Mob-News

Thursday, January 25, 2007

D.A.: DeVecchio mistake led to Porco killing

Seventeen-year-old Patrick Porco, killed by a single gunshot to the mouth in May 1990, was the victim of misguided mob vengeance, according to a story by Alex Ginsberg of the New York Post.

The Colombo Crime Family had Porco (right) killed, believing he had cooperated with a police investigation into the 1990 drive-by shooting of Dominick Masseria, 17. According to the Kings County NY (Brooklyn) District Attorney, former FBI Agent Lindley DeVecchio told Colombo family capo Gregory "the Grim Reaper" Scarpa that Porco was talking to police.

That was reportedly an error. Papers related to Porco's unwilling interviews with police indicate that the teen would not reveal any information about the Masseria killing, even after a police official warned Porco that his life was in jeopardy.

Craig Sobel, 39, is now charged with the Masseria killing.

The Kings County D.A. has linked DeVecchio's relationship with Scarpa to several underworld killings. Scarpa reportedly served as an informant for DeVecchio (left). DeVecchio insists he is innocent of wrongdoing. A number of current and former FBI agents are strongly supporting DeVecchio.

Related MobNews posts:

UK's Hathaway faces extradition to Italy

Ann Hathaway, a 44-year-old housewife and mother of Boarshaw, England, is facing extradition to Italy as an alleged Mafia "godmother," according to a story in the Middleton Guardian.

Italian authorities charge that Hathaway, wife of imprisoned Sicilian Mafia boss Antonio Rinzivillo, helped to run her husband's illicit empire since he has been away. Rinzivillo is serving a 30-year prison sentence in Italy for drug trafficking and the murder of of lawyer Antonio Mirabelle.

Hathaway is specifically charged with running messages from Rinzivillo to underworld colleagues and with laundering cash from Mafia operations.

She denied any wrongdoing and said she was "bewildered" by the charges.

Related MobNews posts:

Uranium smuggling in former Soviet Union

Authorities of the Republic of Georgia last year arrested a Russian man attempting to smuggle 100 grams of highly enriched - weapons grade - uranium into the country, according to a story by Lawrence Scott Sheets and William J. Broad of the New York Times.

The incident was discussed by Georgian Interior Minister Ivane Merabishvili in a recent interview. Russian officials would not comment on the story.

Another man was apprehended in 2003 at the Georgia-Armenia border with 170 grams of uranium. In neither case was the amount of radioactive material sufficient to build a nuclear weapon, but international authorities are concerned about the apparent trade in nuclear material from the former Soviet Union.

Georgian authorities also intercepted a shipment of 2.2 pounds of raw uranium last August.

Yonkers NY police round up drug gang

Police have rounded up members of the "Jackson Street Crew" drug gang in Yonkers, NY, according to a report by WCBS-TV. Additional arrests are expected.

The gang is believed to have trafficked in crack cocaine. The drug activity is said to have taken place on sidewalks, in apartment building vestibules and in a park near Jackson Street.

Wednesday, January 24, 2007

Philly mobster to return to prison

Martin A. Angelina (left), convicted racketeer, has admitted violating the terms of his parole and will return to prison for another four months, according to a story by George Anastasia of the Philadelphia Inquirer. Angelina, 44, was paroled 15 months ago and was not to have any contact with his former underworld associates. Yesterday in Philadelphia U.S. District Court, he admitted that he met with known felons and Mafiosi after his release. The FBI and the Organized Crime Squad of the Philadelphia police had evidence of meetings and telephone calls. Those included a meeting with reputed mob boss Joseph Ligambi and reputed associates Steven Frangipanni, Damion Canalichio and Michael Lancelloti, as well as a series of telephone conversations with Canalichio, according to the Inquirer. Federal agents had been keeping an eye on Canalichio, recently indicted on drug trafficking charges (released on $75,000 bond in November) and under investigation in a gambling probe, and Canalichio's phone had been tapped. Canalichio reportedly served 27 months in prison after a 1997 drug conviction. Angelina will be returned to prison in two weeks. A former enforcer for reputed ex-boss of Philadelphia Joseph "Skinny Joey" Merlino, Angelina was convicted in 2000 with Merlino and several others of racketeering. He served 66 months of his 78-month sentence and was paroled in November 2005. The New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement Exclusion List states, "Mr. Angelina has been identified by law enforcement agencies as being a soldier within the Philadelphia La Cosa Nostra (LCN) organized crime family. He has been observed with Joseph Salvatore "Skinny Joe" Merlino and George Borgesi, respectively identified as the "Boss" and a "Capo," of the LCN." The exclusion list prevents Angelina from having anything to do with New Jersey casino gambling. Related MobNews posts:

Interested in Mob history? Visit The American Mafia website: https://mafiahistory.us/

Tuesday, January 23, 2007

Colombo judge rules against the 'M-word'

Judge Naomi Rice Buchwald decided Friday that there can be no mention of the Colombo Crime Family or the Mafia during the racketeering trial of Anthony and Christopher Colombo, according to a story by Thomas Zambito of the New York Daily News.

