Racketeer Schiro gets 20 years in prison

Paul "the Indian" Schiro, 71, convicted of racketeering in the Family Secrets trial of September 2007, was sentenced yesterday to 20 years in prison, according to reports by CBS2Chicago and by Jeff Coen of the Chicago Tribune.

Though the Family Secrets jury did not convict Schiro (right) on a racketeering murder charge, U.S. District Court Judge James Zagel said he considered the 1986 murder of Emil Vaci when calculating Schiro's sentence. Vaci was killed in Phoenix, Arizona, after Chicago mob bosses felt he was cooperating in a federal investigation.

Schiro was indignant at his sentencing and denied that he was involved with Chicago's underworld. "There's no evidence of racketeering I can see at all," he said. "I went to trial with codefendants I never met in my whole life."

Federal officials say Schiro has been a career criminal and was once a close friend to Anthony Spilotro. The Chicago Outfit sent Spilotro to Las Vegas in the early 1970s to watch over its casino investments there. Spilotro was killed in 1986.

Former FBI agent Connolly gets 40 years, but...

John J. Connolly, a former FBI agent recently convicted of second-degree murder, has been sentenced to 40 years in prison, according to a story by Shelley Murphy of the Boston Globe. However, the judge in the case believes it is unlikely that the conviction will stand on appeal.

Judge Stanford Blake of Miami-Dade Circuit Court noted that a defense challenge citing the statute of limitations was legally correct. Blake said he could not throw out the conviction because the defense argument was not made until almost a month after the verdict was returned.

Connolly (left), 68, is already serving a sentence in federal prison that continues until 2011. He was recently convicted of leaking information to Boston area mobsters James "Whitey" Bulger and Stephen "the Rifleman" Flemmi that led to killing of potential government witness John B. Callahan. Callahan had knowledge of Bulger's and Flemmi's role in the 1981 killing of Jai Alai businessman Roger Wheeler. Callahan's body was found Aug. 2, 1982, in the trunk of his car at Miami International Airport.

Judge refuses Gotti bail request

A Manhattan federal judge has denied release on bail to John A. "Junior" Gotti, according to a story in the New York Daily News. Gotti (right) is awaiting yet another racketeering trial in New York. His last three such trials ended in hung juries.

Judge Kevin Castel also denied Gotti's request to have his latest case transferred to Judge Shira Scheindlin, who presided over the three Gotti mistrials. The defense argued that Scheindlin was familiar with the background of the case.

Gotti acknowledges having been a part of the Gambino Crime Family leadership but claims he gave up the Mafia life years ago. He was indicted in Tampa, Florida, for three racketeering murders and drug trafficking. He pleaded not guilty to the charges in August. Early in December, his lawyers succeeded in having his trial moved from Tampa back to New York.

Alite Targeted

Former mobster John Alite was targeted for assassination, Federal prosecutors revealed earlier this month, according to a story by Thomas Zambito of the New York Daily News. Alite, an old friend of Gotti, is expected to testify against Gotti in his upcoming racketeering trial. Alite was part of a Gambino Crime Family crew engaged in rackets in western Florida.

Prosecutors noted there is no evidence that Gotti was involved in plotting against Alite. Defense attorney Charles Carnesi said the prosecutors mentioned the murder plot in a bail motion related to Gotti, "to be inflammatory. Even they acknowledge he had nothing to do with it."

Imprisoned Scala, 65, succumbs to cancer

Salvatore "Fat Sal" Scala, 65, died Dec. 29 in Butner Federal Medical Center in North Carolina, according to a story by John Marzulli of the New York Daily News. Scala was serving a six-year sentence for extorting money from a Manhattan strip club.

Authorities suspect that Scala (right) was one of four men involved in the 1985 assassination of Gambino Crime Family boss Paul Castellano. That assassination allowed John J. Gotti to take command of the Gambino organization. However, Scala was never charged with Castellano's killing.

Battling liver cancer, Scala requested an early release. The request was denied by the federal prisons system, despite the recommendation of the judge who sentenced him last year. In a letter to prisons director Harley Lappin, federal Judge Lewis Kaplan wrote, "At the time of sentencing I made clear my view that his offense, though serious, did not in my view warrant his dying in prison. I respectfully urge you to look into this man's situation with a view to the possibility of compassionate release of this apparently dying man."

