Trucchio gets life sentence

Ronald J. "Ronnie One Arm" Trucchio, convicted Tampa-area racketeer, was sentenced March 2 to life in prison, according to a story in the Orlando Sentinel.

Trucchio was convicted in November of leading a Tampa, FL, crew of the New York-based Gambino Crime Family.

Steven Catalano, convicted along with Trucchio, was sentenced to 16 years behind bars.

Related MobNews posts:

• Tampa jury frightened by Trucchio investigators 12-08-06
• Gambino's Tampa crew convicted 11-30-2006
• Trucchio defends himself, for now 10-18-2006
• Tampa Gambino crew goes on trial 10-16-2006
• Gotti tapes link him & dad to Uva murders 06-23-2006
  

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Colombo brothers beat racketeering charges

A jury delivered a split verdict Feb. 27, finding brothers Anthony and Chris Colombo not guilty of the most serious racketeering charges against them, according to a story by Kati Cornell of the New York Post.

Chris Colombo was found guilty only of two counts of gambling, an offense he and his attorney admitted to during the trial. Anthony Colombo was acquitted of all charges against him.

The sons of slain mob boss Joseph Colombo had been accused of racketeering and extortion. Prosecutors argued that the two men used a public perception of underworld ties to advance illegal schemes.

Related MobNews posts:

• Colombo attorney scoffs at racketeering charge 02-08-07
• Colombo had 'hook' in state prosecutor 01-29-07
• Colombo judge rules against the M-word 01-23-07
• Colombo admits gambling, denies intimidation 01-19-07
• Colombo's sons head to trial this week 01-16-07
• Colombo son objects to use of crime family name 11-30-06

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'Chinky' Facchiano, 96, pleads guilty

Ninety-six-year-old Albert "Chinky" Facchiano reached a plea deal with federal prosecutors today and admitted to racketeering conspiracy in Florida and to conspiracy to tamper with a witness in New York, according to an Associated Press report.

Facchiano was charged in Florida along with other reputed members of an aging Genovese Crime Family wing. Prosecutors accused him of participating in rackets involving robberies, money-laundering and bank fraud between 2000 and 2003. He was also indicted last year in New York on charges of trying to locate and intimidate a government witness in 2005.

In declining health, he is likely to receive a sentence of house arrest. Sentencing is scheduled for May 25, according to a story by Jessica Gresko of the AP.

Six other Florida co-defendants, including Genovese capo Renaldi Ruggiero, 73, have pleaded guilty. Ruggiero admitted to his position within the crime family as part of a plea deal. He has not yet been sentenced. The guilty plea excludes Facchiano from an extensive New York case, involving more than 30 alleged members of the Genovese Family.

Facchiano's arrest record dates back to 1932. He was convicted of racketeering in 1979 and served eight years of a 25-year sentence.

Related MobNews posts:

• Ruggiero admits to being Genovese capo 02-02-07
• Facchiano indicted in two states 01-04-07
• Guilty plea from Fla. Genovese associate 12-30-06
• Florida Mafia case based on wiretaps 08-16-06
• Four Floridians held without bail 07-08-06
• Feds break up Florida arm of Genovese family 07-01-06

Hells Angels on trial in Seattle

Jury selection began today for the racketeering trial of four current and former members of a Hells Angels chapter in the State of Washington, according to a story by David Bowermaster of the Seattle Times.

Defendants in the case are Richard "Smilin' Rick" Fabel, Joshua Binder, Rodney Rollness and Ricky Jenks. Fabel served as president of the Washington Nomads chapter and as leader of the Hells Angels west coast region. Binder and Rollness were reportedly members of the Nomads until 2003. Jenks reportedly is still a member.

The four are charged under the RICO anti-racketeering statute with participating in a criminal enterprise that has engaged in murder, kidnapping, witness tampering, extortion and other crimes. Rollness and Binder are specifically charged with the murder of Michael "Santa" Walsh on July 21, 2001.

The prosecution case is expected to involve more than 125 witnesses and consume about 10 weeks.


Related MobNews posts:

• Netherlands to ban Hells Angels 01-19-07
• Hells Angels trial ends with plea deal 10-13-06
• Hells Angels on trial for deadly brawl 09-29-06
• Canada, US bust drug ring 06-30-06
• Gangsters in Winnipeg, Canada 06-06-06
• Hells Angels-Bandidos conflict in Texas 05-25-06

RICO guilty plea from Brighton Brigade members

Three members of the Syracuse NY-based Brighton Brigade gang have pleaded guilty to racketeering offenses and face up to life in prison when sentenced, according to a press release from the United States Attorney for the Northern District of New York.

