Boston area gambling racketeers convicted

Four men were convicted Wednesday (April 22) of racketeering and other charges related to the operation of "one of the largest gambling and loansharking operations... in the greater Boston area," according to a story by Shelley Murphy of the Boston Globe.

Arthur Gianelli (right), 51-year-old reputed mob associate from Lynnfield, Massachusetts, was convicted of racketeering, racketeering conspiracy, arson and attempted extortion. Prosecutors said he ran an organization involved in sports betting, video poker and online gambling. Court testimony and conversations secretly recorded by Massachusetts State Police indicated that Gianelli secured the protection of the New England Mafia by paying $2,000 per month in tribute to reputed underboss Carmen "Cheese Man" DiNunzio. The payments continued from 2001 to 2003.

Prosecutors say Gianelli used his rackets income and underworld connections to take over a number of bars in the Boston area. The extortion charge against him stemmed from his 1998 to 2002 attempts to control Clarke's Turn of the Century Saloon in Faneuil Hall and McCarthy's Bar and Grille on Roylston Street.

Gianelli's partners in the gambling operation included Dennis "Fish" Albertelli, 56, of Stow; Albertelli's wife Gisele, 54; and Frank Iacaboni, 65, of Leominster. They were convicted of a variety of charges, including illegal gambling and racketeering conspiracy.

The jury found Gianelli, Dennis Albertelli and Iacaboni guilty of arson. The three planned to burn down the Big Dog Sports Grille in North Reading. The arson charge carries a minimum sentence of 15 years in prison.

Gianelli is reportedly the brother-in-law of former FBI agent John J. Connolly Jr, according to the Boston Globe. Connolly was convicted of racketeering in 2002 and of second-degree murder late last year.

Gianelli's wife, Mary Ann, was initially named as a defendant in the case. She pleaded guilty March 4 to racketeering, money laundering and other charges and so avoided trial. In the wake of her guilty plea, prosecutors dropped 141 money laundering charges.

Leak case is in jury's hands

The case of a deputy U.S. marshal accused of leaking information about a federal witness to members of the Chicago mob has been in the hands of a jury since late Thursday afternoon (April 23), according to a story by Chuck Goudie of WLS-TV Chicago.

Deputy U.S. Marshal John Ambrose (left), 42, is charged with providing information about protected federal witness Nick Calabrese to a friend with connections to the Outfit. Prosecutors say he also leaked classified information regarding reputed Outfit boss John "No Nose" DiFronzo and leaked police information regarding the mob murders of the Spilotro brothers.

Through the testimony of convicted racketeer Mickey Marcello - brother of reputed Outfit leader James Marcello - prosecutors were able to link mob awareness of Nick Calabrese's cooperation in the Family Secrets investigation with Ambrose's friend. Robert Grant, special agent in charge of Chicago's FBI field office, testified April 20 to a confession made by Ambrose. Grant said Ambrose admitted to "a huge mistake" and to having improper friendships.

Ambrose's defense attorney Frank Lipuma argued that his client may have violated policies but committed no crimes. Among the character witnesses brought forward for Ambrose was longtime federal Judge Charles Kocoras. Kocoras did not choose to testify but was brought to the witness stand through a subpoena.

'Little Nick' goes away for 13+ years

A federal judge in Brooklyn has sentenced Nicholas "Little Nick" Corozzo, 69, to 13 and a half years in prison for the 1996 killing of Lucchese Crime Family associate Robert Arena that also left an innocent bystander dead, according to stories by the UPI and Newsday.

Corozzo (left), reputedly a high-level lieutenant in the Gambino Crime Family, admitted to ordering the Arena killing and to racketeering. He was sentenced April 17.

Last week, prosecutors attempted to restrict Corozzo's activities while in prison. They hoped to keep him from interacting with other mobsters or with family members linked to organized crime. Judge Jack Weinstein turned down the request, saying it would require prison officials to isolate Corozzo and/or place him in a penitentiary far from his family.

