31 Defendants, Including Members And Associates Of Organized Crime Families And National Basketball Association Coach Chauncey Billups, Charged In Schemes To Rig Illegal Poker Games

The U.S. Attorney, Eastern District of New York announced a seven-count indictment was unsealed charging 31 defendants in criminal schemes to rig illegal poker games at various locations in New York City, East Hampton, New York, and throughout the United States. 

31 defendants were arrested in 11 states, including members and associates of the Bonanno, Gambino, and Genovese organized crime families of La Cosa Nostra (LCN); Chauncey Billups, head coach of the Portland Trail Blazers of the National Basketball Association (NBA); and Damon Jones, also known as “Dee,” a former NBA player with the Cleveland Cavaliers and Miami Heat.  The defendants will make initial court appearances this afternoon at federal courthouses throughout the United States, including the Eastern District of New York. 

Joseph Nocella, Jr., United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York; Kash Patel, Director, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI); Christopher G. Raia, Assistant Director in Charge, FBI, New York Field Office (FBI); Ricky J. Patel, Special Agent in Charge, Homeland Security Investigations, New York (HSI); Jessica S. Tisch, Commissioner, New York City Police Department (NYPD); and Phoebe S. Sorial, Executive Director, New York Waterfront Commission, announced the arrests and charges.

“As alleged, members and associates of organized crime families fixed illegal poker games as part of a highly sophisticated and lucrative fraud scheme to cheat victims out of millions of dollars and conspired with others to perpetrate their frauds,” stated United States Attorney Nocella.  “Well-known former NBA players and former professional athletes, acted as ‘Face Cards’ to lure unsuspecting victims to high-stakes poker games, where they were then at the mercy of concealed technology, including rigged shuffling machines and specially designed contacts lenses and sunglasses to read the backs of playing cards, which ensured that the victims would lose big.  Today’s indictment and arrests sounds the final buzzer for these cheaters.”

Mr. Nocella also thanked Homeland Security Investigations Newark for their valuable contribution to the case.

“Today over 30 people were arrested and charged for their alleged roles in criminal schemes to rig illegal poker games to win large amounts of money. These individuals used technology and deceit to scam innocent victims out of millions of dollars – eventually funneling money to La Casa Nostra and enriching one of the most notorious criminal networks in the world,” stated FBI Director Patel.  “This investigation spanned 9 states and FBI offices, and I want to thank the men and women of the FBI for their tremendous work and dedication rooting out those actors responsible. This FBI will never stop following the money to pursue and find those who break our laws.”

“Using the allure of high-stakes winnings and the promise to play alongside well-known professional athletes, these defendants allegedly defrauded unwitting victims out of tens of millions of dollars and established a financial pipeline to La Cosa Nostra,” stated FBI Assistant Director in Charge Raia.  “This alleged scheme wreaked havoc across the nation, exploiting the notoriety of some and the wallets of others to finance the Italian crime families. Our office maintains its aggressive pursuit of any Italian organized crime operating in our jurisdiction and will continue to stem all unlawful revenue streams fueling their illicit activity.”

“With the alleged involvement of three La Cosa Nostra crime families, an NBA head coach and Hall of Famer, as well as other current and former professional athletes, the investigative work that culminated with this morning’s operation are reminiscent of a Hollywood movie. But this was not luck, and it was not theatrics,” stated HSI New York Special Agent in Charge Patel.  “Over four years ago, HSI New York uncovered the operation and worked tirelessly with HSI Newark, the FBI, the New York Waterfront Commission, and the NYPD to expose crimes that defrauded victims of at least $7 million dollars and included violent robberies. I commend all agencies and personnel involved in today’s sweeping arrests, which should serve as a testament to our relentless, evidence-driven and unified effort.”

“For years, these individuals allegedly hosted illegal poker games where they used sophisticated technology and enlisted current and former NBA players to cheat people out of millions of dollars,” stated NYPD Commissioner Tisch.  “This complex scheme was so far reaching that it included members from four of the organized crime families, and when people refused to pay because they were cheated, these defendants did what organized crime has always done: they used threats, intimidation, and violence. I want to thank the incredible team at the NYPD that worked diligently on this case, and our partners in the FBI, HSI, and the U.S Attorney’s Office for their collaboration in shutting down this illegal gambling ring.”