Karriem "Calo" Williams, 28, Andre "Dre Dre" Robinson, 30, and Bobby "Pino" Everson, 20, were charged with racketeering involving multiple acs of drug trafficking, attempted murder, robbery, witness tampering, and monopolization of crack cocaine distribution within a specific territory within Syracuse. Prosecutors say the gang used hand signs, tan and gray-colored bandanas and tattoos to identify members.

The three defendants each could be sentenced to life in prison and a $250,000 fine.

Cases against 11 co-defendants are pending.

Rio's 'Carnival of Death'

A recent story by Jens Glusing of Spiegel Online International explores the violence of this year's Carnival season in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

According to the story, dozens of mutilated corpses have been discovered within stolen cars. The victims had been tortured, possibly due to a violent rivalry between competing drug gangs. Those gangs have also engaged in recent firefights in city streets.

The violence reportedly did not disturb Rio's enormous pre-Ash Wednesday parades and other celebrations.

Governor Sergio Cabral said he will consult with Colombia, which has had success battling gang violence in Bogota and Medellin, on methods for resolving the problem.

Brazil's Finance Minister, Guido Mantega, was briefly taken hostage when hooded gunmen broke into the home of businessman Victor Garcia Sandri during a Carnival barbecue on Tuesday, according to an Associated Press story. About 10 guests were with Sandri at the time. The gunmen threatened a "bloodbath" if the guests did not give them money. Authorities say the assailants did not recognize Mantega.

Sao Paulo is also experiencing violence. FoxNews reported that two teenage couples were killed by unidentified gunmen at a plaza in the city's eastern section yesterday. Three of the teens were killed immediately. The fourth died at a local hospital. They were sitting at the plaza having a conversation when gunmen opened fire from an automobile.

Four Florida police face life in prison

Four police officers from Hollywood, FL, face life prison sentences as the result of a federal sting operation, according to a story by Brian Haas and Vanessa Blum of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.

Federal authorities revealed the details of "Operation Tarnished Badge" on Friday. They say the four officers protected and transported diamonds, artwork, bonds and heroin for what they believed was a New York-based crime family. The crime family was actually an undercover operation by federal agents.

Detective Kevin Companion, 41, is charged with being the ringleader of the group. After meeting with the undercover agents in December 2004, he allegedly recruited Sgt. Jeffry Courtney, 51, Officer Stephen Harrison, 46, and Detective Thomas Simcox, 50, to aid him in a criminal enterprise. All the officers have been charged with extortion through the misuse of their public positions and conspiracy and attempted possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute.

Simcox remained at large of Friday (he is expected to turn himself in to authorities tomorrow), as the other three officers were brought before U.S. Magistrate Lurana Snow. The magistrate set bond for Companion at $350,000, for Courtney at $375,000, and for Harrison at $300,000.

Three of the four officers were previously investigated by the police department, according to the Sun-Sentinel.

Los Niches Cartel leader gets 30 years

A Colombian drug lord has been sentenced to 30 years in prison plus five years of supervised release for shipping 50,000 kilograms of cocaine into the United States, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York.

Jorge Eliecer Asprilla-Perea was sentenced in Manhattan yesterday by U.S. District Judge Thomas P. Griesa. Asprilla-Perea, 51, was the reputed head of a cocaine distribution organization known as the "Los Niches Cartel."

He pleaded guilty to cocaine importation and distribution charges in May 2002. In a post-plea stipulation, he admitted to trafficking cocaine valued at more than $1 billion.

Authorities say he operated his organization from inside a jail cell in Cali, Colombia, before being extradited to the U.S. late in 2000, with full diplomatic assurances that neither the death penalty nor life in prison would be sought by prosecutors.

Details of Mele's death revealed

During a recent bail hearing for a reputed Bonanno Crime Family underboss, prosecutors referred to the Jan. 16 death of Louis "Louie Cigars" Mele, according to stories by John Marzulli of the New York Daily News and Stefanie Cohen of the New York Post.

Mele (right), believed to have been a soldier in the Bonanno family, reportedly died of a heart attack during a Texas Hold 'Em poker game at a private social club at Long Island's Alpha Plaza. He was 71. Supervising that poker game is one of the charges federal prosecutors have brought against reputed underboss Nicholas "Nicky Mouth" Santora and reputed consigliere Anthony "Fat Anthony" Rabito.

Mele's death was mentioned in court after Santora's lawyer asked to have his client freed on bail because of recent heart surgery. Prosecutor Greg Andres noted that the heart surgery had not prevented Santora from attending Mele's wake. Andres tossed in the comment: "He actually died, I believe, at the Texas Hold 'Em game."

Mele's claim to fame was serving as driver for the late Bonanno chieftain Carmine "Lilo" Galante, who was shot to death at Joe & Mary's Italian American Restaurant on July 12, 1979.

No autopsy was performed on Mele, as the death was not suspicious.