Researcher seeks Hoffa grand jury records

Believing there was "prosecutorial misconduct in the case," retired law professor William L. Tabac has asked a federal judge in Nashville, Tennessee, to unseal 45-year-old grand jury records relating to legendary Teamsters leader Jimmy Hoffa, according to a story by the Associated Press.

Tabac believes the records could show that federal prosecutors and Attorney General Robert Kennedy used illegal means - including wiretaps and improper testimony - to indict Hoffa on jury-tampering charges in the early 1960s. Hoffa (right) was convicted in Chattanooga in 1964.

The former Teamsters leader was last seen in 1975, as he prepared to rejoin the union after serving time in prison. It is widely believed that Hoffa was killed by former allies in the underworld. His remains have not been found.

U.S. attorneys are opposing Tabac's request. They say witnesses need to be confident that grand jury testimony will remain secret. They also argue that Tabac has provided no substantiation for his claim that Hoffa prosecutors acted improperly.

Reputed Bonanno boss bound for Canada

Salvatore "Sal the Ironworker" Montagna, 38, reputed boss of the Bonanno Crime Family, soon will be deported to Canada, according to reports by UPI and the New York Daily News.

Montagna entered the U.S. through Canada as a teenager. Montagna's attorney said the government, frustrated at finding no grounds to prosecute Montagna, was deporting his client over a 2003 contempt of court conviction that violated the terms of his U.S. residency. Sources differ on the country of Montagna's birth. The Daily News reports that Montagna was born in Montreal but raised in Sicily. The UPI reports that he was born in Sicily. He was arrested April 6 by agents of the FBI and Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Aside from the contempt conviction, Montagna has not been charged with a crime in the U.S.

Montagna is believed to have risen to the command of the Bonanno organization about 2006 after previous bosses Joseph Massino and Vincent "Vinny Gorgeous" Basciano were successfully prosecuted.

Leak threatened 'most important witness'

A leak of information about turncoat Mafiosi Nicholas Calabrese could have led to the death of "the most important organized crime witness that has ever testified in this district, and perhaps in the entire United States," FBI Special Agent Michael Maseth stated in court earlier this week.

Maseth was testifying at the trial of Deputy U.S. Marshal John Ambrose, who is accused of revealing confidential details about Calabrese while Calabrese was in the witness protection program. The leak is believed to be the first ever for the program, according to a Chicago Tribune story. Calabrese cooperated in the Family Secrets case, helping the federal government jail several senior members of the Chicago Outfit.

Gambling suspect dies in NYPD custody

Samuel Nastasa, 72, suffered an apparent heart attack and died while being arrested in a Brooklyn gambling raid early Tuesday afternoon, according to a story by Alison Gendar and John Marzulli of the New York Daily News.

Police raided the Banner Civic Social Club on 72nd Street at about 1:30 p.m. Authorities believed the club to be a gambling den run by the Bonanno Crime Family and considered Nastasa a caretaker of the club.

Nastasa collapsed as he was being cuffed. Detectives reportedly called for an ambulance and administered CPR. Nastasa was taken to Lutheran Medical Center in Brooklyn, where he was declared dead at 3:10 p.m.

A report issued through the police commissioner's office indicated that Nastasa's death was due to natural causes and suggested that Nastasa had a preexisting medical condition. Nastasa's family told the press that he had no known medical problems. Relatives blamed the police for taking too long to get him help.

Grand jury indicts St. Laurent for murder plot

A federal grand jury in Providence, Rhode Island, on Wednesday indicted New England mobster Anthony "the Saint" St. Laurent Sr. for plotting to murder another high ranking member of the regional crime family, according to a story by the Providence Journal and a press release from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Rhode Island.

St. Laurent (left), 65, is already serving a 56-month sentence for extortion. He is held at the medical facility at Fort Devens, Massachusetts.