“Today’s indictment represents a concerted effort to combat traditional organized crime, which continues to plague our communities,” stated Waterfront Commission Executive Director Sorial.  “The arrests of members from three La Cosa Nostra crime families is a stark reminder that they are not averse to working together to advance their sophisticated schemes when it serves their interest.  Disruption of their illegal gambling proceeds weakens their grip on our region, particularly in the Port of New York where they have long held influence. The New York Waterfront Commission, in close coordination with its federal, state and local law enforcement partners, remains unwavering in its commitment to dismantle these criminal enterprises by severing the illicit revenue streams that sustain them.”

As alleged in the indictment, beginning as early as 2019, the defendants engaged in a series of schemes to use wireless cheating technology to rig illegal poker games (most commonly, Texas Hold’em) in the Eastern District of New York and across the United States.  Co-conspirators in the scheme included game organizers, who arranged for unwitting victims to play in underground illegal poker games that were secretly rigged; suppliers of the rigged cheating technology; former professional athletes, who were enlisted as “Face Cards” in the scheme to entice the victims’ participation in the games; cheating teams who worked together using the cheating technology to defraud the victims; money launderers; and members and associates of the Bonanno, Gambino, and Genovese organized crime families of LCN, who backed games in the New York area and took a percentage of the crime proceeds from those games.  LCN members and associates had a foothold in the rigged poker scheme because they had preexisting control over “straight” (i.e., non-rigged) illegal poker games in New York City, where some of the rigged poker games also occurred: one that was hosted principally at Lexington Avenue in Manhattan, that was on record with the Bonanno family (the “Lexington Avenue Game”); and a second that was hosted principally at Washington Place in Manhattan, that was on record with the Gambino family (the “Washington Place Game”).  As part of the schemes, some of the charged defendants and other co-conspirators also committed acts of violence, including the robbery and extortions charged in the indictment.

In a typical legitimate poker game, a dealer uses a shuffling machine to shuffle the cards randomly before dealing them to all the players in a particular order.  As set forth in the indictment, the rigged games used altered shuffling machines that contained hidden technology allowing the machines to read all the cards in the deck.  Because the cards were always dealt in a particular order to the players at the table, the machines could determine which player would have the winning hand. This information was transmitted to an off-site member of the conspiracy, who then transmitted that information via cellphone back to a member of the conspiracy who was playing at the table, referred to as the “Quarterback” or “Driver.”  The Quarterback then secretly signaled this information (usually by prearranged signals like touching certain chips or other items on the table) to other co-conspirators playing at the table, who were also participants in the scheme.  Collectively, the Quarterback and other players in on the scheme (i.e., the cheating team) used this information to win poker games against unwitting victims, who sometimes lost tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars at a time. The defendants used other cheating technology as well, such as a chip tray analyzer (essentially, a poker chip tray that also secretly read all cards using hidden cameras), an x-ray table that could read cards face down on the table, and special contact lenses or eyeglasses that could read pre-marked cards.

The defendants and their co-conspirators bet accordingly to ensure that the unsuspecting victims lost money.  Through the rigged poker schemes, the defendants caused losses to victims of at least $7 million.

As alleged, members of the conspiracy fulfilled different roles to ensure the schemes’ success.  The defendants Tony Goodson, Shane Hennen, Curtis Meeks, and Robert Stroud supplied the cheating technology.  The defendants Ammar Awawdeh, Saul Becher, John Gallo, Zhen Hu, Stroud, and Seth Trustman organized the rigged games.  Members of the cheating teams included the defendants Nelson Alvarez, Louis Apicella, Chauncey Billups, Eric Earnest, Marco Garzon, Jamie Gilet, Tony Goodson, Kenny Han, Hennen, Horatio Hu, Damon Jones, John Mazzola, Nicholas Minucci, Michael Renzulli, Angelo Ruggiero, Jr., Stroud, Trustman, and Sophia Wei.  In addition, the defendant Anthony Shnayderman, among others, laundered the proceeds of the schemes.  For example, game organizers sometimes directed victims to send money via bank wires to shell companies controlled by Shnayderman, who then transferred money (either in cash or cryptocurrency), less a money laundering fee, back to the game organizers.

