Captain And 10 Members And Associates Of Gambino Crime Family Plead Guilty To Crimes Including Racketeering Conspiracy, Wire Fraud, Money Laundering And Obstruction Of Justice

The U.S. Attorney’s Office Eastern District of New York released the below information: 

Earlier today, and throughout the past week in federal court in Brooklyn, 11 members and associates of the Gambino organized crime family of La Cosa Nostra pleaded guilty to multiple crimes, including racketeering conspiracy, fraud, obstruction of justice and related offenses for criminal activities throughout the New York metropolitan area committed as part of the illicit activities of the Gambino family.  One additional defendant pleaded guilty to filing a false tax return.  The proceedings were held before United States Magistrate Judge Roanne L. Mann.

Today, Andrew Campos, a captain in the Gambino organized crime family, and Vincent Fiore, a Gambino family soldier, pleaded guilty to racketeering conspiracy, variously admitting their participation in predicate acts of wire fraud, money laundering and obstruction of justice offenses. 

Previously, Richard Martino, a Gambino family soldier, and Frank Tarul, a Gambino crime family associate, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to obstruction justice;  Mark Kocaj, Benito DiZenzo and Carlos Cobos, Sr., Gambino family associates, pleaded guilty to wire fraud conspiracy;  James Ciaccia and George Campos, Gambino family soldiers, and Renato Barca, Jr. and Michael Tarul, Gambino family associates, pleaded guilty to making false statements in connection with their fraudulently obtaining safety cards from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”).  John Simonlacaj, a former managing director of a construction company, pleaded guilty to submitting a false tax return. 

Seth D. DuCharme, Acting United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, announced the guilty pleas.

“With these guilty pleas, a dozen members and associates of the Gambino crime family are held accountable for committing a litany of crimes in the construction industry that enriched the Mafia at the expense of the American taxpayer, construction companies harmed by their pernicious presence and the U.S. government,” stated Acting United States Attorney DuCharme.  “The defendants will now have to pay the consequences for their corrupt activities.”  Mr. DuCharme expressed his grateful appreciation to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, New York Field Office, the Internal Revenue Service- Criminal Investigation, the New York City Police Department and the Department of Labor for their exemplary work on the case.  Mr. DuCharme also thanked the Queens County District Attorney’s Office, the United States Probation Departments for the Eastern and Southern Districts of New York and the Waterfront Commission of New York Harbor for their assistance during the investigation.

According to court filings and facts presented during the guilty plea proceedings, Andrew Campos and members of his crew carried out fraudulent schemes to infiltrate the construction industry and earn millions of dollars in criminal proceeds, in part through their operation of a carpentry company, CWC Contracting Corp. (“CWC”).  Campos, Fiore and Cobos, among others, defrauded the U.S. government by paying CWC employees millions of dollars in cash without making the required payroll tax withholdings and payments.  Further, Campos, Fiore and others laundered money, causing checks to be made from CWC, purportedly for work performed in connection with CWC construction projects where, in fact, no services were performed.  The proceeds of these scheme were used to, among other things, construct Andrew Campos’s residence.  Further, when Fiore became aware of the government’s investigation, he tried to obstruct it by asking another person to lie about his and Campos’s misconduct.

Between June 2018 and June 2019, CWC paid hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes and kickbacks to employees of a real estate development company (described in the indictment as “Construction Company #1”), including John Simonlacaj, the company’s former Managing Director of Development.  CWC paid the bribes in the form of hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of free labor and materials used for renovations on Simonlacaj’s residence, which Simonlacaj failed to report as taxable income and which Kocaj had fraudulently paid for by billing them to a CWC project for Construction Company #1.  Kocaj was recorded stating the work “should have been pro bono” because Construction Company #1 “do[es] 50 million a year in business.”  DiZenzo and Fiore performed tens of thousands of dollars of work at a gym for the benefit of an employee of another real estate development company (described in the indictment as “Construction Company #2”), which they agreed would be fraudulently paid for by billing the work to an unrelated project for Construction Company #2. 

In addition to these schemes, Martino was convicted in the Eastern District of New York in 2005 for his role in a scheme to defraud users of adult entertainment services.  Martino was ordered by the Court to pay $9.1 million in forfeiture.  After his release from prison, Martino, together with Frank Tarul and others, concealed Martino’s substantial income in order to avoid him paying the more than $300,000 forfeiture balance owed by falsely reporting that Martino had limited assets and worked for Tarul’s flooring company.  In reality, Martino operated companies that earned millions of dollars.

Finally, Barca, George Campos, Ciaccia and Michael Tarul, along with others, fraudulently procured safety cards from the United States Department of Labor indicating the completion of certain OSHA training courses when, in fact, the courses were not completed.

When sentenced, Andrew Campos, Cobos, DiZenzo, Fiore, Kocaj, Martino and Frank Tarul each face up to 20 years in prison.  Barca, George Campos, Ciaccia and Michael Tarul each face up to 5 years in prison.  Simonlacaj faces up to 3 years in prison

The government’s case is being handled by the Office’s Organized Crime & Gangs Section.  Assistant United States Attorneys Keith D. Edelman and Kayla C. Bensing are in charge of the prosecution, assisted by EDNY Special Agent Erik Nesbitt.  Assistant United States Attorney Claire S. Kedeshian of the Office’s Civil Division is handling forfeiture matters. 

