The U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of New York released the below information:
A
16-count indictment was unsealed today in federal court in Brooklyn charging 10
defendants with racketeering conspiracy, extortion, witness retaliation, and
union-related crimes committed in an attempt to dominate the New York carting
and demolition industries. All ten defendants are in custody and are scheduled
to be arraigned this afternoon before United States Magistrate Judge Ramon E.
Reyes, Jr. In connection with the arrests, federal authorities executed
search warrants, one of which resulted in the seizure of multiple firearms from
an associate of the Gambino crime Family.
In a coordinated operation, Italian law enforcement today
arrested six organized crime members and associates who are charged with, among
other crimes, mafia association and connected criminal offenses. One individual
remains at large.
The defendants are
Joseph Lanni, also known as “Joe Brooklyn” and “Mommino,” an alleged captain in
the Gambino organized crime family, Diego “Danny” Tantillo, Angelo Gradilone,
also known as “Fifi,” and James LaForte, alleged Gambino soldiers, Vito Rappa,
alleged U.S.-based
Sicilian Mafia member and Gambino associate, Francesco Vicari, also known as
“Uncle Ciccio,” alleged U.S.-based Sicilian Mafia associate and Gambino
associate, and Salvatore DiLorenzo, Robert Brooke, Kyle Johnson, also known as
“Twin,” and Vincent Minsquero, also known as “Vinny Slick,” alleged Gambino
associates.
Breon Peace, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of
New York, James Smith, Assistant Director-in-Charge, Federal Bureau of
Investigation, New York Field Office (FBI), Jonathan Mellone, Special
Agent-in-Charge, Northeast Region, U.S. Department of Labor, Office of
Inspector General (DOL-OIG), Edward A. Caban, Commissioner, New York City
Police Department (NYPD), and Elizabeth Crotty, Commissioner and Chair, New
York City Business Integrity Commission (BIC), announced the charges.
“As alleged, for years, the defendants committed violent
extortions, assaults, arson, witness retaliation and other crimes in an attempt
to dominate the New York carting and demolition industries,” stated United
States Attorney Breon Peace. “Today’s arrests reflect the commitment of
this Office and our law enforcement partners, both here and abroad, to keep our
communities safe by the complete dismantling of organized crime.”
Mr. Peace expressed his appreciation to the New York Waterfront
Commission, the Office’s law enforcement partners in Italy, including the
Prosecutor of Palermo, the Polizia di Stato, the Servizio
Centrale Operativo, and the Squadra Mobile of Palermo.
“These defendants learned the hard way that the FBI is united
with our law enforcement locally and internationally in our efforts to
eradicate the insidious organized crime threat. Those arrested are
alleged to have taken part in a racketeering conspiracy in an attempt to
control the carting and demolition industries in the city. The FBI will
continue to lead the fight against organized crime and ensure that individuals
willing to cross the line face punishment in the criminal justice system”
stated FBI Assistant Director-in-Charge Smith.
“Today’s arrests should serve as a warning to others who believe
they can operate in plain sight with apparent impunity – the NYPD and our law
enforcement partners exist to shatter that notion,” stated NYPD Commissioner
Edward A. Caban. “And we will continue to take down members of traditional
organized crime wherever they may operate.”
“An important part of the mission of the Office of Inspector
General is to investigate allegations of fraud involving labor unions and their
affiliated employee benefit plans. We will continue to work with our law
enforcement partners to investigate these types of allegations,” said DOL-OIG
Special Agent-in Charge Jonathan Mellone.
“Investigating these matters is at the heart of BIC’s mission to
ensure the industries under our regulation do not pose a risk to public safety.
These arrests demonstrate that the influence of organized crime will never go
unchecked,” stated BIC Commissioner and Chair Elizabeth Crotty. “BIC
thanks the NYPD, FBI, EDNY, and our other agency partners for their
collaboration and excellent work on this case.”
As alleged in the government’s court filings and summarized
below, members and associates of the Gambino crime family used violent
extortions, fraud, theft and embezzlement schemes to infiltrate the carting and
demolition industries to enrich themselves and the Gambino crime family,
including by laundering criminal proceeds. For example, in the midst of a
financial dispute between Tantillo and the owners of Demolition Company 1,
Tantillo and Johnson coordinated a violent hammer assault on the dispatcher for
Demolition Company 1, which left the dispatcher bleeding and seriously
injured.