As alleged in the indictment, the Bonanno, Genovese, and Gambino organized crime families of LCN backed the Lexington Avenue Game and the Washington Place Game and received a portion of the criminal proceeds from both the “straight” illegal poker games and rigged games run by the organizers of those games.  In particular, Becher, Zhen Hu, and Trustman—the organizers of the Lexington Avenue Game—were required to make payments to defendants Ernest Aiello, Julius Ziliani, and Thomas Gelardo of the Bonanno family for the games (rigged or “straight”) that they operated.  Similarly, Awawdeh and John Gallo—organizers of the Washington Place Game—were required to make payments to the defendants Lee Fama, Joseph Lanni, and Ruggiero of the Gambino family and to the defendant Matthew Daddino of the Genovese crime for the games (rigged or “straight”) that they operated.  For a period in 2023, the two games merged and were jointly operated. During that period, all three organized crime families received proceeds from the rigged and illegal poker games.   

As charged in the indictment, members of the conspiracy committed violent acts, including assault, extortions, and robbery, in furtherance of the schemes to ensure the repayment of debts and continued success of the operation.  Between November 2022 and February 2023, Gelardo, Zhen Hu and Ziliani extorted John Doe #5 to secure the repayment of a gambling debt.  Among other things, Zhen Hu and Gelardo both punched the victim to get him to pay back the debt.  In September 2023 and October 2023, Becher, Zhen Hu and Trustman extorted another victim by threatening him to pay back a debt from illegal poker games.  On September 7, 2023, Awawdeh, Hoti, Mazzola, Minucci, and Stroud arranged and committed a gunpoint robbery of a co-conspirator to steal a rigged shuffler machine that the defendants wanted to use.   

Bettors who were defrauded in the rigged games may be victims under the Mandatory Victims Restitution Act.  If you believe you were a victim of the scheme, please contact 1-800-CALLFBI.

The charges in the indictments are allegations and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

The government’s case is being handled by Office’s Organized Crime and Gangs Section.  Assistant United States Attorneys Michael W. Gibaldi, Irisa Chen, and Sean M. Sherman are in charge of the prosecution with the assistance of Paralegal Specialists John Schneider and Marlane Bosler.  Assistant United States Attorney Michael Castiglione of the Office’s Asset Recovery Section is handling forfeiture matters.

The Defendants:

ERNEST AIELLO 
Age: 46
Wantagh, New York

NELSON ALVAREZ (also known as “Spanish g”)
Age: 53
Uniondale, New York

LOUIS APICELLA (also known as “Lou Ap”)
Age: 50
New Rochelle, New York

AMMAR AWAWDEH (also known as “Flapper Poker” and “Flappy”)
Age: 34
Brooklyn, New York

SAUL BECHER
Age: 45
Bronx, New York

CHAUNCEY BILLUPS
Age: 49
Lake Oswego, Oregon

MATTHEW DADDINO (also known as “Matty” and “The Wrestler”)
Age: 43
Franklin Square, New York

ERIC EARNEST (also known as “Spook”)
Age: 53
St. Louis, Missouri

LEE FAMA
Age: 57
Brooklyn, New York

JOHN GALLO
Age: 53
Brooklyn, New York

MARCO GARZON
Age: 39
Elizabeth, New Jersey

THOMAS GELARDO (also known as “Juice”)
Age: 42
Scarsdale, New York

JAMIE GILET
Age: 40
Jericho, New York

TONY GOODSON (also known as “Black Tony”)
Age: 52
Forsyth, Georgia

KENNY HAN
Age: 40
Queens, New York

SHANE HENNEN (also known as “Sugar”)
Age: 40
Las Vegas, Nevada

OSMAN HOTI (also known as “Albanian Bruce”) and “Big Bruce”)
Age: 44
Ridgefield Park, New Jersey

HORATIO HU (also known as “H”)
Age: 37
Queens, New York

ZHEN HU (also known as “Jonathan Chan,” “Jonathan Hu,” “Scruli,” and “Stanley”)
Age: 37
Brooklyn, New York

