The U.S. Attorney’s Office Eastern District of New York released the below information:
On September 14, 2021, U.S. Attorney’s Office Eastern District of New York announced in federal court in Brooklyn, a 19-count indictment was unsealed charging 14 defendants, including 10 members and associates of the Colombo crime family of La Cosa Nostra and a member of the Bonanno organized crime family, with various offenses including labor racketeering involving multiple predicate acts of extortion conspiracy, attempted extortion and extortion, extortionate collection of credit conspiracy, extortionate collection of credit and money laundering conspiracy.
The charges in the indictment against the Colombo crime family members relate to multiple charged schemes in a long-running effort by the crime family to infiltrate and take control of a Queens-based labor union (the “Labor Union”) and its affiliated health care benefit program (the “Health Fund”) that provides medical benefits, including dental, optical and pharmacy benefits, to the members of the Labor Union, and to a conspiracy to commit fraud in connection with workplace safety certifications.
Among
those charged with racketeering are Andrew “Mush” Russo, the boss of the
Colombo crime family, Benjamin “Benji” Castellazzo, the underboss, and Ralph
DiMatteo, the consigliere. Alleged Colombo crime family captains Theodore
Persico, Jr., Richard Ferrara and Vincent Ricciardo are charged with
racketeering, along with soldier Michael Uvino and associates Thomas Costa and
Domenick Ricciardo. In addition, alleged Bonanno family soldier John
Ragano is charged with loansharking, fraud and drug trafficking offenses.
Thirteen
defendants were arrested today in New York and New Jersey and are scheduled to
be arraigned via videoconference this afternoon before United States Magistrate
Judge Taryn A. Merkl at the federal courthouse in Brooklyn. Vincent
Ricciardo was arrested in North Carolina and will be arraigned before United
States Magistrate Judge David C. Keesler in federal court in Charlotte.
DiMatteo remains at large.
Jacquelyn
M. Kasulis, Acting United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York;
Michael Driscoll, Assistant Director-in-Charge, Federal Bureau of
Investigation, New York Field Office (FBI); Jonathan Mellone, Special
Agent-in-Charge, U.S. Department of Labor Office of Inspector General, New York
Region (DOL-OIG); Patrick J. Ryder, Commissioner, Nassau County Police
Department (NCPD); Dermot F. Shea, Commissioner, New York City Police
Department (NYPD); and Margaret Garnett, Commissioner, New York City Department
of Investigation (DOI), announced the charges and arrests.
“Today’s
charges describe a long-standing, ruthless pattern by the administration of the
Colombo crime family, its captains, members and associates, of conspiring to
exert control over the management of a labor union by threatening to inflict
bodily harm on one of its senior officials and devising a scheme to divert and
launder vendor contract funds from its health care benefit program. In addition,
for their own enrichment, the defendants conspired to engage in extortionate
loansharking, money laundering and fraud, as well as drug trafficking,” stated
Acting U.S. Attorney Kasulis. “This Office and its law enforcement partners are
committed to dismantling organized crime families, eliminating their corrupt
influence in our communities and protecting the independence of labor unions.”
Ms.
Kasulis also thanked the U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security
Administration, Atlanta and New York Offices (DOL-EBSA), the Nassau County
District Attorney’s Office, the Waterfront Commission of New York Harbor and
the Department of Justice’s Organized Crime and Gang Section for their valuable
assistance in the investigation.
“Everything
we allege in this investigation proves history does indeed repeat itself. The
underbelly of the crime families in New York City is alive and well. These
soldiers, consiglieres, under bosses, and bosses are obviously not students of
history, and don't seem to comprehend that we're going to catch them.
Regardless of how many times they fill the void we create in their ranks, our
FBI Organized Crime Task Force, and our law enforcement partners, are
positioned to take them out again, and again,” stated FBI Assistant Director-in-Charge
Driscoll.
“An
important mission of the Office of Inspector General is to investigate criminal
allegations relating to organized crime and their illicit influence over labor
unions and their affiliated employee benefit plans. We will continue to
work with our law enforcement partners to investigate these types of
allegations,” stated DOL-OIG Special Agent-in-Charge Mellone.
“The
indictment of 14 defendants, including members of the Columbo crime family on
labor racketeering, extortion and money laundering charges should send a clear
and concise message that these types of crimes will never be tolerated by law
enforcement. By infiltrating and taking control of a Queens-based
labor union and its affiliated health care benefit program these defendants
were able to extort a substantial amount of money which should have been used
for the members of the union. These benefits included medical, dental, optical
and pharmaceutical. Congratulations to all of the investigators and their
affiliated agencies on a job well done during this extensive investigation,”
stated NCPD Commissioner Ryder.
“This
indictment is another example of the NYPD’s long-term commitment, working with
its law enforcement partners, in making sure those accused of organized crime
are held accountable. I commend those who carried out the investigation as well
as the office of the United States Attorney for the Eastern District in New
York for its work in ensuring there is justice in this case,” stated NYPD
Commissioner Shea.
“Every
time construction certifications are faked, every time bogus records are
created and used to manipulate the facts, building in this City is undermined
and New Yorkers' safety is compromised. This investigation is evidence of how
corruption can erode the integrity of construction in New York City. And these
charges reveal how DOI is working with its law enforcement partners to uncover
and stop the illegal conduct,” stated DOI Commissioner Garnett. “DOI
thanks the City Department of Buildings for reporting allegations related to
this conduct, and the Office of the United States Attorney for the Eastern
District of New York, the FBI, and the Office of Inspector General for the U.S.
