Associated Press
PHILADELPHIA — A convicted Philadelphia-area bookmaker whose operation took high-dollar sports bets online or through offshore call centers has died in a federal prison medical center.
The Philadelphia Inquirer reports Joseph Mastronardo Jr. died Monday afternoon at the Federal Medical Center, Devens in Ayer, Massachusetts.
Mastronardo, the son-in-law of late Philadelphia Mayor Frank Rizzo, was sentenced to 20 months in prison in February after pleading guilty to racketeering, illegal gambling and money laundering charges.
A 2012 raid of Mastronardo’s sprawling estate in Abington turned up $1.1 million in cash in the yard, and more money hidden inside.
Mastronardo was 65 and had recently suffered from throat cancer, pneumonia and a stroke.
His defense attorney, John Morris, had argued that sentencing Mastronardo to prison would likely amount to a death sentence.