DAMON JONES (also known as “Dee Jones”)
Age: 49
Houston, Texas

JOSEPH LANNI
Age: 54
Staten Island, New York

JOHN MAZZOLA (also known as “John South”)
Age: 43
Gray, Georgia

CURTIS MEEKS (also known as “Curt”)
Age: 41
Elgin, Texas

NICHOLAS MINUCCI
Age: 39
East Northport, New York

MICHAEL RENZULLI
Age: 42
Islip, New York

ANGELO RUGGIERO, JR.
Age: 53
Howard Beach, New York

ANTHONY SHNAYDERMAN (also known as “Doc”)
Age: 39
Brooklyn, New York

ROBERT STROUD (also known as “Black Rob”)
Age: 67
Louisville, Kentucky

SETH TRUSTMAN
Age: 43
Queens, New York

SOPHIA WEI (also known as “Pookie”)
Age: 40
Queens, New York

JULIUS ZILIANI (also known as “Jay”
Age: 54
Wayne, New Jersey

E.D.N.Y. Docket Nos. 25-CR-314 (JMA) 

FBI, State Department Announce $5 Million Reward For Fugitive Semion Mogilevich

 The FBI released the below information:

The FBI, in partnership with the U.S. Department of State’s Transnational Organized Crime (TOC) Rewards Program, announced today a reward of up to $5 million for information leading to the arrest and/or conviction of Semion Mogilevich, wanted for his alleged participation in a scheme that defrauded thousands of investors out of more than $150 million.

Mogilevich was federally indicted in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 2002 and 2003. The charges against him include racketeering, securities fraud, wire fraud, mail fraud, and money laundering.

The indictments allege that between 1993 and 1998, Mogilevich headed and controlled the Mogilevich Enterprise, an association which consisted of numerous individuals and a network of companies in more than 20 different countries that orchestrated a sophisticated scheme to defraud investors in stock. The scheme was allegedly funded and authorized by Mogilevich. This complex network of corporations was set up to create the illusion of a profitable international business.

Semion Mogilevich is described as a white male, 5’6” to 5’7”, 290 pounds, balding, with gray hair and green eyes. He was born on June 30, 1946, in Kyiv, Ukraine, but also uses July 5, 1946, as an alias date of birth. Mogilevich has Russian, Ukrainian, and Israeli passports. His current residence is believed to be in Moscow, Russia.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania and the Justice Department’s Organized Crime and Gang Section (OCGS) of the Department’s Criminal Division are prosecuting the case.

Individuals with information on Mogilevich that could be helpful to investigators are asked to contact the FBI at 1-800-CALL-FBI, via WhatsApp (neither a government-operated nor government-controlled platform) at 215-839-6844, or online at tips.fbi.gov. All identities are kept strictly confidential.

The Scarfo Mob: My Philadelphia Weekly 'Crime Beat' Column On Cosa Nostra's Most Violent Crime Family

Philadelphia Weekly published my Crime Beat column on the Scarfo mob and George Anastasia's book, Blood and Honor: Inside the Mafia's Most Violent Family.

You can read the column online via the below link:

The Scarfo Mob - Philadelphia Weekly 

You can also read the column above and below (click to enlarge):

'The Sack Of Palermo': Buried In Concrete: How The Mafia Made A Killing From The Destruction Of Italy’s South

I have fond memories of visiting Palermo, Sicily in 1975 when I was a young sailor assigned to a U.S. Navy tugboat stationed at the nuclear submarine base in Holy Loch, Scotland. 

I took two weeks leave and visited the place where many years before my maternal grandparents, named Guardino, left the island and sailed for South Philadelphia.    

So I was interested in reading Roberto Saviano and Lorenzo Tondo’s piece at theguardian.com on organized crime in Palermo, Sicily and the south of Italy. 

It is the result of a building frenzy of the 1960s and 1970s, when Vito Ciancimino, a mobster from the violent Corleonesi clan, ordered the demolition of splendid art nouveau mansions to make space for brutalist tower blocks, covering vast natural and garden areas with tonnes of concrete. It is one of the darkest chapters in the postwar urbanisation of Sicily and would go down in history as the “sack of Palermo.” 

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

Buried in concrete: how the mafia made a killing from the destruction of Italy’s south | Mafia | The Guardian 

‘The Sopranos’ Ended 14 years Ago But We Still Want To Know: Did Tony Die?

 I was a huge fan of HBO’s The Sopranos series, but I think the series should have wrapped up a season or two earlier, and I disliked the ending.

Alex Mitchell at the New York Post notes that after 14 years, people still want to know what happened after the final scene blacked out. (I suspect Tony Soprano was clipped).

Exactly 14 years ago, millions frantically yelled, thinking they lost their cable connection as HBO’s “The Sopranos” ended its final season — thanks to creator David Chase inventing one of the most brilliant, suspenseful last scenes in television history.