The grand jury indicted St. Laurent of planning with others in 2006 to murder reputed New England crime family caporegime Robert "Bobby" DeLuca Sr. According to prosecutors, St. Laurent - while in prison - was looking to hire someone to kill DeLuca. He allegedly told fellow inmates that the killing of DeLuca had been approved by Luigi "Baby Shacks" Manocchio, reputed boss of the Providence, RI, based Mafia organization.

Prosecutors say DeLuca has repeatedly accused St. Laurent of being an informant for state and federal law enforcement agencies.

Four Secrets defendants to pay $24 million

Chicago mob bosses, convicted of racketeering and murders in the 2007 Family Secrets trial, have been ordered to pay more than $24 million in fines and restitution to their victims, according to stories by Mike Robinson of the Associated Press and Chuck Goudie of WLS-TV Chicago.

One defense attorney called the amount "ridiculous."

Judge James Zagel yesterday ordered Frank Calabrese Sr., Joseph Lombardo, James Marcello and Paul Schiro to pay $4.3 million as restitution to the families of 14 men who were killed by the mob. (Back in October, prosecutors calculated that the victims' families were owed $3.9 million in lost wages.) Calabrese, Lombardo and Marcello were found guilty of racketeering and murders. Schiro was convicted of racketeering. He was charged with racketeering murder, but a jury deadlocked on the question of his guilt.

The remainder of the $24 million, the judge said, "represents the total amount of proceeds acquired and maintained by the Chicago Outfit since the 1960s" in criminal endeavors charged in the Family Secrets trial.

Family Secrets defendant Anthony Doyle, convicted of racketeering but not charged with murder, was assessed a fine of $44,225.

Ill 'Roach' seeks early out from prison

After serving 21 years of a 25-to-life sentence for heroin trafficking, Anthony "Tony Roach" Rampino, 70, is asking a Manhattan judge to let him out of prison, according to stories in the New York Daily News and Newsday. 

In requesting a resentencing, Rampino's attorney argued that today's laws would limit his client's prison term to 20 years. The attorney also said Rampino was in ill health with heart and respiratory problems. Justice Arlene Goldberg is considering the arguments.

Rampino (right, much younger), reputed associate of the Gambino Crime Family, is widely believed to have performed a backup role in the 1985 assassination of former Gambino boss Paul Castellano. He is also suspected of participating in the 1980 murder of late Gambino boss John J. Gotti's neighbor John Favara. Authorities say Rampino was never inducted into the crime family because of his drug use.

No public cash for Gotti defense lawyer

Manhattan federal Judge Kevin Castel has ruled that John A. "Junior" Gotti will not be able to acquire public funds to pay his attorney Seth Ginsberg and two paralegals, according to a story by Thomas Zambito of the New York Daily News.

Gotti, 45, is facing his fourth racketeering trial this September. The son of the late Gambino Crime Family boss John J. Gotti, John A. Gotti admits previous involvement in racketeering and pleaded guilty to the charge in 1999. However, he insists he separated himself from the crime family years ago - beyond the statute of limitations for the more recent charges brought against him.

Judge Castel offered to appoint a public defender for Gotti, if he could not afford legal counsel. "Trial will not take place until Sept. 14, 2009, and there is ample time for new counsel to become fully familiar with the case," Castel wrote.

Nick Calabrese gets 12+ years

A federal judge today sentenced Chicago Outfit hitman Nicholas Calabrese to 12 years and four months in prison, according to published accounts by the Chicago Tribune and the Chicago Sun-Times. Calabrese, who became the only "made" member of the Chicago Outfit to testify against the organization in court, admitted involvement in a number of Mafia murders. He was convicted of killing 14 people.

In the Family Secrets trial of 2007, Nicholas Calabrese testified against his older brother Frank Calabrese Sr. and other leaders of the Outfit. His testimony helped to secure convictions and long prison sentences for several Outfit bosses.

Nicholas Calabrese, 67, will be credited for time already served. A previous loansharking sentence expired in 2002, but he has remained in prison since that time, as he cooperated with authorities. He is expected to serve an additional for years in prison.

