Carneglia convicted of racketeering, murders

Charles Carneglia, once a trusted hitman for Gambino Crime Family boss John J. Gotti, was convicted in Brooklyn federal court today of racketeering and gangland murders, according to a story by John Marzulli and Larry McShane of the New York Daily News and other published accounts.

The jury reportedly reached its decision Monday night. It found Carneglia (right) guilty of four murders, racketeering, extortion and robbery. His victims were armored car guard Jose Delgado Rivera, Gambino soldier Louis DiBono, and reputed crime family associates Sal Puma and Michael Cotillo. The jury could not agree on whether he committed a fifth murder, that of court officer Albert Gelb in 1976. It found Carneglia not guilty of a conspiracy charge.

A press release from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York provided details on the Carneglia murders. Cotillo was stabbed to death during a fight between two Gambino factions in front of a Queens diner in 1977. Puma was stabbed to death in 1983 over a dispute concerning the delivery of money to a jailed member of Carneglia's underworld "crew." DiBono was shot to death in 1990 on orders of John J. Gotti. DiBono had refused to meet with Gotti when the crime boss summoned him. Rivera was shot and beaten to death during a 1990 robbery of an armored truck at the American Airlines facility at JFK Airport.

Carneglia faces a possible sentence of life in prison with no possibility of parole. He argued, apparently unconvincingly, that he had left the Mafia life back in 2001, putting his offenses beyond the statute of limitations for federal racketeering charges.

Prosecutors said Carneglia dissolved some of his victims' bodies with acid.

"We sincerely hope that today's verdict brings a measure of closure to the families of Carneglia's victims," U.S. Attorney Benton Campbell said. "They have waited years for this day because the Gambino Family used violence and intimidation to silence witnesses and protect its members."

Carneglia was one of 62 alleged members and associates of the Gambino, Genovese and Bonanno Crime Families arrested on Feb. 7, 2008. Carneglia is the only defendant to insist upon a trial - 60 others have reached plea deals.

Bonanno associate Young sentenced to life

Joseph Young, former associate of the Bonanno Crime Family, was sentenced last week to a mandatory term of life imprisonment for a 2008 murder conviction and other crimes, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York.

Young, 30, was convicted of the March 29, 2005, murder of Robert McKelvey. According to prosecutors, Young belonged to a Bonanno crew led by crime family soldier Gino Galestro. Galestro ordered the murder of McKelvey, who was also a crew associate, after McKelvey openly boasted of the criminal organization's activities.

McKelvey was lured to the historic Kreischer Mansion on Staten Island by another crime family associate. Young worked at the mansion as a caretaker and lived there. Young stabbed McKelvey as he entered the mansion. The victim fled. Young tackled McKelvey and dragged him to a garden pool, drowing him there. Young and three Bonanno associates dismembered McKelvey's body and burned the remains in the mansion's furnace. Ashes and bone fragments were later disposed of in the facility's septic system.

Galestro previously pleaded guilty to ordering the McKelvey murder.

Young was also convicted of arson, attempted arson, extortion, gunpoint robbery, robbery conspiracy, assault, and illegal purchases and transport of firearms.

"Young's gruesome criminal conduct reminds us that organized crime is alive and well," said U.S. Attorney Benton J. Campbell. "We will continue to prosecute the members and associates of organized crime who engage in such wanton acts of violence in our communities."