That finale, “Made in America,” draws to an epic and ambiguous close the story of northern New Jersey crime boss Tony Soprano, played by the late, remarkable James Gandolfini.

You know the scene: Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin'” plays as Tony, Carmela (Edie Falco) and their son, A.J. (Robert Iler), eat the best onion rings in Jersey at Holsten’s. The song cuts off at “Don’t stop” and we see 10 seconds of black screen before the final, silent credits roll.

Now, with years of hindsight and a prequel, “The Many Saints of Newark,” on the horizon, the mystery behind Tony’s fate has been chipped away at — and it’s much more subtle than “Saw” meeting “The Godfather.”

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

14 years later: Did Tony die in 'The Sopranos' finale? (nypost.com)

And you can read my Washington Times review of  The Sopranos Sessions via the below link: 

Being half-Italian and having grown up in South Philadelphia, the center of the Philadelphia-New Jersey Cosa Nostra crime family, I knew or knew of a good number of South Philly and Jersey wise guys. As a crime reporter and columnist for a South Philadelphia newspaper, I covered mob murders, FBI and police investigations, and internecine mob wars back in the 1990s. 

More recently, I interviewed Ralph Natale, the former Philadelphia-New Jersey mob boss who became a cooperating witness, as well as Philip Leonetti, another cooperating witness who was former Philadelphia-New Jersey mob boss Nicodemo “Little Nicky” Scarfo’s nephew and underboss. (I reviewed both of their books here). 

Watching HBO’s “The Sopranos” from the beginning of the series in January of 1999, I saw a cast of characters that were very familiar to me (I especially liked Tony Sirico’s “Paulie Walnuts” character). From the clever crooks and viscous murderers to the dim and clueless criminals, I found their language, violence, nonstop hustling and Machiavellian manipulation to be mostly realistic. I also liked the mobsters’ humor, as mob guys can be very funny — intentionally and unintentionally.

Paul Davis On Crime: My Washington Times Review Of 'The Sopranos Sessions' 

Speaking To The Real Donnie Brasco - Legendary Undercover FBI Special Agent Joseph Pistone

I interviewed the real Donnie Brasco today - retired legendary undercover FBI Special Agent Joseph Pistone. 

I interviewed Joseph Pistone for my Crime Beat column, which appears in Philadelphia Weekly. 

Joseph Pistone went undercover for six years with the New York Cosa Nostra Bonanno crime family. His later court testimony put many wiseguys in prison. 

He later wrote a book called Donnie Brasco: My Undercover Life in the Mafia, which was later made into a film with Johnny Depp and Al Pacino. 

Along with Goodfellas and A Bronx Tale, Donnie Brasco is one the three most realistic modern mob movies, in my view. Forget about it, as they say in the film.  

I interviewed Mr. Pistone in 2004 for the Philadelphia Inquirer (see below) and I wrote an online column about him:

Paul Davis On Crime: My Crime Beat Column: Wiseguys, Goodfellas and Godfathers: Gangsters in Fact and Fiction

Today, I was interested in Mr. Pistone's Philadelphia connections, one of which is his friendship with actor/producer Leo Rossi, who is from Northeast Philly. 

The two friends are now doing an interesting podcast called Deep Cover - The Real Donnie Brasco, which can be heard free on a number of outlets.  

My Crime Beat column on Joseph Pistone will come out next Thursday and I'll post it here.

 

Chasing Mob Stories: My Philadelphia Weekly 'Crime Beat' Column On George Anastasia And Dave Schratweiser's 'Mob Talk Sitdown' Website

Philadelphia Weekly ran my Crime Beat column on veteran organized crime reporters George Anastasia and Dave Schratwieser and their Mob Talk Sitdown website.  

You can read the column via the below link or the below pages:

Introducing ‘Mob Talk Sitdown’ with George Anastasia and Dave Schratwieser - Philadelphia Weekly

You can visit the website at https://mobtalksitdown.com 

Note: You can click on the above to enlarge.

On This Day In History The St. Valentine’s Day Massacre Occurred

 As History.com notes, on February 14, 1929, the Saint Valentine’s Day Massacre occurred in Chicago. 

The St. Valentine’s Day Massacre shocked the world on February 14, 1929, when Chicago’s North Side erupted in gang violence. Gang warfare ruled the streets of Chicago during the late 1920s, as chief gangster Al Capone sought to consolidate control by eliminating his rivals in the illegal trades of bootlegging, gambling and prostitution. 