Uvino convicted of Long Island beatings

Michael Uvino, reputed captain in the Colombo Crime Family, was convicted by a federal jury on Christmas Eve of beating two men, according to a story by John Marzulli of the New York Daily News. The victims reportedly had set up a robbery of poker players at a Long Island social club. Uvino was convicted along with Philip Costanza and Brian Dono. Codefendant John Tripi was acquitted.

Gotti attorneys request Judge Scheindlin

Attorneys for John A. "Junior" Gotti have asked that their client's upcoming racketeering trial be held before Manhattan federal Judge Shira Scheindlin, according to a story by John Marzulli of the New York Daily News.

Scheindlin presided over Gotti's last three racketeering trials, all of which ended in mistrials. The Gotti camp believes that Scheindlin is fair and that her familiarity with Gotti history will ensure a swift trial.

Gotti, 45, is awaiting transfer from Florida back to New York. Prosecutors transported him south for arraignment and hoped to try him in the Tampa area. But a federal judge ruled that the trial should be held in New York.

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.

Racketeer indicted for murder of NYPD cop

Joel Cacace, former acting boss of the Colombo Crime Family, has been indicted for the 1997 murder of off-duty New York Police Officer Ralph Dols, according to a story by John Marzulli of the New York Daily News.

Cacace is currently serving a 20-year prison sentcned for racketeering and conspiring to murder a U.S. prosecutor.

Dols was linked to the Colombo clan through his marriage to Kimberly Kennaugh. Kennaugh was Cacace's ex-girlfriend. She also was the ex-wife of Colombo Crime Family soldier Enrico Carini. Dols, just 28 and the father of three children, was shot five times on his way home from work on Aug. 25, 1997. At the time, then-Mayor Rudolph Giuliani said the killing had been well planned and had been performed "execution-style."

Dino Calabro and Dino Saracino are also charged in the Dols killing, according to the Daily News.

Thomas "Tommy Shots" Gioeli, reputed to be the current boss of the Colombo family, has been indicted for participating in the 1999 killing of William "Wild Bill" Cutolo. The victim's remains were discovered buried at a site in Farmingdale NY. Former acting boss Alphonse "Allie Boy" Persico was convicted of participating in that killing.

Prosecutors credit information supplied by Colombo soldier Joseph "Joey Caves" Competiello for helping to solve the old murder cases.

Artuso sentenced to nine years for fraud

Vincent Artuso, 64, was sentenced Dec. 16 to nine years in federal prison for his involvement in real estate fraud, according to a story published by the International Herald Tribune.

Artuso was convicted of 41 fraud and racketeering charges in October. The charges stemmed from a number of real estate deals that cost ADT Security Services Inc. at least $11 million.

According to U.S. Attorney William T. Shockley, Artuso was a made member of the Gambino Crime Family supervising a crew based in Palm Beach, Florida. Artuso is believed to have been a close ally of the late Gambino boss John J. Gotti. Shockley said he has evidence indicating that Artuso was present at the Dec. 16, 1985, assassination of former boss Paul Castellano in Manhattan (left). That killing paved the way for Gotti to take control of the crime family.

Sicilian mobster dies in custody

Italian police say imprisoned reputed Mafia boss Gaetano Lo Presti, 52, hanged himself in his cell Dec. 16, according to stories by the BBC and UPI.

Lo Presti (right) had been arrested earlier in the day, part of a roundup of almost 100 alleged Mafiosi. Italian officials believed LoPresti was boss of a Mafia clan in a district of Palermo. Police say the Mafia leadership has been working to establish a ruling council and possibly a supreme boss of the organization. Bernardo Provenzano, the underworld organization's most powerful boss for many years, was arrested in April 2006. A successor, Salvatore LoPiccolo, was arrested in November 2007.

Officials say Lo Presti was found dead in his cell after he read police wiretap transcripts tying him to efforts to establish a provincial "commission."

Calabrese letter asks about his son

In a lengthy letter from Frank Calabrese Sr. to family friend Frank Coconate, the jailed Calabrese asks a series of questions about his son, who testified against him during the Family Secrets trial. The point of the questions seems to be that Frank Calabrese Jr. testified in order to profit financially from his father's underworld career. Frank Sr. also seemed to be trying to determine the whereabouts of his son and other members of his family. The discovery of the letter occurred at the same time that Frank Sr. was moved into solitary confinement.

Click for the text of the letter.

Click for a video report by ABC7-Chicago.

NJ racketeer linked to '05 Ricci killing

Federal prosecutors say New Jersey racketeer Tino Fiumara is their prime suspect in the 2005 murder of Genovese Crime Family bigshot Lawrence Ricci, according to a story by John Marzulli of the New York Daily News.

