D'Elia informs, gets nine-year sentence

NE Pennsylvania boss
cooperates in probe

Federal prosecutors believe the sentencing of William D'Elia (right) in federal court yesterday represents the "final chapter in the dismantling of the Bufalino Pittston crime syndicate," according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania.

D'Elia, 62, of Hughestown PA, was sentenced to 108 months in prison for conspiring to launder money and tampering with a witness. He was also sentenced to three years of supervised release following that prison term. D'Elia, reputed boss of the Northeastern Pennsylvania "Bufalino" Crime Family based on Scranton, Pittston and Wilkes Barre, has already served about two years.

Prosecutors say they will recommend additional time be taken off D'Elia's sentence if he continues to provide "substantial" assistance to the Dauphine County District Attorney's Office on a perjury case against Mount Airy Resort Casino owner Louis DeNaples, according to a story by Michael Rubinkam of the Associated Press.

D'Elia pleaded guilty last March and was sentenced yesterday by U.S. District Court Judge Thomas I. Vanaski. The judge could have imposed as many as 15 years in prison for the charges against D'Elia. When first charged, there were as many 18 counts against him, and he faced possible punishment of up to 30 years in prison and $750,000 in fines. Most charges were dropped in the plea bargain process. D'Elia's attorney had argued for a sentence of just seven years, according to a story by Terrie Morgan-Besecker of the Wilkes Barre Times Leader.

"I'm truly sorry for my actions that may have harmed people," D'Elia told the judge. "I hope I will soon be able to resume my life with my family in a positive, honorable and productive way."

Assistant U.S. Attorney Gordon Zubrod said D'Elia is assisting the perjury case against DeNaples and his adviser Father Joseph Sica. County authorities charge that both men lied about DeNaples' connections to organized crime when DeNaples applied to operate his Pocono Mountains casino, according to a report by Norm Jones of WNEP-16, Moosic PA.

A DeNaples spokesman said "Louis DeNaples is innocent and absolutely doesn't have any connections to organized crime. When this case finally goes to court, we'll have the chance to tell the court the truth." A spokesman for Father Sica said, "Father Sica never committed perjury. His prosecution is offensive."

A DeNaples attorney told the press that D'Elia was lying to investigators in an effort to have time shaved off his sentence.

D'Elia and several codefendants were indicted in May 2006 on charges that they aided a drug dealer in the laundering of hundreds of thousands of dollars in drug sale proceeds by setting up phony companies. D'Elia was released on bail. A second indictment charged him with continuing to launder money after his release and with ordering the murder of witness Frank Pavlico III.

"This was a cold-blooded attempt to obstruct the investigation by murdering a witness," said Zubrod.

Law enforcement agencies had considered D'Elia a bigshot in the Northeastern Pennsylvania Crime Family for decades. He once served as driver for regional boss Russell Bufalino. Philadelphia's turncoat crime boss Ralph Natale testified in 2001 that D'Elia was boss of the old Bufalino organization. In 2003, the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement put D'Elia on its Exclusion List (left), banning him from casinos in the state. Still, D'Elia was not charged with a crime until the money laundering case.

Pavlico, originally a codefendant in that case, wore a "wire" and recorded conversations with D'Elia. Pavlico pleaded guilty to money laundering and was sentenced to 10 months in prison.

RI LIUNA official indicted for racketeering

Nicholas Manocchio, director of a New England regional organizing fund of the Laborers International Union of North America (LIUNA), has been indicted on one count of labor conspiracy, according to a report by Nancy Krause of WPRI and a story by W. Zachary Malinowski of the Providence Journal.

Arrested yesterday, Manocchio (left), 55, of Cranston RI, is accused of accepting cash and other gifts from an undercover agent posing as a contractor looking for work in Rhode Island. The gifts included liquor, use of rental cars and gift certificates. Manocchio was released on $25,000 unsecured bond. He is scheduled for arraignment in December.

Also indicted on related racketeering charges were Harold Tillinghast, 44, also of Cranston, and Gerald Diodati, 59, of Seekonk MA. Tillinghast is a former employee of LIUNA. Diodati is a contractor. The two men were arrested last month and are free on bond. Charges stem from a six-year-long investigation of corruption in an Olneyville RI development project.

Authorities noted that Manocchio is the nephew of Luigi "Baby Shacks" Manocchio, longtime boss of the New England Crime Family. Nicholas Manocchio served about seven years in prison in the 1980s after being convicted of manslaughter and related charges in connection with the killing of Richard Fournier, 24, in North Providence.

Feds break up Lucchese gambling ring

Federal prosecutors say they arrested an acting lieutenant in the Lucchese Crime Family and five other men for running a sports gambling ring in the Bronx, according to a story by Thomas Zambito of the New York Daily News.

Authorities say Anthony Croce, an acting lieutenant in the crime family, regularly received payments from the betting organization. He faces up to five years in prison if convicted of the charges against him. The gambling operation, which included offshore locations and made use of the Internet, was revealed when investigators recorded cell phone conversations of bets being taken on football games and other sports events.