Gambling News by Gambling Headquarters

A former part-time scout for the Washington Nationals who was arrested Wednesday on charges of taking part in a major sports gambling operation was not in position to affect Major League Baseball games, prosecutors in the case said yesterday. The scout, Frank Falzarano, whose contract with the Nationals was not renewed last month, was one of 27 people charged in what New York prosecutors and police said was a lucrative, wide-ranging gambling and money-laundering operation headed by Florida-based poker player James Giordano. "I have no reason to believe that Frank Falzarano was in a position to fix games based on his job with the Washington Nationals," Queens County District Attorney Richard A. Brown said through a spokesman yesterday. Falzarano, 52, was charged with multiple "B" felonies, according to Queens County prosecutors. Police said two handguns were seized from Falzarano's Long Island home at the time of his arrest.Falzarano posted $500,000 bail yesterday in Queens County Supreme Court. He faces a minimum of one to three years and a maximum of 8 1/3 to 25 years in prison if convicted. Prosecutors said Falzarano was known as a "distributor," or "super runner," in the sprawling gambling operation that included betting on football, baseball, basketball, golf, horse racing and hockey. "I can tell you he entered a plea of not guilty and is looking forward to defending himself in court," said Peter Tomao, Falzarano's attorney. "There's no allegation in the indictment that he was fixing games." Nationals officials yesterday referred to a statement issued by the club Wednesday evening. That statement said Falzarano "was a part-time scout who worked for an area scout, who is no longer with the club. Falzarano's contract with the Nationals expired on October 31 and was not renewed." Falzarano also had served as a scout for the San Francisco Giants and Florida Marlins, according to law enforcement sources. Rich Levin, a spokesman for MLB, said yesterday that the league had just learned of Falzarano's arrest and was looking into it.

The Nationals' scouting staff numbered around 30 last season, according to the team's media guide. The team recently added an additional 10 scouts. Falzarano was not listed in the media guide, and the date of the start of his association with the club could not be learned yesterday.

Falzarano had been a small-time scout, known as a "bird dog," with the Nationals organization until his contract expired, according to team sources. Former Nationals president Tony Tavares, who left the club in July when local businessman Theodore N. Lerner bought the team, said he had never heard of Falzarano.

"I don't know him," Tavares said yesterday. "He might have been a stringer but was not on the payroll."

Prosecutors allege Falzarano supervised several "runners" who collected bets from individuals. Falzarano then passed that money along to a bookmaker. When bettors won, according to prosecutors, Falzarano passed money from the bookmaker to the bettors. When bettors lost, Falzarano shared the winnings with the bookmaker. Prosecutors said he was very active in the operation and participated in the collection of millions of dollars per week from gamblers throughout the country.