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Alleged Mobster’s GPS Tracker on Girlfriend’s Car Leads to 20 Arrests

The discovery of the tracker prompted a federal investigation, which led to wiretaps uncovering a scheme to rig an NCAA game.

A New York mobster's efforts to stalk his girlfriend led police to uncover a number of criminal schemes and 20 people being charged with “racketeering, loansharking and extortion,” according to the New York Post. Joseph Amato, a 60-year-old reputed capo for the Colombo crime family, allegedly attached an electronic GPS tracker to his then-girlfriend's car and used it to keep tabs on her whereabouts between Jan. 2015 and Nov. 2016. The woman eventually discovered the tracker and it ended up being attached to an MTA bus—possibly to “thwart Amato’s stalking efforts,” court papers reportedly say. A mechanic then found the tracker on the bus in Nov. 2016, prompting a federal investigation, which then led to wiretaps on Amato and his associates. “Thousands of intercepted phone calls and text messages” led to the discovery of an attempted scheme to rig a NCCA Division 1 basketball game in December 2018, among other crimes, according to court papers cited by the Post. The defendants were reportedly arraigned Thursday afternoon.