Bergen County Prosecutor Grewal is seeking to seize the home where Robert D'Alessio, 62, lives with his wife, Julie, 60.
TOTOWA - A man known as "Elvis," who prosecutors say ran a large gambling ring, may lose his $1.4 million home high in the hills of Passaic County, according to court documents.
Bergen County Prosecutor Gurbir S. Grewal filed a civil action earlier this month seeking to confirm forfeiture of the house where Robert D'Alessio, 62, lives with his wife, Julie, 60.
Court documents cite "alleged criminal activities" as the reason for the forfeiture.
D'Alessio, who sports the same-style sideburns and slick hair as the rock 'n' roll icon, was one of 46 people arrested last spring and accused of leading a Bergen County-based, multi-state gambling ring involving millions of dollars of laundered cash and racketeering. He went by the aliases "Elvis" and "Andrew Dice Clay," according to court documents.
The house where he lives at 37 Mountainwood Court in Totowa is owned by D'Alessio's wife, Julie. The home was mortgaged in 2007 for $443,660 and recently assessed at $1.38 million. Property taxes are $31,587.72 a year.
The prosecutor claims Robert D'Alessio and his co-conspirators made "hundreds of thousands of dollars in profits each week" through the gambling ring they ran and that the couple often made mortgage payments in cash.
The profits were also used in the purchase and upgrade of the Totowa home, Gurbir alleges in court documents.
Records show the mortgage is owned by Chevy Chase Bank.
"Further investigation revealed payments of the mortgage by money orders, as well as cash deposits into an account," the prosecutor alleged in court documents.
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Julie D'Alessio asserted she owns the home and that she was once employed at a location in Jersey City where she made upwards of $200,000 a year, according to the prosecutor.
But Gurbir stated in the civil action that independent employment sources could not verify Julie D'Alessio's claim that she worked.
"Robert D'Alessio (and Julie) D'Alessio have no legitimate source of income," the prosecutor stated in the civil filing.
The home is one a handful on top of hill overlooking a quiet cul-de-sac with extreme views of Passaic and Bergen Counties.
Ten years ago, D'Alessio was arrested and accused of being a member of the Genovese crime family. Authorities at the time said he helped run a $1 million a week operation that employed 50 agents in three states.
Authorities at the time seized D'Alessio's Corvette and told reporters they found a collection of Elvis memorabilia in his home, but did not seize it because they did not consider it valuable.
A man living down the hill from the Mountainview Court home said he has never seen the D'Alessios enter or leave the home.
"They're real no-shows," said the man, who declined to give his name.
Anthony G. Attrino may be reached at tattrino@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @TonyAttrino. Find NJ.com on Facebook.