Extortions Related to the Carting and
Demolition Industries
Tantillo, Rappa, Vicari and Johnson engaged in a violent
extortion conspiracy relating to the demand and receipt of money from John Doe
1, who operated a carting business in the New York City area. The
extortion scheme involved threatening John Doe 1 with a bat, setting fire to
the steps to John Doe 1’s residence, attempting to damage John Doe 1’s carting
trucks, and violently assaulting an associate of John Doe 1. In
addition, Tantillo and Vicari were captured on judicially-authorized wiretaps
discussing threats they made to John Doe 1 and John Doe 1’s
father-in-law. On one call, Rappa stated that Vicari “acted like the
‘Last of the Samurai,” describing how Vicari picked up a knife and directed
John Doe 1’s father-in-law to threaten to cut John Doe 1 in half in order to
get John Doe 1 to make extortionate payments. After John Doe 1 ultimately
made a payment of $4,000 to Vicari, Vicari and Rappa met and sent Tantillo a
photo of Vicari raising a small champagne bottle, as in a toast.
In addition, Tantillo, Brooke and Johnson engaged in two
separate violent extortion schemes of Demolition Company 1 and its owners over
purported debts owed to Tantillo and a company operated by Tantillo and
Brooke. Brooke violently assaulted one of the owners on a street
corner in midtown Manhattan. In another instance, as mentioned, Tantillo
and Johnson coordinated a violent hammer assault on a dispatcher at Demolition
Company 1, which left the dispatcher bleeding and seriously injured.
Pictures of the victim dispatcher were then circulated to various people in the
carting and demolition industries.
Frauds and Union-Related Crimes in the Carting
and Demolition Industries
The defendants also committed a series of crimes to steal and
embezzle from unions and employee benefit plans and rigged bids in the
demolition and carting industries. As part of one such scheme, DiLorenzo
provided Rappa with a “no-show” job at DiLorenzo’s demolition company so that
Rappa could receive paychecks and union health benefits, among other
benefits. Similarly, Tantillo arranged for Gradilone to receive a
“no-show” job at a construction company with which Tantillo was associated, which
enabled Gradilone to receive paychecks and union health benefits to which he
was not entitled. Tantillo and Johnson also conspired to secure a
“no-show” job for Johnson, so that Johnson could similarly receive union health
benefits.
Tantillo also embezzled from employee benefit plans by using
laborers from a non-union company, Gane Services, Inc., to perform work for
union companies operated by Tantillo, and failing to make contributions for
such work as required by collective bargaining agreements.
In addition, Tantillo, DiLorenzo and their co-conspirators
conspired to rig bids for lucrative demolition contracts in New York
City. Among other things, Tantillo and DiLorenzo coordinated that their
companies exchange bidding information to secure a project on Fifth
Avenue.
Additional Charged Schemes
The defendants also perpetrated a series of other crimes
throughout the New York and New Jersey areas from 2017 through 2023.
Their pattern of racketeering activity included additional extortions,
retaliating against a federal witness, and money laundering, among other
crimes, as detailed in court documents. For example, in September 2023,
Lanni and Minsquero coordinated an assault on proprietors of a restaurant in
New Jersey, including physically assaulting a woman at knifepoint. In addition,
LaForte, having previously been convicted of a felony, illegally possessed a
firearm in or about May 2023.
The charges in the indictment are allegations, and the
defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty. The
defendants variously face maximum sentences between 20 and 180 years’
imprisonment.
The government’s case is being handled by the Office’s
Organized Crime and Gangs Section. Assistant United
States Attorneys Matthew R. Galeotti, Anna L. Karamigios, and Andrew
M. Roddin are in charge of the prosecution, with assistance from Paralegal
Specialist Emme Moosher.
The Defendants:
JOSEPH LANNI (also known as “Joe Brooklyn” and “Mommino”)
Age: 52
Staten Island, New York
DIEGO TANTILLO (also known as “Danny” and “Daniel”)
Age: 48
Freehold, New Jersey
ROBERT BROOKE
Age: 55
New York, New York
SALVATORE DILORENZO
Age: 66
Oceanside, New York
ANGELO GRADILONE (also known as “Fifi”)
Age: 57
Staten Island, New York
KYLE JOHNSON (also known as “Twin”)
Age: 46
Bronx, New York
JAMES LAFORTE (also known as “Jimmy”)
Age: 46
New York, New York
VINCENT MINSQUERO (also known as “Vinny Slick”)
Age: 36
Staten Island, New York
VITO RAPPA (also known as “Vi”)
Age: 46
East Brunswick, New Jersey
FRANCESCO VICARI (also known as “Frank” and “Uncle Ciccio”)
Age: 46
Elmont, New York
E.D.N.Y. Docket No. 23-CR-443
