NJ racketeer Prisco indicted in 1992 killing

Angelo Prisco, 69, of Toms River NJ, has been indicted for murder in the aid of racketeering, according to a story published today by Newsday. He is charged with killing Angelo Sangiuolo on June 3, 1992, on behalf of the Genovese Crime Family. Prisco has served jail time for arson and conspiracy and for authorizing the beating of an electrician competing with a Prisco friend.

A press release from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York indicates that Prisco (right) has been a soldier and a captain in the Genovese family. As captain, he is charged with overseeing a crew operating in New York City and nearby New Jersey. Prosecutors say the crew engaged in home invasions and other armed robberies, extortion of a construction firm in Manhattan, gambling, and possession, transport and sale of stolen goods.

If convicted of the charges against him, Prisco could be sentenced to life in prison.

Racketeer indicted for murder of NYPD cop

Joel Cacace, former acting boss of the Colombo Crime Family, has been indicted for the 1997 murder of off-duty New York Police Officer Ralph Dols, according to a story by John Marzulli of the New York Daily News.

Cacace is currently serving a 20-year prison sentcned for racketeering and conspiring to murder a U.S. prosecutor.

Dols was linked to the Colombo clan through his marriage to Kimberly Kennaugh. Kennaugh was Cacace's ex-girlfriend. She also was the ex-wife of Colombo Crime Family soldier Enrico Carini. Dols, just 28 and the father of three children, was shot five times on his way home from work on Aug. 25, 1997. At the time, then-Mayor Rudolph Giuliani said the killing had been well planned and had been performed "execution-style."

Dino Calabro and Dino Saracino are also charged in the Dols killing, according to the Daily News.

Thomas "Tommy Shots" Gioeli, reputed to be the current boss of the Colombo family, has been indicted for participating in the 1999 killing of William "Wild Bill" Cutolo. The victim's remains were discovered buried at a site in Farmingdale NY. Former acting boss Alphonse "Allie Boy" Persico was convicted of participating in that killing.

Prosecutors credit information supplied by Colombo soldier Joseph "Joey Caves" Competiello for helping to solve the old murder cases.

Artuso sentenced to nine years for fraud

Vincent Artuso, 64, was sentenced Dec. 16 to nine years in federal prison for his involvement in real estate fraud, according to a story published by the International Herald Tribune.

Artuso was convicted of 41 fraud and racketeering charges in October. The charges stemmed from a number of real estate deals that cost ADT Security Services Inc. at least $11 million.

According to U.S. Attorney William T. Shockley, Artuso was a made member of the Gambino Crime Family supervising a crew based in Palm Beach, Florida. Artuso is believed to have been a close ally of the late Gambino boss John J. Gotti. Shockley said he has evidence indicating that Artuso was present at the Dec. 16, 1985, assassination of former boss Paul Castellano in Manhattan (left). That killing paved the way for Gotti to take control of the crime family.

Sicilian mobster dies in custody

Italian police say imprisoned reputed Mafia boss Gaetano Lo Presti, 52, hanged himself in his cell Dec. 16, according to stories by the BBC and UPI.

Lo Presti (right) had been arrested earlier in the day, part of a roundup of almost 100 alleged Mafiosi. Italian officials believed LoPresti was boss of a Mafia clan in a district of Palermo. Police say the Mafia leadership has been working to establish a ruling council and possibly a supreme boss of the organization. Bernardo Provenzano, the underworld organization's most powerful boss for many years, was arrested in April 2006. A successor, Salvatore LoPiccolo, was arrested in November 2007.

Officials say Lo Presti was found dead in his cell after he read police wiretap transcripts tying him to efforts to establish a provincial "commission."

Calabrese letter asks about his son

In a lengthy letter from Frank Calabrese Sr. to family friend Frank Coconate, the jailed Calabrese asks a series of questions about his son, who testified against him during the Family Secrets trial. The point of the questions seems to be that Frank Calabrese Jr. testified in order to profit financially from his father's underworld career. Frank Sr. also seemed to be trying to determine the whereabouts of his son and other members of his family. The discovery of the letter occurred at the same time that Frank Sr. was moved into solitary confinement.

Click for the text of the letter.

Click for a video report by ABC7-Chicago.