The Defendants:

RENATO BARCA, JR. (also known as “Ronny”)
Age: 33
Bronx, New York

ANDREW CAMPOS
Age: 51
Scarsdale, New York

GEORGE CAMPOS
Age: 73
Peekskill, New York

JAMES CIACCIA
Age: 52
Bronx, New York

CARLOS COBOS, SR.
Age: 57
Brentwood, New York

BENITO DIZENZO (also known as “Benny”)
Age: 54
New Rochelle, New York

VINCENT FIORE
Age: 58
Briarcliff, New York

MARK KOCAJ (also known as “Chippy”)
Age: 50
Tuckahoe, New York

RICHARD MARTINO
Age: 61
Rye, New York

JOHN SIMONLACAJ (also known as “John Si” and “Smiley”)
Age: 51
Scarsdale, New York

FRANK TARUL (also known as “Bones”)
Age: 46
Bronx, New York

MICHAEL TARUL (also known as “Perkins”)
Age: 44
Bronx, New York

E.D.N.Y. Docket No. 19-CR-575 (FB)

Mob Talk 30:

Veteran organized crime reporters George Anastasia and Dave Schratwieser discuss how the FBI landed a two punch on the Philly mob as a mob soldier pleaded guilty and a top mob associate with high level connections faces a new indictment in their Mob Talk 30 video.

The two reporters also discuss the new leadership of New York's Gambino crime family after the murder of the previous Gambino boss.

You can watch the video via the below link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SvzUWAB1kb4&t=12s

A Look Back At The Gambino Crime Family Tree, From Their Early Roots To Serving As inspiration For ‘The Godfather’

 

Jessica Schladerbeck at the New York Daily News looks back at the Gambino crime family history.

Before he was the inspiration for the greatest fictional crime boss of all time, Carlo Gambino was an illegal immigrant trying to rise to power during the height of organized crime.

Gambino, born August 24, 1902, headed one of the most powerful families in New York and in part inspired the iconic character Don Corleone — the Godfather was also heavily based on Frank Costello. His journey to the top, not unlike those in the famous film series, is a tangled web of assassinations, power grabs and silent betrayal.

The Gambino Crime Family was founded by Salvatore “Toto” D’Aquila, who took over a gang of newly transplanted Mafiosi from Sicily after leaders Lupo Saietta and Giuseppe Morello were handed a 30 year prison sentence for counterfeiting in 1910.

You can read the rest of the piece via the below link:

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/gambino-crime-family-tree-article-1.2764033

Nicky Skins: The Wiseguy With A Wire

Veteran organized crime reporter George Anastasia offers a piece in Inside Jersey on Nicholas  "Nicky Skins" Stefanelli, a mob guy who wore a wire.

They said he was a “good man” and “solid as a rock.”

They said he had the right bloodlines, that his father had been one of them before him.

And that, they all agreed, was important.

This was how a group of mobsters, meeting over lunch at a restaurant in Kenilworth three years ago, described Nicholas “Nicky Skins” Stefanelli, a soldier in the Gambino crime family who was sitting with them that day.

“If you don’t know the families, the grandmothers, the grandfathers, forget it,” said Joseph “Scoops” Licata, a capo who ran a North Jersey crew for the Philadelphia mob.

“Only way to survive,” added John Gambino, a leader of the New York family that bears his name. “You only need quality, not quantity.”

They were at a table in a corner of the main dining room at LaGriglia, a small, classy restaurant just off the Garden State Parkway. This was in May of 2010. Ten mobsters from Philadelphia, New Jersey and New York broke bread for more than four hours that day. They talked about business and history, laughing and joking about who they knew and what they had done.

A federal prosecutor would later call it a meeting of the “board of directors” of organized crime, pointing out that the participants included leaders of both the Gambino crime family and the Philadelphia branch of Cosa Nostra. Defense attorneys would argue that it was just a group of friends having lunch and talking about the old days.

The one thing no one could dispute was that “Nicky Skins” was one of the guys at the table. The “good man” who the other mobsters praised, was, in fact, their worst nightmare.

He was a wiseguy wearing a wire.

You can read the rest of the piece via the below link:

http://www.nj.com/inside-jersey/index.ssf/2014/01/nicky_skins_wiseguy_with_a_wire.html

Gambino Crime Family Captain Sentenced In Manhattan Federal Court To 121 Months In Prison For Racketeering, Drug Trafficking, And Multiple Acts Of Violence

 

 

The U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York released the below information on the sentencing of a Gambino crime family captain:

Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced today that Alphonse Trucchio—one of the youngest mobsters to be made a captain in mafia history—was sentenced in Manhattan federal court to 121 months in prison for his crimes as a member of the Gambino Organized crime family of La Cosa Nostra (the “Gambino crime family”). Trucchio previously pled guilty on February 17, 2012, to racketeering, narcotics trafficking, assault, illegal gambling, loansharking, obstruction of justice, and extortion in connection with two indictments before U.S. District Judge Richard M. Berman, who also imposed today’s sentence.

