Article Summary
Trucking news and briefs for Friday, June 26, 2026:
- Small fleet with ties to Lucchese crime family pleads guilty.
- Alabama rest area closing for rebuild.
- Box truck towing a pickup truck towing a fifth-wheel -- "wildest catch" in Montana blitz.
Trucking company's role in Mafia-connected gambling operation
A New Jersey-based trucking company is among eight companies and individuals to plead guilty to their respective roles in operating illegal poker games and an online sportsbook in association with the Lucchese crime family -- one of the “Five Families” Mafia organizations operating in New York City.
New Jersey Attorney General Jennifer Davenport announced that Frasso Trucking was among the eight guilty pleas related to a racketeering, gambling, and money laundering operation. Between October 2025 and June 2026, 27 other people pled guilty of their own conduct in the gambling enterprise.
The defendants were among 42 people who have been indicted since initial arrests in April 2025, following a two-year investigation touching on loansharking, extortion and money laundering tied to the crime family.
“The guilty pleas we accepted today represent another important step in dismantling this criminal enterprise and holding the individuals involved accountable,” Davenport said. “Organized crime has no place in New Jersey.”
Frasso Trucking, with four trucks and four drivers on its Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration profile, admitted to being used by Michael and Gerard Frasso to conceal gambling proceeds and pleaded guilty to second-degree conspiracy for anti-money laundering profiteering. The company will pay a penalty of $250,000.
Michael P. Frasso, 48, of Cedar Grove, New Jersey, also pleaded guilty. According to Davenport, he was a sportsbook agent now guilty of second-degree racketeering (seven years recommended), third-degree failure to pay income tax (three years), and third-degree corporate misconduct (five years), for an aggregate recommendation of 15 years.
According to documents filed in the case and statements made in court, the gambling operations include social clubs that housed live poker games and gambling machines, as well as an extensive online sportsbook operated through several websites based outside of the United States.
The leadership of the New Jersey-based faction of the Lucchese family allegedly oversaw the gambling activities and received a portion of the criminal proceeds. The investigation resulted in the identification of $4.79 million in suspected proceeds. Members of the criminal enterprise used multiple shell corporations and legitimate businesses to conceal their illegal gambling proceeds.
George Zappola, Joseph R. Perna, and John G. Perna are high-level managers of the criminal enterprise and allegedly members of the Lucchese Crime Family. All three pleaded guilty to second-degree racketeering in exchange for recommended sentences of seven years in state prison.
[Related: Trucking crime: Ilegal of snakes, drug trafficking, loan fraud]
Alabama rest area closing for rebuild
The Alabama Department of Transportation will replace the I-65 northbound rest area near Greenville with a larger, modernized facility.
Crews will demolish the current structure and build an updated rest area in the same location. The new facility will feature additional parking, bathroom stalls, urinals, and family restrooms.
The NB rest area will close on Monday, June 29. Parking lots will also be closed during the rebuild. The recently updated SB facility will remain open. Signs are posted along NB I-65 to alert drivers of the closure. The next available NB state-maintained rest area is in Clanton.
ALDOT strongly encouraged travelers to utilize the Evergreen rest area before reaching Greenville.
The approximately $12 million project is expected to last up to two years.
[Related: Indiana Toll Road parking lot temporarily closed]
FMCSA, Montana issue nearly 200 viols in recent blitz
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration announced June 24 the results of an Operation Safe Driver enforcement blitz conducted in partnership with the Montana Highway Patrol.
The effort resulted in 113 inspections with 196 violations issued and 32 out-of-service orders issued.
The agency also highlighted what it dubbed the “wildest catch” of the blitz -- “an 81-ft combo of a box truck towing a flatbed with a pickup towing a fifth-wheel.”
Might that hit the securement violations category? For year 2025, Montana ranked No. 12 most intense among the lower 48 U.S. states for its securement focus, with 2.5% of all violations recorded for securement issues. The 2025 national average was 1.9%, according to Overdrive sister data company RigDig's accounting.
