Ex-Cops, Postal And Sanworker In Betting Ring

A postal worker, a Sanitation Worker and two former cops were among 17 persons indicted last week by a Queens grand jury for participating in an unlawful on-line gambling operation that prosecutors claimed handled $30 million a year in bets.

According to Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown, John Kinahan, an ex-NYPD officer who currently manages a topless dancing club in Long Island City, was the bookmaker who oversaw the operation, with his wife Virginia - the listed owner of the topless club - serving as the organization's bookkeeper and day-to-day manager. The indictment charges that the operation included a wire room in Costa Rica that could be accessed through an 800 number and an Internet Web site.

Ex-Detective Charged

Philip Buckles, a former Detective in the NYPD Organized Crime Investigation Division, allegedly supervised other employees who accepted bets and paid or collected from the bettors on sports ranging from football and basketball to horse-racing and golf.

Postal worker Glenn Mulhern is accused of placing bets for his superiors at the Long Island City post office where he works, and Sanitation Worker Jeremiah Keating - a nephew of the Kinahans, allegedly lined up customers, took their bets and settled up with them afterwards.

The investigation was conducted jointly by the Queens DA's Office and the State Police.