Anthony and Christopher are the sons of Joseph Colombo, the slain boss of the crime family that bears his name (formerly the Profaci Family). They are accused of using their perceived connections to the mob to extort money from victims. Anthony is charged with demanding payoffs from a New York construction firm. Christopher is charged with running a gambling operation in East Harlem and the Bronx.

Buchwald ruled that prosecutors had not sufficiently linked the defendants with the mob clan.

In his opening statement a day before Buchwald's ruling, defense attorney Louis Fasulo said Anthony Colombo (right) was guilty only of being Joe Colombo's son. While his client is accused of extorting $100,000 from the construction firm, the attorney argued that the firm hired Colombo to generate business - something he accomplished.

Yesterday, a prosecution witness stated that he gave Christopher Colombo $600,000 in interest payments through six years on a loan of just $90,000. "I could see that it was never, ever, going to be paid off," John Sitterly said. Sitterly, 52, is facing a five- to 15-year sentence for robbing customers of his upstate home improvement business. The Post indicated that Sitterly testified against Colombo "hoping to shave time" off his sentence.

Related MobNews posts:

NYC investigates alleged restaurant-mob link

New York City agencies are looking into allegations that a license to run Caffe on the Green in Bayside, Queens, was granted to a reputed mobster, according to a story by Murray Weiss of the New York Post.

Joseph Franco, 53, is the approved licensee. But law enforcement sources indicated that Franco and his 71-year-old brother Salvatore are also made members of the Gambino Crime Family, said the Post. In addition, the sources say that Franco's uncle, Giuseppe, 93, was selected to help run the crime family in 1992 when boss John Gotti went off to prison.

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg (left) pledged to look into the allegations. The Department of Investigation and the Law Department is examining the license award. The Post noted that Bloomberg was photographed with Franco last July at a political fundraiser held at the Bayside restaurant.

Friday, January 19, 2007

Colombo admits gambling, denies intimidation

Defense attorney Jeremy Schneider acknowledges that his client, Chris Colombo, is guilty of gambling, but the attorney insists Colombo did not run an underworld organization that extorted money from its victims, according to a story by Kati Cornell of the New York Post.

Brother Chris and Anthony Colombo, sons of slain crime boss Joseph Colombo, face racketeering charges in federal court in Manhattan. Prosecutors say they used their family name to terrorize victims and generate income through gambling, loan-sharking, extortion and fraud.

The brothers found themselves on the losing end of a civil war within the Colombo Crime Family, prosecutors say, and struck out on their own.

In pretrial hearings, defense attorneys asked that prosecutors be prevented from making reference to the Mafia organization once run by Joseph Colombo. Prosecutors responded by charging that the brothers used the family connection to their advantage in underworld business dealings.

Joseph Colombo was mortally wounded by an assassin in 1971. He died in 1978.

Chris Colombo was featured in a short-lived 2005 HBO reality show entitled "House Arrest."

Related MobNews posts:

Netherlands to ban Hells Angels

A Netherlands court in Leeuwarden is considering a ban on the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club, according to stories on DutchNews.nl and Playfuls.com.

Prosecutors have asked for the ban because of the organization's persistent involvement in crime. The club's Northeast Chapter, based in the town of Harlingen, is named as a defendant in the case.

Officials labeled the Hells Angels the second-largest crime organization in the world, behind only the Mafia. In October 2005, police reportedly found weapons, ammunition and cannabis-growing operations during raids of Hells Angels locations that resulted in 45 arrests.

A dozen members of the disbanded Nomads wing of the Hells Angels are currently facing murder charges. They are accused of killing and mutilating three members of their group. The victims bodies were discovered in 2004.

Kidnapping shows breakdown in Mafia authority

Italian officials believe the recent kidnapping of a rich Sicilian landowner is a signal that the prestige of old line Mafia bosses is in decline, according to a story by Malcolm Moore of the UK Telegraph.

Pietro Licari, 68, was abducted last weekend near his home outside Palermo, in a blatant violation of a Mafia ban on kidnappings that dates back to the 1960s. The relatively small amount of money demanded for Licari's release and other factors have caused investigators to blame the crime on a non-Mafia gang.

According to the story, Cinisi crime boss Gaetano Badalamenti outlawed kidnappings in the late 60s. Badalamenti was later jailed in the United States for heroin trafficking. The ban was violated just once, in 1976, when a youth gang outside of the Mafia abducted a woman. The Sicilian underworld was able to persuade the gang to release the woman.

UK 'Godmother' arrested

Ann Hathaway, 44, was arrested yesterday on suspicion of helping to run the Rinzivillo Mafia empire, according to a story by Pat Hurst of the UK Independent.

