Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Lake Ontario victim was not Renda

Montreal Mafioso Paolo Renda remains missing. A body pulled Sunday from Lake Ontario was identified today as Quang Li, 47, a Thornhill, Ontario, resident who has been missing since 2007, according to a story by Katherine Wilson of the Montreal Gazette. Renda, a top man in the Rizzuto Mafia and a brother-in-law of reputed boss Vito Rizzuto, was reported missing on Thursday. His car was found near his home, its windows down and its key still in the ignition. Rizzuto is imprisoned in the U.S. Rizzuto's son Nick was shot to death in December. Canadian officials believe the Rizzuto organization is under siege by another underworld organization. The body of Quang Li was found encased in concrete within a rusty steel oil drum.

No deals: Taccetta looks ahead to federal trial

Maria Noto, defense attorney for reputed Lucchese Crime Family big shot Martin Taccetta, said May 24 that her client is not seeking a plea deal and is looking forward to a jury trial, according to a story by Peter J. Sampson of the Record.

    Already serving a life prison sentence on a 1993 state racketeering and extortion conviction, Taccetta, 59, of East Hanover, NJ, was one of 23 reputed members and associates of the Gambino and Lucchese Crime Families indicted by a federal grand jury two years ago. The indictment contained 30 counts, but Taccetta was charged in only three of those. He is accused of conspiring to extort a loan payment and of involvement in a scheme to allow non-union labor at a Morristown NJ construction project in exchange for approximately $20,000.
    The cases against all other defendants have been resolved. Taccetta broke off plea deal negotiations in December. His federal trial is scheduled to begin July 6 in Newark.
    "He's not guilty of the charges, and we look forward to an acquittal by the jury," Noto said.
   Last week, Taccetta sought information about the government's witness list and its evidence against him. Prosecutors have noted that at least one informant currently in the witness protection program will be called to testify. Taccetta's request was rejected by U.S. District Judge Stanley R. Chesler.
    

About Me

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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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