Department of Labor for their partnership.”
As set
forth in the indictment and other court documents, the defendants and their
co-conspirators committed a variety of crimes – including extortion,
loansharking, fraud and drug trafficking – on behalf of the Colombo organized
crime family. First, the Colombo crime family’s administration, including
Russo, Castellazzo and Dimatteo, as well captains Persico, Ferrara and Vincent
Ricciardo, used extortionate means, including direct threats of bodily harm, to
control the management of the Labor Union and caused it to make decisions that
benefitted the Colombo crime family. Since approximately 2001, Colombo
captain Vincent Ricciardo and his cousin, associate Domenick Ricciardo, have
collected a portion of the salary of a senior official in the Labor Union
(“John Doe #1”) by threatening to harm John Doe #1 and his family. At the
direction of the Colombo crime family’s leadership, beginning in late 2019, the
defendants broadened the extortion effort to force John Doe #1 and others at
the Labor Union and its affiliated Health Fund to make decisions that
benefitted the Colombo crime family, including by forcing them to select
vendors for contracts who were associated with the Colombo crime family.
The defendants sought to divert more than $10,000 per month from the Health
Fund’s assets to the administration of the Colombo crime family.
For
example, on June 21, 2021, in a consensually recorded conversation, Vincent
Ricciardo threatened to kill John Doe #1 if he did not comply with Vincent
Ricciardo’s demands. He explained that John Doe #1 knows, “I’ll put him
in the ground right in front of his wife and kids, right in front of his
f-----g house, you laugh all you want pal, I’m not afraid to go to jail, let me
tell you something, to prove a point? I would f-----g shoot him right in front
of his wife and kids, call the police, f--k it, let me go, how long you think
I’m gonna last anyway?”
Further,
Colombo crime family members Russo, Castellazzo, Dimatteo, Ferrara, Persico,
Vincent Ricciardo, Uvino joined with defendants Thompkins and Bellantoni, among
others, to devise a scheme to launder money from Health Fund contracts and
payments through third parties and eventually to the Colombo crime family’s
leaders. The defendants attempted to re-bid Health Fund vendor contracts
for claims administration, pharmaceuticals and other health services to persons
and companies affiliated with the defendant Joseph Bellantoni. Bellantoni
and others agreed that in exchange for the new vendor contracts, they would pay
kickbacks to the Colombo crime family and would use various intermediaries to
hide the payments.
The
indictment also charges Bonanno organized crime family soldier John Ragano with
leading a scheme to issue fraudulent workplace safety training
certifications. As alleged, Ragano operated two workplace safety schools
in the New York area that claimed to provide Occupational Safety and Health
Administration’s (“OSHA”) training courses and certifications, along with
various New York state certifications, to construction industry workers.
Rather than provide training, Ragano along with his business partner John
Glover and Domenick Ricciardo, falsified paperwork to the U.S. Department of
Labor and other government agencies which represented that hundreds of workers
had completed required safety courses when in reality they had not.
Instead, various defendants used Ragano’s “schools” to conduct meetings
involving members of La Cosa Nostra and to store illegal drugs and fireworks.
Vincent
Ricciardo, Uvino, Ragano and Costa are also charged with loansharking. As
alleged, these defendants participated in extending and collecting on
extortionate loans totaling $250,000 to an individual identified as “John Doe
#2.” The defendants charged and collected a weekly 1.5% interest rate
that did not reduce the principal owed and divided the proceeds between
themselves. Further, Vincent Ricciardo, Ragano, Costa, Glover and Vincent
Martino were charged with conspiracy to distribute marijuana by transporting
large shipments of marijuana in vehicles from New York to Florida. Vincent
Ricciardo and Costa were also charged, as previously convicted felons, with
possessing and transporting ammunition, and Persico, who is currently on
federal supervised release following his release for a prior racketeering
conviction, was charged with lying to federal court officers about his dealings
with other Colombo crime family members.
The
charges in the indictment are allegations, and the defendants are presumed
innocent unless and until proven guilty. If convicted, the defendants
each face up to 20 years’ imprisonment.
The
government’s case is being handled by the Office’s Organized Crime and Gangs
Section. Assistant United States Attorneys James P. McDonald and Devon
Lash are in charge of the prosecution.
The Defendants:
ANDREW
RUSSO (also known as “Mush”)
Age: 87
Glen Head, New York
JOSEPH
BELLANTONI
Age: 39
Massapequa, New York
BENJAMIN
CASTELLAZZO (also known as “Benji”)
Age: 83
Manahawkin, New Jersey
THOMAS
COSTA
Age: 52
West Islip, New York
RALPH
DIMATTEO
Age: 66
Merrick, New York
RICHARD
FERRARA
Age: 59
Brooklyn, New York
JOHN
GLOVER
Age: 62
Queens, New York
VINCENT
MARTINO
Age: 43
Medford, New York
THEODORE
PERSICO, JR. (also known as “Teddy”)
Age: 58
Brooklyn, New York
JOHN
RAGANO (also known as “Bazoo” and “Maniac”)
Age: 59
Franklin Square, New York
DOMENICK
RICCIARDO
Age: 56
Franklin Square, New York
VINCENT
RICCIARDO (also known as “Vinny Unions”)
Age: 75
Franklin Square, New York
ERIN
THOMPKINS
Age: 53
Franklin Square, New York
MICHAEL
UVINO
Age: 56
Garden City, New York
