Lucchese raids net 29 arrests

Two sets of raids on the Lucchese Crime Family of New York resulted in 29 arrests on Oct. 1.

Among those arrested on state enterprise corruption, bribery and other charges were two reputed members of the organization's leadership panel, Joseph DiNapoli, 74, of the Bronx, and Matthew Madonna, 73, of Selden.

Six years for DiNunzio

The New England Crime Family's Boston-based underboss, Carmen "Cheese Man" DiNunzio, was sentenced Sept. 24 to serve six years in prison after pleading guilty of bribery charges.

Gotti's fourth trial opens

John A. "Junior" Gotti's fourth racketeering trial in the past five years opened today in New York.

Carneglia gets life in prison

Gambino Crime Family soldier Charles Carneglia was sentenced Sept. 17 to life in prison for a racketeering and murder conviction.

Jerry Angiulo dies at 90

Gennaro "Jerry" Angiulo, 90-year-old former underboss of the New England Crime Family, died today of kidney failure at Massachusetts General Hospital.

Prisco gets life in prison

The Genovese Crime Family's New Jersey crew leader Angelo Prisco, 69, was sentenced Aug. 18 to life in prison for cooperating in the murder of Angelo Sangiuolo and for conducting a series of home invasion robberies.

DiNunzio pleads guilty to bribery

Carmen "Cheese Man" DiNunzio, reputed leader of the New England Mafia's Boston branch, pleaded guilty July 1 to bribery charges related to the Boston area's "Big Dig" highway construction project.

Chicago West Sider Tornabene dies at 86

Alfonso "Pizza Man" Tornabene, reportedly a high-ranking member of the Chicago Outfit, died May 17 at the age of 86, according to a story by Bon Goldsborough printed in today's Chicago Tribune. The story indicated that Tornabene died at MacNeal Hospital in Berywyn of complications related to peptic ulcer disease.

Authorities say Tornabene (right), once owner of Villa Nova Pizzeria, was a member of the Outfit for decades. A 1997 book by the Chicago Crime Commission identified him as a lieutenant within the leadership of the Outfit's West Side Crew, then reportedly run by Anthony Centracchio.

Court documents show that he and Joseph "Joey Doves" Aiuppa presided over a 1983 induction ceremony for the criminal society. Among those inducted were Frank Calabrese Sr. and his brother Nick, both of whom figured prominently in the recent Family Secrets case. During the Family Secrets trial, a mob informant testified that Tornabene helped run the Outfit while boss James Marcello was in prison between 1992 and 2003.

In the summer of 2007, a news report by Chuck Goudie of WLS-TV in Chicago suggested that Tornabene might have risen to the position of consigliere in the crime family. The Chicago Sun-Times boosted him still further, speculating he might have taken over the position of boss.

Tornabene was the cousin of Sam "Wings" Carlisi, a former influential member of the Outfit. Authorities believe Tornabene's late brother Frank was also affiliated with the organization.

67-year-old Gambino deported

U.S. officials deported Rosario Gambino, 67, to Italy on May 23. Gambino, a cousin of former crime family boss Carlo Gambino, was linked to Pizza Connection heroin and cocaine smuggling rackets in the 1970s and 1980s.

Alleged Bonanno crew indicted in Florida

Eleven residents of Florida's Palm Beach and Broward Counties were indicted May 21 on federal racketeering charges, according to a report by Don Jordan of the Palm Beach Post. Prosecutors say the 11 comprised a crew of the New York-based Bonanno Crime Family, to which they made regular tribute payments.

The 11 defendants are Thomas Fiore, 46, Palm Beach; Billie Robertson, 34, Boynton Beach; Lee Klein, 39, Boynton Beach; Daniel Young, 57, Delray Beach; Guy Alessi, 81, Delray Beach; Kenneth Dunn, 44, Boca Raton; Nicholas Fiore, 49, Boca Raton; Frank D'Amato, 48, of West Palm Beach; Pasquale Rubbo, 43, Coral Springs; Joseph Rubbo, 45, Coral Springs; and Marc Broder, 42, Coral Springs.

Prosecutors say Thomas Fiore (right) is an associate of the Bonanno Crime Family and the leader of its South Florida operations. None of the defendants is accused of being a formally inducted or "made" member of the criminal organization. Prosecutors say the crew engaged in fraud, narcotics trafficking, gambling and extortion.

The group was reportedly exposed through the work of an undercover FBI agent who posed as a corrupt businessman. The agent won the crew's trust by appearing to aid its money-laundering operations. The agent wore a hidden recording device to capture crew member conversations, according to a story by Curt Anderson of the Miami Herald.

Thomas and Nicholas Fiore and Pasquale and Joseph Rubbo were free on probation or supervised release after recent guilty pleas relating to other Bonanno criminal activities, prosecutors said.

Thomas Fiore pleaded guilty to state racketeering charges last year, according to the Miami Herald. While on probation, federal agents discovered a firearm during a search of his home. He was subsequently arrested for possession of the firearm. Then, as he was held on the possession charge, Fiore allegedly attempted to obstruct justice by asking someone else to claim ownership of the weapon. Prosecutors charge that Fiore burned down his own fitness center business in 2007 to defraud his insurance company.

