Palumbo charged with 1992 murder conspiracy

Already charged with racketeering and extortion, Anthony "Tony D" Palumbo was indicted June 15 for conspiring in the 1992 mob murder of Angelo Sangiuolo, according to a story by Bruce Golding of the New York Post.

    Sangiuolo was reportedly targeted because he was found to be robbing Palumbo-run gambling establishments in the Bronx. Federal authorities say Vincent "the Chin" Gigante, then boss of the Genovese Crime Family, approved the hit. Genovese capodecina Angelo Prisco helped lure Sangiuolo, Prisco's cousin, to the scene of his murder. Prisco has been convicted and jailed for complicity in the murder. Triggerman John Leto pleaded guilty of involvement in the killing and testified against Prisco. Paul "Doc" Gaccione was arrested in April and charged with being a getaway driver in the hit.

   

    Reputed acting capodecina Palumbo has overseen Genovese operations in New Jersey since 2006, said federal prosecutors. The latest indictment also charges him with plotting to extort money from Russian mobsters engaged in a gasoline tax racket. That scheme, which never came about, would have involved a Palumbo killing of a hitman employed by the Russians, according to federal prosecutors.

    Palumbo, free on bond, pleaded not guilty to the new charges.

Jersey man linked to 1992 mob killing

A New Jersey man was charged April 19 with involvement in a 1992 Mafia killing, according to a story by Rocco Parascandola and John Lauinger of the New York Daily News. Paul "Doc" Gaccione is charged with participating in the June 1992 murder of Genovese Crime Family associate Angelo Sangiuolo. John "Johnny Balls" Leto was convicted last year of performing the killing. Authorities say the mob hit was arranged by Sangiuolo's cousin, Genovese capodecina Angelo Prisco, after Sangiuolo was found to be stealing money from Genovese gambling dens in the Bronx, NY. Vincent "the Chin" Gigante, then boss of the Genovese Family, is believed to have approved the hit.

Sangiuolo was lured to a Bronx social club. Prosecutors say Gaccione then drove Sangiuolo and Leto in a van to a McDonald's restaurant parking lot in Pelham Bay beneath elevated train tracks. Sangiuolo was in the front passenger seat with Leto behind him. As the train roared overhead, Leto shot Sangiuolo to death. Prisco reportedly picked Gaccione and Leto up at the McDonalds.

Prisco was sentenced to life in prison after a federal conviction last year.

Prisco gets life in prison

The Genovese Crime Family's New Jersey crew leader Angelo Prisco, 69, was sentenced Aug. 18 to life in prison for cooperating in the murder of Angelo Sangiuolo and for conducting a series of home invasion robberies.

Prisco convicted of 1992 Sangiuolo hit

Angelo Prisco, 69-year-old lieutenant in the Genovese Crime Family, was found guilty yesterday of conspiring to kill his first cousin, Angelo Sangiuolo, in 1992, according to a story by Thomas Zambito of the New York Daily News. Prisco (right) also was convicted of participating in a string of gunpoint robberies in the 1990s and of extorting money from individuals and businesses.

Prosecutors say Vincent "the Chin" Gigante, then boss of the Genovese clan, ordered the hit on Sangiuolo. Prisco then assigned underling John Leto and another man to kill Sangiuolo. The victim was lured to a Bronx social club and told to get into a van with Leto, who shot him to death, prosecutors say. The body was left in the van, as Leto drove away in a car with Prisco.

Prisco's trial lasted two weeks, according to a press release distributed by the FBI. He faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in prison and a maximum possible sentence of life in prison. He is scheduled for sentencing on July 23.

Prosecutors say Prisco was inducted as a member of the Genovese Family in the late 1970s and later was promoted to capodecina. He oversaw a crew of Genovese soldiers and associates in New York City and nearby New Jersey. A state inquiry was launched several years ago when Prisco, a resident of Toms River, New Jersey, was paroled from a New Jersey prison just four years into a 12-year sentence for arson and conspiracy.

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.

Nicosia guilty of extortion conspiracy

Angelo Nicosia, a 46-year-old associate of the Genovese Crime Family crew run by Angelo Prisco, was found guilty July 29 of extortion and extortion conspiracy, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York.

According to the release, Nicosia demanded payment of tens of thousands of dollars from a Manhattan-based contractor for work that he had not completed. When the contractor did not pay, Prisco underling Peter Rizzo allegedly attacked the contractor's business partner. Years later, Nicosia once again demanded the same payment. Nicosia and co-conspirators threatened the contractor and his family. The contractor made the demanded payment of $50,000. Nicosia and his associates divided the money among themselves, sending $10,000 as tribute to Prisco.