This rash of gang violence reached its bloody climax in a garage on the city’s North Side on February 14, 1929, when seven men associated with the Irish gangster George “Bugs” Moran, one of Capone’s longtime enemies, were shot to death by several men dressed as policemen. The St. Valentine’s Day Massacre, as it was known, remains an unsolved crime and was never officially linked to Capone, but he was generally considered to have been responsible for the murders. 

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

St. Valentine’s Day Massacre - Victims, Evidence & Suspects - HISTORY 

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)

My Philadelphia Weekly 'Crime Beat' Column On The Feds' Takedown Of The South Philly Mob

You can read the column above or via the below link:

Crime Beat | Dec. 3-10 - Philadelphia Weekly

Note: You can click on the above to enlarge.

Can Italy Defeat Its Most Powerful Crime Syndicate, The 'Ndrangheta?

Rachel Donadio at the Atlantic offers a piece on the Italian organized crime group the ‘Ndrangheta.

The airport at Lamezia Terme, Calabria, in the toe of Italy’s boot, was built in the 1970s and has not aged well. The cement facade is punctuated by rows of round windows that resemble oversize portholes. The parking lot is poorly paved. Beyond it rises an unfinished concrete tower, open to the elements and

I was there one day last year to meet Nicola Gratteri, the chief prosecutor for nearby Catanzaro, a small city high in the hills of central Calabria. Gratteri has dedicated the past three decades of his life to fighting a Calabria-based organization known as the ’Ndrangheta—the richest, most powerful, and most secretive criminal group in Italy today. (Pronounced en-drahn-get-ta, the word essentially means “man of honor”; it is believed to be derived from the Greek andragathía, or “heroism.”)

Sicily’s Cosa Nostra has been romanticized by the Godfather movies. The Neapolitan Camorra has become widely known through the film and TV series Gomorrah. But the ’Ndrangheta, the least telegenic and most publicity-shy of Italy’s Mafias, is the most aggressive.

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

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2020/10/italian-mafia-ndrangheta/615466/ 

Sicilian Cosa Nostra Clans Hit In Dawn Raids Over EU Farm Subsidies Fraud

Lorenzo Tondo at the Guardian offers a piece on the arrest of Cosa Nostra members in Sicily.

Police in Sicily have arrested 94 people, including alleged mafia members, in dawn raids, following large-scale EU agricultural subsidies fraud.

The raids have been described as one of the largest operations focused on the Sicilian mafia, or Cosa Nostra.

Prosecutors claimed Sicilian mobsters had fraudulently received more than €10m in agricultural aid since 2010, including funds for thousands of hectares of “ghost” farmland in the east of the island – land that was either non-existent or owned by the Italian state or regional government.

Two Mafia clans, the Batanesi and Bontempo Scavo families, are believed to be at the centre of the alleged fraud, according to investigators. The two had been in conflict with each other for years but recently decided to end their turf wars and instead team up in their illicit activities.

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

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jan/15/sicilian-police-launch-dawn-raids-in-eu-subsidies-sting

The Cacciatori: Secret Bunkers And Mountain Hideouts: Hunting Italy's Mafia Bosses

Lorenzo Tondo at the Guardian offers a piece on an Italian special military unit that hunts organized crime fugitives. 

On the slopes of the Aspromonte mountains, Pasquale Marando, a man known as the Pablo Escobar of the Calabrian mafia, the feared ’Ndrangheta, built a secret bunker whose entrance was the mouth of a pizza oven.

Less than 10 miles away, Ernesto Fazzalari, who allegedly enjoyed trap shooting with the heads of his decapitated victims, lived in a 10 square-metre hideout in the formidable southern Italian range. 

When authorities came for him in 2004, Fazzalari, then the second most-wanted mafia boss after Matteo Messina Denaro of the Sicilian Cosa Nostra, had already escaped through a secret tunnel under the kitchen sink.

Before his eventual arrest in 2016, Fazzalari spent 20 years as a fugitive in the Calabrian mountains, where the wanted men of the ’Ndrangheta have for decades planned and built elaborate mirror cities underneath their villages. It is a literal underworld of bunkers located behind sliding staircases, hidden trapdoors and manholes linked by endless tunnels that merge and separate, leading to escape routes among the sewer system or amid the brambles of a dry river bed.