U.S. deports Rosario Gambino, 67

Rosario Gambino, 67, was turned over to Italian authorities today, the Associated Press reported. Believed to be a leading member of the New York-based Gambino Crime Family, the cousin of former family boss Carlo Gambino was deported by the United States.

Rosario Gambino was linked to the Pizza Connection heroin and cocaine smuggling racket of the late 1970s and early 1980s. According to Italian police, Gambino was held in a California detention center since 2007, as he awaited expulsion.

Gambino will be brought to trial in Italy on drug and other charges.

New England mobster Danny Angiulo dies

Donato "Danny" Angiulo, convicted New England Mafia racketeer, has died at the age of 86, according to reports by the Boston Globe and the Boston Herald.

Angiulo (left) died Sunday night at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center after a long illness. Funeral arrangements are being handled by the Dello Russo Funeral Home in Medford, Massachusetts, Angiulo's hometown. A funeral Mass is scheduled for Friday, May 8, 11 a.m., at St. Leonard Church in Boston's North End.

Angiulo, once a caporegime in New England's crime family, served 11 years in prison after a 1986 conviction for racketeering, gambling and loansharking. Upon his release from prison in 1997, some wondered if he would take control of what remained of the Patriarca crime family, then decimated by successful prosecutions. Donato Angiulo's brother, Gennaro Angiulo, once served as underboss of the crime family. Gennaro also was sentenced to a long prison term in 1986. He was paroled in 2007 and is now 90 years old.

An electronic listening device installed in the crime family's North End headquarters in 1981 gathered evidence of Angiulo illegal activities. Two other brothers, Francesco and Michele, were also convicted of participating in those activities.

Imprisoned Mafia Cops are separated

Louis Eppolito and Stephen Caracappa, the so-called "Mafia Cops" serving life sentences in federal prison for moonlighting for the Mob, have been split up, according to a story by John Marzulli of the New York Daily News.

The two men, partners as detectives on the New York Police force, had been sharing a prison cell, locked down 23 hours a day. Caracappa, 67, recently was moved to Victorville Penitentiary in California. He had asked for a prison assignment on the East Coast. Eppolito, 60, is awaiting a placement decision from the U.S. Bureau of Prisons.

Deputy U.S. marshal guilty of leaking info

A jury yesterday found John T. Ambrose, former deputy U.S. marshal, guilty of leaking information about federal witnesses, according to published accounts. He was acquitted on two counts of lying to federal agents.

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Ambrose (right) was convicted of stealing and leaking information from the file of Nicholas Calabrese, a former Chicago mobster who aided prosecutors on the Family Secrets Case and was placed in the Witness Protection Program.

Federal agents became aware of the leak after they bugged the visitors room at a prison in Milan, Michigan, where Chicago Outfit boss James Marcello was held. During a visit by Marcello's brother Michael, the two men were overheard discussing an underworld ally within federal law enforcement.

The Marcellos referred to their "mole" in law enforcement as "the Babysitter" and indicated that he was the son of a former Chicago policeman who went to prison years ago after extorting money from drug dealers. From that information, federal authorities decided that Ambrose was the source of their information leak.

Ambrose's jury deliberated for three days, according to a story by the Chicago Tribune. One of the jurors had to be excused from the 12-person panel because she was sick with flu-like symptoms. The law permits a jury of 11 to reach a verdict.

Ambrose remains free on bond. He is expected to appeal. Judge John Grady provided grounds for appeal when he was slow to stop the playing of an FBI video recording of the two mobsters discussing Ambrose. The judge ordered the jury not to consider the tape as evidence.

Prisco convicted of 1992 Sangiuolo hit

Angelo Prisco, 69-year-old lieutenant in the Genovese Crime Family, was found guilty yesterday of conspiring to kill his first cousin, Angelo Sangiuolo, in 1992, according to a story by Thomas Zambito of the New York Daily News. Prisco (right) also was convicted of participating in a string of gunpoint robberies in the 1990s and of extorting money from individuals and businesses.

Prosecutors say Vincent "the Chin" Gigante, then boss of the Genovese clan, ordered the hit on Sangiuolo. Prisco then assigned underling John Leto and another man to kill Sangiuolo. The victim was lured to a Bronx social club and told to get into a van with Leto, who shot him to death, prosecutors say. The body was left in the van, as Leto drove away in a car with Prisco.

Prisco's trial lasted two weeks, according to a press release distributed by the FBI. He faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in prison and a maximum possible sentence of life in prison. He is scheduled for sentencing on July 23.

Prosecutors say Prisco was inducted as a member of the Genovese Family in the late 1970s and later was promoted to capodecina. He oversaw a crew of Genovese soldiers and associates in New York City and nearby New Jersey. A state inquiry was launched several years ago when Prisco, a resident of Toms River, New Jersey, was paroled from a New Jersey prison just four years into a 12-year sentence for arson and conspiracy.