Police detained Hathaway at her home near Manchester, England, after the Italian government issued an extradition warrant. Italian officials charge that she has administered the underworld assets of her husband, Antonio Rinzivillo, since he has been in prison.

Rinzivillo is serving 30 years.

Related MobNews post:

UK press tracks Mafia 'godmother' 01-08-07

Former NJ prosecutor charged

Paul Bergrin, a former New Jersey prosecutor, was one of three men charged last week in Manhattan with conspiracy, promoting prostitution and money laundering, according to a story in Newsday.

Bergrin, 51, and his co-defendants are accused of laundering more than $800,000 in credit card proceeds from an escort agency, NY Confidential, through a company called Gotham Steak. The attorney is in custody in New Jersey.

Bergrin has recently worked as a defense lawyer. In a recent high profile case, he defended an army reservist charged with abusing Iraqi prisoners in Abu Ghraib.

Watch video: Former prosecutor charged in laundering scheme (WCBS-TV New York).

Tuesday, January 16, 2007

Colombo's sons head to trial this week

The racketeering conspiracy trial of Anthony (right) and Christopher Colombo, sons of slain crime boss Joseph Colombo, will begin this week, according to a story by Thomas Zambito of the New York Daily News. The brothers are charged with running an offshoot of the Colombo Crime Family that engaged in extortion and loansharking. Prosecutors say the Colombos were squeezed out of the Mafia clan that continues to bear their surname and started up an operation known as the Colombo Brothers Crew. In pretrial hearings, defense attorney Aaron Goldsmith asked that prosecutors be forbidden from mentioning the Mafia organization or Joseph Colombo's role in it. Goldsmith argued that such mentions would unfairly prejudice a jury. Prosecutors argued that the Colombo brothers themselves revealed their family connections in order to intimidate their victims.

With the approval of boss of bosses Carlo Gambino, Joseph Colombo (left) took over the old Profaci family after the deaths of Joseph Profaci and successor Joseph Magliocco in the early 1960s. Colombo was a highly visible organizer of Italian unity causes and publicly insisted that he was being targeted by the FBI solely because of his ethnic background. It is believed that other crime bosses were alarmed at his courtship of the press and arranged for his assassination. Colombo was mortally wounded in a 1971 shooting. He remained in a coma until his death in 1978. Related MobNews post:

Colombo son objects to use of crime family name 11-30-06

Interested in Mob history?

Visit The American Mafia website:

https://mafiahistory.us/

Monday, January 15, 2007

Ailing Cuban mobster gets 20 years

Jose Miguel Battle Sr., once the boss of a Cuban-American criminal organization and a veteran of the Bay of Pigs invasion, has been sentenced to 20 years in prison, according to a story by Jay Weaver of the Miami Herald.

Battle, 77, was leader of "The Corporation," a criminal group controlling rackets in Florida, New Jersey, New York and Latin America. He is widely known as the master of the "bolita" lottery-style racket. He has been in custody since 2004. Last May, he pleaded guilty to a racketeering career spanning four decades. (Click for Battle biography on Wikipedia.)

Prosecutors speculated at that time that the ailing crime boss might not live long enough to be sentenced. He reportedly suffers from renal (kidney) failure and problems with his heart, liver and lungs. A part of a plea deal, sentencing was to be indefinitely postponed and Battle released on bond, so he could die at his home rather than in prison.

His son, Jose Miguel Battle Jr., faces sentencing in March.

Other MobNews post:

Ailing Cuban mobster agrees to plea deal 05-04-06

Saturday, January 13, 2007

Deputy marshal charged with aiding mob

John Thomas Ambrose, 38, a federal deputy marshal, was charged Thursday with providing Chicago's organized crime family information on a government informant, according to an AP story published by MSNBC.

Prosecutors say Ambrose offered to swap information about informant Nicholas Calabrese's travel plans in exchange for the location of reputed Outfit bigshot Joseph Lombardo. The deputy marshal allegedly provided information to an associate of reputed mobster John DiFronzo. At the time Lombardo was a fugitive from justice.

Ambrose's defense attorney said his client is "not connected to the mob at all." He said the federal case is based on a Sept. 6 interview with Ambrose that was mischaracterized by an FBI agent.

Ambrose has been on leave from his duties since September. He faces a possible penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine if convicted.

Calabrese and Lombardo are among 15 defendants charged in a sweeping racketeering indictment in Chicago known as "Operation Family Secrets." In 2005, Calabrese provided federal investigators with details relating to the killing of brothers Anthony and Michael Spilotro. Anthony Spilotro was the Outfit's agent in Las Vegas before making too many enemies back home. The Spilotro murders, the historical basis for the movie Casino, are part of the Family Secrets case.

Related MobNews post:

Chicago commission papers subpoenaed 01-10-07