To smoke them out of their holes the Italian authorities formed a special military unit composed of elite and highly trained soldiers known as the Carabinieri Heliborne Squadron, or the Cacciatori, literally: the hunters.

The Cacciatori have in the last 25 years arrested almost 300 fugitives, whose mugshots are now displayed like trophies on a large bulletin board in a room in their headquarters. They have also uncovered over 400 bunkers, described by investigators as “works of superior engineering”.

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

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/nov/22/calabria-cacciatori-hunting-italy-underground-mafia-bosses-ndrangheta

Mob Talk 34: 'Operation New Connection' Takes Down Sicilian Cosa Nostra Members

Veteran organized crime reporters George Anastasia and Dave Schratwieser discuss the South Philly/New York connections to Operation New Direction, in which American and Italian law enforcement took down Sicilian Cosa Nostra criminals last July.

The reporters also discuss other organized crime news in Mob Talk 34.  

You can watch the video via the below link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ol0-TgUG_FM

Mobsters Are Still Quoting ‘The Godfather,’ Wiretapped Calls Show

Tamar Lapin at the New York Post offers a piece on how modern day mob guys are still quoting The Godfather film after all these years.

Mobsters are still quoting “The Godfather” nearly 50 years after the Mafia masterpiece came out, according to reputed Colombo capo Joseph Amato’s wiretapped phone calls.

Amato, 60, was allegedly giving a soon-to-be associate a heads up about his upcoming induction ceremony into the crime family, and suggested he dress as well as Emilio Barzini, the 1972 film’s antagonist, according to a transcript of the call, included court documents filed Thursday in Brooklyn federal court.

“You should go to bed early. Did you press your clothes?” Amato asked the pal, identified only as “CC1,” during their Dec. 10, 2018 call.

The pal was going to be “made,” or inducted into the crime family, the next day, the feds allege.

 “You’re gonna look like Barzini or what?” Amato asked of the big occasion, referring to Vito Corleone’s sleekly-dressed nemesis in the movie. 

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

https://nypost.com/2019/10/03/mobsters-are-still-quoting-the-godfather-wiretapped-calls-show/

You can also read my Washington Times review of The Godfather, 50^th Anniversary Edition, via the below link:

www.pauldavisoncrime.com/2019/04/my-washington-times-review-of-mario.html

Note: The top photo shows Marlon Brando has the Godfather, Vito Corleone, and the below photo shows Richard Conte as Barzini in The Godfather. 

The Lies Of the Irishman: Netflix And Martin Scorsese Are Making Their Biggest Bets Ever On The Confessions Of A Mafia “Hitman” - The Guy Made It All Up.

In a previous post, I stated that I was looking forward to watching Martin Scorsese’s The Irishman on Netflix, as the film stars Robert De Niro (who is half-Irish), Al Pacino, Joe Pesci, Harvey Keitel and a cast of other fine actors. 

I love Martin Scorsese’s crime films, such as Goodfellas, Mean Streets and Casino. Goodfellas, in my view, is the best crime film ever made.    

I'm also looking forward to watching The Irishman as I'm from South Philly and the film has a South Philadelphia connection.

But, as I noted in the post, I’ll view The Irishman as a work of fiction.

The Late Frank Sheeran was a Philadelphia Teamster and a low-level crook who confessed in a book, I heard You Paint Houses, that he murdered former Teamster president Jimmy Hoffa, and New York mobster “Crazy Joe” Gallo. He makes other claims in the book as well. 

I don’t believe a word of it. 

I interviewed former Philadelphia Cosa Nostra boss Ralph Natale, and when I asked him about Sheeran’s claims, he responded, “Let me tell you about Frank Sheeran. He’s nothing but a drunk and he imagines things. He begged for me to see him when I was home and I did. I went over to South Philly and I met him there. He was half-drunk and that was it. He said he killed Jimmy Hoffa. I know who killed Hoffa. I have a picture in the book with me and a few of the guys from Lewisburg and one of the guys in the photos was one of the three guys who killed Hoffa. His name was Tommy Andretta. His brother was with him and there was the other guy they killed in New York, Salvatore Briguglio. This was a hit squad from “Tony Pro” Provenzano, who was my dear friend. He was a capo. I get a little angry. You know how guys claim to killed Jimmy Hoffa? I think 15.”    