Carneglia convicted of racketeering, murders

Charles Carneglia, once a trusted hitman for Gambino Crime Family boss John J. Gotti, was convicted in Brooklyn federal court today of racketeering and gangland murders, according to a story by John Marzulli and Larry McShane of the New York Daily News and other published accounts.

The jury reportedly reached its decision Monday night. It found Carneglia (right) guilty of four murders, racketeering, extortion and robbery. His victims were armored car guard Jose Delgado Rivera, Gambino soldier Louis DiBono, and reputed crime family associates Sal Puma and Michael Cotillo. The jury could not agree on whether he committed a fifth murder, that of court officer Albert Gelb in 1976. It found Carneglia not guilty of a conspiracy charge.

A press release from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York provided details on the Carneglia murders. Cotillo was stabbed to death during a fight between two Gambino factions in front of a Queens diner in 1977. Puma was stabbed to death in 1983 over a dispute concerning the delivery of money to a jailed member of Carneglia's underworld "crew." DiBono was shot to death in 1990 on orders of John J. Gotti. DiBono had refused to meet with Gotti when the crime boss summoned him. Rivera was shot and beaten to death during a 1990 robbery of an armored truck at the American Airlines facility at JFK Airport.

Carneglia faces a possible sentence of life in prison with no possibility of parole. He argued, apparently unconvincingly, that he had left the Mafia life back in 2001, putting his offenses beyond the statute of limitations for federal racketeering charges.

Prosecutors said Carneglia dissolved some of his victims' bodies with acid.

"We sincerely hope that today's verdict brings a measure of closure to the families of Carneglia's victims," U.S. Attorney Benton Campbell said. "They have waited years for this day because the Gambino Family used violence and intimidation to silence witnesses and protect its members."

Carneglia was one of 62 alleged members and associates of the Gambino, Genovese and Bonanno Crime Families arrested on Feb. 7, 2008. Carneglia is the only defendant to insist upon a trial - 60 others have reached plea deals.

Bonanno associate Young sentenced to life

Joseph Young, former associate of the Bonanno Crime Family, was sentenced last week to a mandatory term of life imprisonment for a 2008 murder conviction and other crimes, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York.

Young, 30, was convicted of the March 29, 2005, murder of Robert McKelvey. According to prosecutors, Young belonged to a Bonanno crew led by crime family soldier Gino Galestro. Galestro ordered the murder of McKelvey, who was also a crew associate, after McKelvey openly boasted of the criminal organization's activities.

McKelvey was lured to the historic Kreischer Mansion on Staten Island by another crime family associate. Young worked at the mansion as a caretaker and lived there. Young stabbed McKelvey as he entered the mansion. The victim fled. Young tackled McKelvey and dragged him to a garden pool, drowing him there. Young and three Bonanno associates dismembered McKelvey's body and burned the remains in the mansion's furnace. Ashes and bone fragments were later disposed of in the facility's septic system.

Galestro previously pleaded guilty to ordering the McKelvey murder.

Young was also convicted of arson, attempted arson, extortion, gunpoint robbery, robbery conspiracy, assault, and illegal purchases and transport of firearms.

"Young's gruesome criminal conduct reminds us that organized crime is alive and well," said U.S. Attorney Benton J. Campbell. "We will continue to prosecute the members and associates of organized crime who engage in such wanton acts of violence in our communities."

Chicago's 'Twan' Doyle gets 12 years

The last of Chicago's Family Secrets defendants, former police officer Anthony "Twan" Doyle, was sentenced today to 12 years in prison, according to a story by Steve Warmbir of the Chicago Sun-Times.

Doyle (left), 64, was convicted of racketeering in the 2007 Family Secrets case. His four codefendants already have been sentenced. James Marcello, Joseph Lombardo and Frank Calabrese Sr., convicted of racketeering and murders, were sentenced to life in prison. Paul Schiro, convicted of racketeering, was sentenced to 20 years.

Prosecutors charged that Doyle was an associate of the Chicago underworld organization known as the Outfit since the 1960s. He became a member of the local police force in 1980.