NJ racketeer linked to '05 Ricci killing

Federal prosecutors say New Jersey racketeer Tino Fiumara is their prime suspect in the 2005 murder of Genovese Crime Family bigshot Lawrence Ricci, according to a story by John Marzulli of the New York Daily News.

Ricci disappeared Oct. 7, 2005, as he was on trial for waterfront racketeering. His remains were found in the trunk of a car parked at a New Jersey diner.

Investigators believe Fiumara (right), reputed lieutenant in the Genovese organization, had Ricci killed because Ricci refused to plead guilty in the case and allow his longshoremen union official codefendants to stand trial on their own.

According to the Daily News, federal agents are working to convince crime family lieutenant Michael "Mikey Cigars" Coppola, now awaiting trial for a 1977 murder, to cooperate in the investigation of Fiumara.

Fiumara is believed to be a major power within the Genovese organization. Authorities say he commands waterfront labor rackets in New Jersey. In 1979, he was convicted of labor racketeering and extortion. He was sentenced to 15 years in prison. In 2000, he was convicted of violating the terms of his parole by secretly meeting with other members of the Genovese Crime Family.

The Genovese family has reportedly been without an official boss since the death of Vincent "the Chin" Gigante three years ago.

Coppola charged with racketeering, murder

A federal indictment unsealed Monday charges Michael Coppola, 62, alleged lieutenant in the Genovese Crime Family, with racketeering and racketeering conspiracy offenses including a 1977 murder, extortion and wire fraud, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York.

Federal prosecutors say Coppola (left) approached 68-year-old Giovanni "Johnny Cokes" Larducci (also known as John Lardiere) outside the Red Bull Inn motel on Route 22 in Bridgewater, NJ, on Easter Sunday, April 10, 1977. Coppola allegedly attempted to shoot Larducci with a firearm, but the weapon jammed. Believing he had escaped an assassination attempt, Larducci asked Coppola, "What are you going to do now, tough guy?"

Coppola allegedly drew a revolver from an ankle holster and shot Larducci to death. Larducci was reportedly a Genovese lieutenant serving under boss Gerardo Catena. Larducci is believed to have been involved in loansharking and was suspected of involvement in the 1971 disappearance of Teamsters Local 945 President Michael A. Ardis, according to a story published on Mycentraljersey.com.

As Coppola, also known as Michael Rizzo and Mikey Cigars, became a leading suspect in the Larducci killing in 1996, he fled, the press release said. His story was featured on the America's Most Wanted television program. Coppola was captured by the FBI on March 9, 2007. Authorities had learned he was staying with an alleged Genovese Crime Family associate on the Upper West Side of Manhattan.

New Jersey state prosecutors passed on the murder case against Coppola when DNA evidence came back with an inconclusive result, according to a story by John Marzulli of the New York Daily News.

The indictment accuses Coppola of involvement in a conspiracy to extort payments from International Longshoremen's Association Local 1235. That extortion allegedly went on for a period of three decades. The Daily News reports that Coppola is also a suspect in the 2005 killing of Genovese Crime Family lieutenant Lawrence Ricci (right).


Prosecutors plan to introduce evidence obtained through a 1980 wiretap of the home of the late Paul Castellano, boss of the Gambino Crime Family.

Embarrassing plea deal with Bellomo

Federal prosecutors took what they could get in a plea deal last month with former Genovese Crime Family bigshot Liborio "Barney" Bellomo, according to a story by Kati Cornell of the New York Post.

As a racketeering/murder case against Bellomo (right) fell apart, U.S. Attorneys arranged a plea deal on mail fraud. That means, rather than face the worst penalties the government can impose, Bellomo could be sentenced to as little as three and a half years in jail. He will serve no more than five years.

Judge Lewis Kaplan apparently suffered some disbelief at the deal. After all, the original racketeering indictment included the 1998 murder of Ralph Coppola. However, Assistant U.S. Attorney Miriam Rocah explained that the case against Bellomo fell apart shortly after the indictment. According to Rocah, witnesses were reluctant to testify against Bellomo and the prosecutors feared they would lose a jury trial.

Bellomo was arrested in February 2006 along with 31 other accused underworld associates in New York City.

Judge holds Coppola on $1M bond, orders DNA test

Judge Paul W. Armstrong of the Superior Court in Somerville NJ yesterday set bail for alleged mob assassin Michael Coppola (right) at $1 million and ordered DNA tests that could link Coppola to the 1977 murder of John "Johnny Cokes" Lardiere, according to a story by Chad Hemenway of the Asbury Park Press.

Coppola was apprehended last week after more than a decade on the run. He disappeared after hearing he was ordered to provide DNA samples in the Lardiere murder investigation back in 1996.

Coppola's attorney Thomas Cammarata entered a not guilty plea on behalf of his client. Cammarata took issue with prosecutors' description of Coppola as a fugitive from justice. The attorney noted that Coppola was never actually served with the order to provide the DNA samples.

New Jersey Assistant Attorney General Robert B. Leaman argued for $20 million bail. Leaman charged that Coppola had "unlimited access to funds" during the past 11 years while he was apparently not employed. Leaman charged that Coppola was part of the Genovese Crime Family.

Lardiere was shot to death on April 10, 1977, as he began a 26-hour furlough from a Clinton lockup. He was held in Clinton for five years following a refusal to testify before a government agency probing underworld influence in the garbage hauling industry.

Related MobNews post:

• NJ man arrested for 1977 mob hit 03-13-07

NJ man arrested for 1977 mob hit

Michael Coppola (left), reputed member of the Genovese Crime Family, was arrested March 9 in New York City and charged with a 30-year-old murder, according to stories by Celanie Polanick of the Home News Tribune and Michelle Sahn of the Asbury Park Press.

Known as "Little Mike," Coppola is to be arraigned in Somerset County NJ Superior Court this afternoon for the April 10, 1977, murder of John "Johnny Cokes" Lardiere (right). Authorities hunted for Coppola for more than a decade. He disappeared after investigators called him Aug. 13, 1996, to submit to DNA testing in connection with the case. His last known address was Morris Avenue in Spring Lake NJ.

Lardiere is believed to have been a Mafia lieutenant serving boss Gerardo Catena in New Jersey's arm of the Genovese Family. After refusing to testify before a state investigations panel looking into racketeer influence in the garbage hauling industry, Lardiere was held at a prison in Clinton NJ. During an Easter holiday furlough on April 10, 1977, he was met by a gunman outside the Red Bull Inn on Route 22. Lardiere was found dead with five bullet wounds, two in his head.

Authorities pieced together the events of that day through interviews with mob informants. Coppola, allegedly carrying a .22-caliber pistol called Lardiere's name. When the victim turned, the weapon jammed. Lardiere reportedly laughed and said, "What're you gonna do now, tough guy?" Authorities say Coppola pulled a .38-caliber handgun from an ankle holster and put the five holes in Lardiere.

Tommy Ricciardi, a former Lucchese Crime Family member who turned government informant, reportedly witnessed the crime.

Lardiere is believed to have offended Ralph "Blackie" Napoli, a bigshot in the Philadelphia Mob, during his stay in Clinton.

While Lardiere was in custody, his wife Carolyn died of arsenic poisoning. She reportedly consumed enough arsenic (dissolved in a bottle of soda) to kill 700 people. Her death was ruled a homicide. It remains unsolved.