Ricci disappeared Oct. 7, 2005, as he was on trial for waterfront racketeering. His remains were found in the trunk of a car parked at a New Jersey diner.

Investigators believe Fiumara (right), reputed lieutenant in the Genovese organization, had Ricci killed because Ricci refused to plead guilty in the case and allow his longshoremen union official codefendants to stand trial on their own.

According to the Daily News, federal agents are working to convince crime family lieutenant Michael "Mikey Cigars" Coppola, now awaiting trial for a 1977 murder, to cooperate in the investigation of Fiumara.

Fiumara is believed to be a major power within the Genovese organization. Authorities say he commands waterfront labor rackets in New Jersey. In 1979, he was convicted of labor racketeering and extortion. He was sentenced to 15 years in prison. In 2000, he was convicted of violating the terms of his parole by secretly meeting with other members of the Genovese Crime Family.

The Genovese family has reportedly been without an official boss since the death of Vincent "the Chin" Gigante three years ago.

11 months later, Feds unveil Alite deal

A plea deal arranged between federal prosecutors and Tampa-based racketeer John E. Alite, 46, was kept under wraps for almost 11 months, according to a story by Kevin Graham of the St. Petersburg Times.

Under the terms of the deal, revealed by prosecutors today, Alite admitted involvement in two murders, four murder conspiracies, eight shootings and two attempted shootings, home invasions and armed robberies. At the time he was also accused of gambling, drug trafficking, extortion, money laundering, kidnapping and other racketeering offenses in connection with the Gambino Crime Family.

According to the Times story, Alite said he participated in the Dec. 20, 1998, murder of George Grosso and the Nov. 20, 1991, killing of Bruce John Gotterup. Among the murder conspiracies he admitted participating in was the 1990 conspiracy to kill Louis DiBono. Those three murder cases were also part of the recent federal racketeering indictment of John A. "Junior" Gotti.

Alite and Gotti reportedly were once close friends. The U.S. Attorney's Office in Tampa said Gotti signed as a witness on Alite's 1989 marriage license. There is speculation that Alite will be called as a government witness against Gotti in an upcoming racketeering trial in New York. The government's last three racketeering cases against Gotti have not resulted in convictions. Prosecutors attempted to try him in Tampa on the latest charges, but Gotti's attorney succeeded in having the trial moved to New York.

In 2004, criminal charges were lodged against Alite and other members of a Gambino Crime Family crew based in the Tampa area. Ronald "Ronnie One Arm" Trucchio and three co-defendants were convicted of conspiracy and racketeering in the valet business. Alite's trial was delayed. He was in Brazil and fought extradition to the U.S.

Prosecutors were keeping quiet about the Alite plea deal, but a federal judge ordered them to turn the plea information to defense attorneys for Charles Carneglia, charged with RICO violations. Alite could be called as a witness against Carneglia.

Outfit bosses request later sentencing

James Marcello and Frank Calabrese Sr., both convicted of participation in Chicago-area racketeering murders in last year's Family Secrets trial, have asked a federal judge to postpone their sentencing, according to a report broadcast by WANDTV-17 in Illinois. Calabrese was scheduled for sentencing tomorrow. Marcello's sentencing was to be Dec. 17.

Gotti trial moved back to New York

Suggesting that U.S. prosecutors have engaged in "forum shopping," U.S. Judge Steven Merryday yesterday ruled that John A. "Junior" Gotti's latest racketeering trial must be moved from Tampa, FL, to New York City, according to a story by Thomas Zambito of the New York Daily News.

Gotti (left), 44, was indicted in Tampa for three racketeering murders and drug trafficking. He pleaded not guilty to the charges in August. Federal prosecutors, who have failed to win convictions in three racketeering cases against him in New York, hoped for better luck in Tampa. Gotti was arrested and transported to Tampa, where he has been held without bail.

Gotti's attorneys argued that a trial in Tampa would be a large financial burden on the Gotti family. They noted that nearly all the charges against their client were based on incidents in New York.

In Judge Merryday's decision, he outlined the repeated frustrations of federal prosecutors and stated that the Justice Department's decision to try Gotti in Florida "creates the unmistakable and disquieting impression of forum shopping."

Gotti is the son of former Gambino Crime Family boss John J. Gotti, who was known for a time as the Teflon Don for his ability to escape prosecution.