Related MobNews posts:

• 19 alleged Bonanno racketeers indicted 02-09-07
• Reputed mobsters accuse housewife of con 12-26-06

Authorities nab Hong Kong DVD pirates

Customs officers in Hong Kong arrested 14 people and seized 120,000 pirated DVD movies last week, according to a report by the Bangkok Post.

Two days of raids at 20 locations concluded a year-long investigation into the piracy ring. The individuals arrested included 11 men and three women. Albert Chan, the officer in charge of the raids, linked the piracy ring to traditional Chinese criminal organizations known as Triads.

The DVDs were reportedly made in mainland China and smuggled into Hong Kong. Officials in Hong Kong have made cracking down on illegal disk copying a priority.

EU: Bulgaria must act against mobsters

Franco Frattini, justice commissioner of the European Union, said today that new union member state Bulgaria must act quickly against organized criminals in order to avoid sanctions, according to a Bulgarian news agency story.

Frattini noted Bulgaria's progress in passing laws related to organized crime and governmental corruption. "Now the courts have to speed up trials," he said. "Arrests aren't enough. We are waiting for sentences."

And it seems the European Union won't wait much longer. The organization cold impose sanctions - including withholding financial help and preventing Bulgarian court rulings from being recognized in other European states - as soon as June.

Bulgarian authorities are criticized for securing no convictions to date of organized criminals connected with a wave of gangland murders. More than 150 killings have been attributed to organized crime since 2001.

After some hesitation related to Bulgaria's handling of its rampant organized crime problem, the European Union officially welcomed Bulgaria into its ranks last month.

Related MobNews posts:

• Bulgaria forms undercover unit to battle Mafia 09-13-06
• Bulgaria busts money-laundering group 07-21-06
• Bulgarian mob trafficks in newborns 07-18-06
• Bulgaria breaks up bootleg cigarette operation 06-08-06
• Bulgaria battles organized crime 06-02-06
• Organized crime in Bulgaria 05-13-06

Gangs reach into the suburbs

The growing influence of violent street gangs in suburban neighborhoods is described in a Feb. 19 report by WCBS-TV in New York.

According to the report, gangs are deliberately recruiting children in affluent areas because of their access to money and vehicles.

Parents were warned to be on the lookout for signs of gang involvement by their children: a change in friends, the wearing of extemely baggy clothes aways with the same color combination, and secrecy about activities.

Former Adams henchman tells of UK crime family

U.K.'s Sunday Mirror contained an interesting report on North London's Adams Crime Family, based upon the recollections of a man who served as an Adams associate for a decade. Reputed boss Terry Adams was recently jailed. The article documents some of the 23 murders charged against his gang, also known as the "A-team."

Related MobNews post:

North London gang boss jailed 02-08-07

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Triads suspected in seven Germany murders

Police investigating the shooting deaths of six people in a Chinese restaurant in northern Germany lost their only witness last week, when a seventh victim succumbed to his injuries, according to a story published by Spiegel Online International.

The male victim had been taken to a local hospital in critical condition after the Feb. 4 shootings. He died the next day.

The six other victims - three men and three women - were killed in a apparent gang execution in the "Lin Yue" restaurant in Sittensen, near Hamburg. Some of the victims had their hands tied. All of them were shot in the head. Among the victims were the husband-and-wife owners of the establishment.

A two-year-old girl was found alive in the restaurant as the bodies were discovered shortly after midnight.

Authorities are considering whether the murders might be the work of a Triad Society, an ethnic Chinese organized crime entity. Triads are active in Hong Kong and mainland China but have also worked their way into Chinese communities around the globe.

According to the online report: "Rumor has it that the presence and size of a fish tank in a Chinese restaurant is an indication of whether it pays protection money, and how much. The more fish in the tank, the more money the restaurant has to pay. In the US, Triads are believed to have extorted restaurant owners by charging $500 per fish for fish food. A dead fish found floating in the tank is a warning to the owners."

The "Lin Yue" restaurant has an indoor pond with fish in it.

Harlem underworld featured in new book

A retired professor of library sciences has penned "Gangsters of Harlem: The Gritty Underworld of New York's Most Famous Neighborhood."

Ron Chepesiuk's latest work earned the notice of Karen Blair of the Rock Hill (SC) Herald this week. According to Blair's story, "Gangsters of Harlem" deals with early Mafia influences, the Prohibition Era and the later black gangsters.

For the book, Chepesiuk interviewed two of the more famous 1970s-era Harlem gang lords, Leslie "Sgt. Smack" Atkinson and Frank "Superfly" Lucas.

Chepesiuk previously wrote, "Drug Lords: The Rise and Fall of the Cali Cartel." He said he is now working on a book on black gangsters in Chicago.