Several former law enforcement officers I spoke to also dismiss Sheeran's claims.

Bill Tonelli (seen in the above photo), a writer and editor who grew up in South Philly, does a fine job of debunking Frank Sheeran’s claims in a piece at Slate.

Assuming you were alive in April 1972 and old enough to cross the street by yourself, you could take credit for the spectacular murder of mobster Crazy Joe Gallo—gunned down during his own birthday party at Umberto’s Clam House in Little Italy—and nobody could prove you didn’t do it. 

Of course, anyone who knows anything about New York City organized crime can tell you who was behind it: The murder was payback for an equally brazen shooting—in broad daylight, in midtown Manhattan—of mob boss Joseph A. Colombo Sr. a year earlier, an attack Gallo supposedly ordered (though even that no one can say with absolute certainty, since the shooter was shot dead on the spot). But no one has ever been arrested or charged in Crazy Joe’s killing, and so technically it’s still unsolved. 

The same is true about the disappearance, in July 1975, of Teamsters’ union legend Jimmy Hoffa. He had made some lethal enemies in the mob. After serving a prison term, he persisted in trying to regain control of the union even after he was warned, over and over, to back off. The last time anybody saw him, he was standing outside a restaurant in the suburbs of Detroit, waiting to be driven to what he believed would be a peace meeting. The FBI and investigative reporters have devoted decades of effort to solving the mystery, but all we have is guesswork and theories. So if you want to step up now and say you whacked him, be my guest. 

That’s the thing about these gangland slayings: When done properly, you’re not supposed to know who did them. They’re planned and carried out to surprise the victim and confound the authorities. Eyewitnesses, if there are any, prove reluctant to speak up. And nobody ever confesses, unless it’s to win easy treatment from law enforcement in exchange for ratting on other, more important mobsters. Those cases often turn into the ultimate public confessional—the as-told-to, every-gory-detail, my-life-in-crime book deal. Followed by—if you’re a really lucky lowlife—the movie version that fixes your place forever in the gangster hall of fame.

And then there’s the strange case of Frank Sheeran. 

Only if you had been paying close attention to the exploits of the South Philadelphia mafia back in its glory days (the second half of the 20th century) might you have noticed Sheeran’s existence. Even there he was a second-stringer—a local Teamsters union official, meaning he was completely crooked, who hung around with mobsters, especially Russell Bufalino, a boss from backwater Scranton, Pennsylvania. Sheeran was Irish, which limited any Cosa Nostra career ambitions he might have had, and so he seemed to be just a 6-foot-4, 250-pound gorilla with a dream. He died in obscurity, in a nursing home, in 2003. 

Then, six months later, a small publishing house in Hanover, New Hampshire, unleashed a shocker titled I Heard You Paint Houses. It was written by Charles Brandt, a medical malpractice lawyer who had helped Sheeran win early parole from prison, due to poor health, at age 71. Starting not long after that, Brandt wrote, Sheeran, nearing the end of his life, began confessing incredible secrets he had kept for decades, revealing that—far from being a bit player—he was actually the unseen figure behind some of the biggest mafia murders of all time.

Frank Sheeran said he killed Jimmy Hoffa. 

He said he killed Joey Gallo, too. 

And he said he did some other really bad things nearly as incredible. 

Most amazingly, Sheeran did all that without ever being arrested, charged, or even suspected of those crimes by any law enforcement agency, even though officials were presumably watching him for most of his adult life. To call him the Forrest Gump of organized crime scarcely does him justice. In all the history of the mafia in America or anywhere else, really, nobody even comes close. 

Now, though, Frank Sheeran is finally going to get his due. 

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

https://slate.com/culture/2019/08/the-irishman-scorsese-netflix-movie-true-story-lies.html

You can also read my previous post on The Irishman via the below link:

www.pauldavisoncrime.com/2019/08/netflix-releases-trailer-for-martin.html

And you can also read my Q&A with Ralph Natale via the below link: 

www.pauldavisoncrime.com/2017/04/my-crime-beat-column-my-q-with-ralph.html 

And you can read my Crime Beat column, Goodfellas Don’t Sue Goodfellas; A Look Back at Organized Crime and the Philly Mob, via the below link:

www.pauldavisoncrime.com/2011/09/goodfellas-dont-sue-goodfellas-look.html