Samuel Nastasa, 72, suffered an apparent heart attack and died while being arrested in a Brooklyn gambling raid early Tuesday afternoon, according to a story by Alison Gendar and John Marzulli of the New York Daily News.
Police raided the Banner Civic Social Club on 72nd Street at about 1:30 p.m. Authorities believed the club to be a gambling den run by the Bonanno Crime Family and considered Nastasa a caretaker of the club.
Nastasa collapsed as he was being cuffed. Detectives reportedly called for an ambulance and administered CPR. Nastasa was taken to Lutheran Medical Center in Brooklyn, where he was declared dead at 3:10 p.m.
A report issued through the police commissioner's office indicated that Nastasa's death was due to natural causes and suggested that Nastasa had a preexisting medical condition. Nastasa's family told the press that he had no known medical problems. Relatives blamed the police for taking too long to get him help.
Friday, April 10, 2009
Grand jury indicts St. Laurent for murder plot
A federal grand jury in Providence, Rhode Island, on Wednesday indicted New England mobster Anthony "the Saint" St. Laurent Sr. for plotting to murder another high ranking member of the regional crime family, according to a story by the Providence Journal and a press release from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Rhode Island.
St. Laurent (left), 65, is already serving a 56-month sentence for extortion. He is held at the medical facility at Fort Devens, Massachusetts.
The grand jury indicted St. Laurent of planning with others in 2006 to murder reputed New England crime family caporegime Robert "Bobby" DeLuca Sr. According to prosecutors, St. Laurent - while in prison - was looking to hire someone to kill DeLuca. He allegedly told fellow inmates that the killing of DeLuca had been approved by Luigi "Baby Shacks" Manocchio, reputed boss of the Providence, RI, based Mafia organization.
Prosecutors say DeLuca has repeatedly accused St. Laurent of being an informant for state and federal law enforcement agencies.
St. Laurent (left), 65, is already serving a 56-month sentence for extortion. He is held at the medical facility at Fort Devens, Massachusetts.The grand jury indicted St. Laurent of planning with others in 2006 to murder reputed New England crime family caporegime Robert "Bobby" DeLuca Sr. According to prosecutors, St. Laurent - while in prison - was looking to hire someone to kill DeLuca. He allegedly told fellow inmates that the killing of DeLuca had been approved by Luigi "Baby Shacks" Manocchio, reputed boss of the Providence, RI, based Mafia organization.
Prosecutors say DeLuca has repeatedly accused St. Laurent of being an informant for state and federal law enforcement agencies.
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About Me
- Thomas Hunt
- Writer, editor, researcher, web publisher, specializing in organized crime history. (Available to assist with historical/genealogical research, writing, editing. Email at tphunt@gmail.com.)
Editor/publisher of crime history journal, Informer; publisher of American Mafia history website Mafiahistory.us; moderator of online forums; author of Wrongly Executed?; coauthor of Deep Water: Joseph P. Macheca and the Birth of the American Mafia and DiCarlo: Buffalo's First Family of Crime; contributor of U.S. Mafia history to Australian-published Mafia: The Necessary Reference to Organized Crime; writer/co-writer of crime history articles for several publications.
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