not a harmless neighborhood lottery or sports book. It was a gambling enterprise where the game was rigged in favor of the ring and it was fraught with violence and corruption. Every dollar that went into this ring was a dollar stolen from the Commonwealth and its residents. Not only did its principals deprive the state of tax revenue on more than a million dollars a year, they regularly deprived players of their winnings when it suited their purposes.