Of the 22 defendants who were arrested in connection with U.S. v. Joseph Corozzo, et al., as part of a nationwide organized crime takedown on January 20, 2011, Trucchio was the 20th to be convicted. He was also charged in U.S. v. Alphonse Trucchio, et al. with 19 other individuals on November 30, 2011, for participating in a scheme to recruit illegal immigrants to work in adult entertainment clubs controlled by the Gambino Organized crime family.

Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said, “Alphonse Trucchio rose to a leadership position in the Gambino crime family at a young age, and his future may have seemed bright—but now the life he chose has led, as it has for so many others in the mafia, to living behind bars. Today’s sentence should remind anyone who aspires to follow in his footsteps that they should think again, because we will do everything within our power to catch you and prosecute you to the full extent of the law.

According to the Indictment, other court filings, and statements made at court proceedings:

Alphonse Trucchio became a “made” member of the Gambino crime family in the early 2000s, when he was in his 20s. After Trucchio’s father, Gambino crime family Captain Ronald Trucchio, was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment in 2005, Trucchio, who was 30 years old at the time, was promoted to the rank of captain. He was the youngest of the Gambino crime family’s captains, and one of the youngest captains in the history of La Cosa Nostra. In that capacity, Trucchio was responsible for supervising crews of street level members, also known as “soldiers,” and associates. From 2005 until his arrest in 2011, he assembled and led the Gambino Family’s largest, youngest, and most active crew. At least 14 other defendants who have been convicted in this case were either soldiers or associates in Trucchio’s crew.

Trucchio routinely participated in the illegal affairs of the Gambino crime family. Although the mafia traditionally purports to prohibit drug trafficking, Trucchio nonetheless presided over a large drug importation and trafficking ring, primarily located in Queens, New York. Trucchio and others distributed cocaine, marijuana, ecstasy, and Vicodin pills, generating millions of dollars in illegal proceeds for the Gambino family. He also participated in the systematic extortion of multiple strip clubs in Queens and ordered numerous violent assaults. Trucchio and others further engaged in loansharking—making and collecting on extortionate extensions of credit, sometimes making threats and committing assaults in order to collect payment—and illegal gambling. In his plea agreement, Trucchio also conceded that he had obstructed justice by destroying evidence.

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In addition to the prison term, Judge Berman sentenced Trucchio, 35, of Howard Beach, New York, to five years of supervised release, $100,000 in forfeiture, and ordered him to pay a $500 special assessment fee.

Ten other defendants have been sentenced in connection with U.S. v. Joseph Corozzo, et al.: Gambino family captain Louis Mastrangelo; Gambino family soldiers Michael Roccaforte, Anthony Moscatiello, and Vincenzo Frogiero; and Gambino family associates Todd LaBarca, Christopher Colon, Frank Bellantoni, Michael Kuhtenia, Frank Roccaforte, and Michael Russo. Nine others have pled guilty and have sentences pending: Gambino family consigliere Joseph Corozzo and fambino family associates John Brancaccio, Salvatore Tortorici, Christopher Reynolds, Keith Croce, Sean Dunn, Salvatore Accardi, Robert Napolitano, and Anthino Russo. Charges are pending against the remaining two defendants—Gambino family ruling panel member Bartolomeo Vernace and Gambino family associate Robert Bucholz. Two other defendants who were charged with Trucchio in U.S. v. Alphonse Trucchio, et al. have pled guilty. The charges and allegations are merely accusations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

Five defendants who were associates of the Gambino crime family and charged as part of the January 2011 takedown in a separate indictment, U.S. v. John Cipolla, et al., have also pled guilty; four have been sentenced.

Mr. Bharara praised the work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations, and the U.S. Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service.

The case is being handled by the Office’s Organized Crime Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Elie Honig, Daniel Chung, and Natalie Lamarque are in charge of the prosecution.

New Low for Mob: Former Goodfella Henry Hill Not Suprised By Underage Prostitution Pinch

Henry Hill, a former Lucchese organized crime associate and the subject of Nicholas Pileggi's true crime book Wiseguy, which was later made into Martin Scorsese's film Goodfellas, appeared on CNN and stated he was not surprised by the recent indictment and arrest of 14 alleged members of the Gambino crime family for running an interstate prostitution ring that included an underage girl
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"The mob is just out to make a buck," Hill told CNN.
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U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara called the use of an underage girl for prostitution a new low for the mob.
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The 23-count indictment also includes charges of murder, drug trafficking and racketeering.
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Hill (seen in the above photo and below in an earlier FBI mug shot) testified against his former criminal cohorts in 1984 and was placed for a time in the federal witness protection program.
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You can view the CNN video of Hill via the below link:
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http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/04/22/henry.hill.gambino.indictment/?hpt=C1