Eight men were initially charged in the case. Seven have been convicted of various related offenses - Michael Iuni, John "Rocky" Melicharek, Dominick "Shakes" Memoli, Louis Pipolo, Dardian "Danny" Celaj, Ened "Neddy" Gjelaj, and Nicosia. The eighth, Gjelosh "Jimmy" Krasniqi, remains at large.

Nicosia faces a possible prison term of 40 years when he is sentenced at the end of October.

Mob-affiliate burglar pleads guilty

John Melicharek, alleged associate of the Genovese Crime Family, pleaded guilty in a White Plains, NY, court last week to robbery, extortion and firearms charges, according to a story published by the Mid-Hudson News Network.

Prosecutors say Melicharek was an associate of the Mafia crew led by Angelo Prisco. Melicharek was accused of leading home invasions in Orange County, NY, and Morris County, NJ, as well as of extorting the owner of a small business in New York City.

He could receive a life prison term when sentenced in September.

Prisco (right), 68, of Brooklyn, is serving time in federal prison, according to a story published a year ago in the Star-Ledger. He reached a plea deal on extortion charges in Newark, NJ, last May and was sentenced to five years. He had been held in New Jersey lockups since a March 2006 arrest. Prisco's 2002 parole from state prison in New Jersey triggered an investigation of a top aide of then-Governor Jim McGreevey.

Another reputed associate of Prisco's crew, Michael Visconti, 39, of Newburgh, NY, pleaded guilty to six criminal counts earlier this month, according to the Star-Ledger. Like Prisco, Visconti was charged in connection with a scheme to eliminate competition for an electrical contracting job.

Five charged with extortion, robberies

The FBI yesterday arrested five alleged members of the Mafia in the New York area, according to a story by Peter J. Sampson of the Record. They, along with two men already in prison, were charged with participating in robberies and extortion targeting business owners in New York and New Jersey during 2004 and 2005.

The FBI arrested John "Rocky" Melicharek, 37, of Glen Rock, NJ; Mike Iuni, 50, of Jersey City, NJ; Angelo Nicosia, 45, of East Stroudsburg, PA; Louis Pipolo, 45, of Newburgh, NY; and Dardian "Danny" Celaj, 30, of Bloomfield, CT. Also charged were Dominick "Shakes" Memoli, 41, and Ened "Neddy" Gjelaj, 27.

An eight-count indictment unsealed in Manhattan federal court charges Melicharek, Iuni and Nicosia with associate status in the Genovese Crime Family. and accuses them of using their affiliation with the crime family to extort a Manhattan-based business owner. Melicharek, Memoli, Pipolo, Celaj and Gjelaj are charged with invading homes, including that of a Morris County, NJ, businessman, and of using firearms in connection with those crimes. Melicharek also faces a stolen property charge.

If convicted, Melicharek, Memoli, Pipolo, Celaj and Gjelaj could be sentenced to life in prison. Iuni and Nicosia face maximum sentences of 40 years in prison.

According to the Record story, several of the defendants are connected with the crew of reputed Genovese Family lieutenant Angelo "the Horn" Prisco. Prisco (right), 68, was arrested at his home on Outlook Avenue in the Bronx, NY, early last year along with two other men on an extortion charge, according to a press release from the Newark, NJ, office of the FBI. He later pleaded guilty to ordering an assault on an electrical contractor competing with a Prisco-allied contractor. In spring 2003, there was a furor over Prisco's early release from prison, according to a Mike Kelly column on NorthJersey.com. He had been sentenced in 1998 to serve 12 years in East Jersey State Prison. At the time of his parole, Prisco was 13 months from his scheduled parole hearing. He was placed on the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement exclusion list late in 2003.

According to a story in the New York Daily News, the indictment illustrates the Genovese Family's use of ethnic Albanian "muscle." Albanian Celaj was allegedly called in to terrorize a New Jersey family.

Genovese capo ordered assault on contractor

Angelo Prisco, 67, pleaded guilty in Newark, NJ, last week to authorizing an assault on an electrical contractor who was competing with a contractor allied to Prisco, according to a press release by the U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey.

The U.S. Attorney's Office identified Prisco as a capo in the Genovese Crime Family. Prosecutors charged that contractor John Capelli of the Bronx, NY, paid Prisco $2,500 for authorizing an assault on his competitor. Prisco reportedly passed the assignment along to Michael Visconti, who involved an associate already secretly cooperating with the FBI.

Prisco is likely to serve five years in prison. At the time of his arrest, he was on parole for a state arson conviction and on supervised release for a federal extortion conviction.