Italy arrests 29 in Camorra crackdown

Italian Interior Minister Roberto Maroni yesterday announced 29 arrests of Camorra-linked suspects in the Naples area, according to a story by the AFP news agency. Raids were conducted in the wake of the Sept. 18 killings of an Italian businessman and six African immigrants.

Among the suspects were Alessandro Cirillo, Oreste Spagnuolo (right) and Giovanni Letizia, reputed members of the Camorra's Casalesi clan, according to a report by CNN International. Also arrested was Giuseppina Nappa, 48-year-old wife of jailed clan leader Francesco "Sandokan" Schiavone.

NJ extortion case dropped, evidence lacking

Federal prosecutors have dropped an extortion case against Anthony Delvescovo, director of tunnel operations for Schiavone Construction Co., according to a story published in the New York Daily News.

A motion filed by the prosecutors indicated, "There is presently insufficient evidence to prove the defendant's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt."

Delvescovo was one of 62 people rounded up in February for alleged ties to the Gambino Crime Family. He pleaded not guilty to a charge that he extorted money from a trucking company owner. Delvescovo's defense attorney said his client was "wrongly accused on insufficient evidence."

Statement links construction firm to the mob

An affidavit filed in Brooklyn federal court links officials of the Schiavone Construction Company with schemes involving organized crime, according to a story by William K. Rashbaum of the New York Times.

The affidavit was part of a 2005 investigation of organized crime. In it, a federal investigator described the methods through which Schiavone officials intended to direct payments to a trucking executive connected with the Mafia. The statement includes a quote attributed to carting company executive Nicholas Calvo, in which Calvo explained Mafia influence over Schiavone. Calvo, arrested in a racketeering case earlier this year and identified by prosecutors as a Genovese Crime Family associate, recently pleaded guilty to extortion conspiracy.

Schiavone ties to the Genovese Crime Family have been rumored since an unsuccessful state fraud prosecution of a company owner in 1987. However, the contracting giant's general counsel Mary Libasi insists Schiavone is operating within the law and is cooperating with the U.S. Attorney's Office in Brooklyn on the investigation. No charges related to the affidavit have been filed against the company or its executives.

Two employees of Schiavone Construction Company were among the 62 people charged in a broader racketeering investigation earlier this year.

Italian court upholds Camorra life sentences

An Italian Court last week upheld life sentence penalties imposed on 16 convicted leaders of the Casalesi Camorra clan, according to reports by RTTNews and Malcom Moore of the U.K. Telegraph.

The 16 leaders, including alleged boss Francesco "Sandokan" Schiavone (left) were sentenced to life late in 2005 after the "Spartacus trial" held in Santa Maria Capua Vetere north of Naples. Michele Zagaria and Antonio Iovine, alleged to be leaders of the criminal organization, were among those sentenced to life terms though they remain at large. Ten other defendants were convicted in the trial and sentenced to lesser terms.

The Casalesi clan was primarily involved in toxic waste disposal, extortion and monopolization of the cement market between Naples and Salerno, according to Judge Raffaello Magi. "They control the distribution of essential products. They control elections, and they offer protection and market opportunities to businesses," he said.

Investigators believe the Casalesi clan, based in the town of Casal di Principe, held assets amounting to billions of dollars. The group is believed responsible for numerous murders. During the trial, five people involved in the case were killed. The lives of a judge and two journalists were threatened.

Five hundred witnesses were called in that trial. Twenty former clan members provided evidence against their old underworld colleagues.

Schiavone was apprehended in 1999, as he attempted to escape from police by climbing over a garden wall at his personal villa.