Gangland March 21st 2024

[Dr031718]

Feds Say 86-Year-Old Wiseguy Should Stay Where He Belongs: Behind Bars

The US Parole Commission recently paroled the so-called Gemini Twins, the Murder Machine mobsters in their 60s who were each convicted of 10 gruesome mob murders that included victims who were dismembered and disposed of like household garbage.

But that ruling came thanks to the timing of the murders that the Twins — Anthony Senter and Joseph Testa — committed. They are "old law" killings, and the moribund USPC has jurisdiction over inmates convicted of pre-1987 murders.

It no such luck for ailing 86-year-old Colombo wiseguy John (Jackie) DeRoss. In court papers, federal prosecutors state that DeRoss deserves to die in prison for his controversial conviction for aiding and abetting the 1999 murder of then-Colombo underboss William (Wild Bill) Cutolo.

The feds' declaration came in their reply to DeRoss's motion for compassionate release. Prosecutors told Central Islip Federal Judge Joanna Seybert that DeRoss, who has been behind bars since 2002 and was found guilty in 2007 of Cutolo's murder, should receive "the same compassion he showed to Cutolo and his family — none."

"That he may now have a compendium of health conditions," wrote assistant U.S. attorney Sean Sherman, "is not surprising given his advanced age" when the Court sentenced the 70-year-old DeRoss. "Nor was it unforeseeable," Sherman wrote, "that the defendant would grow old and ultimately die in prison" for "the defendant's appalling, murderous conduct."

DeRoss and acting Colombo boss Alphonse (Little Allie) Persico were convicted of Cutolo's murder in December of 2007 even though DeRoss was not shown to have played any role in the actual killing or the plot to whack Wild Bill,

The feds also got one aspect of the hit dead wrong: Prosecutors convinced a jury — wrongly — that mobster Vincent (Chickie) DeMartino met Wild Bill in Brooklyn, killed him and dumped his body into the Atlantic at a Long Island marina. In October, 2008, Cutolo was found far from a watery grave when FBI agents unearthed his remains from a Farmingdale gave.

In his closing argument, prosecutor John Buretta used Persico's phone records that had nothing to do with Wild Bill's murder to buttress the government's claim of a deep sea burial.

The records showed that 20 minutes after Wild Bill was last seen in Bay Ridge, Persico received a call from a pay phone located near "DeMartino's place of business." Less than an hour later, Persico called a Long Island marina, the records showed. "It's not a coincidence," Buretta told the jury, "that while Cutolo is in the process of being taken to be murdered, Persico's checking on the marina."

The prosecutor coupled that phone call with a remark later made by DeMartino after Wild Bill had disappeared that "they're never going to find his body." Buretta argued that the two events – Perscio's call to the marina and Chickie's comment – indicated Cutolo's body had been tossed in "the sea" which was a "pretty good place for Persico's minions to take a dead body."

The mistake about Cutolo's burial was not enough to convince Seybert who denied defense motions for a new trial. The murder convictions were "not based on the theory that Persico or DeRoss pulled the trigger" or were "present at Cutolo's murder" on May 26, 1999, she wrote. "The (actual) burial location does not contradict the Government's theory of the actual murder," the judge wrote, noting that prosecutors "presented more than sufficient evidence to establish that the Defendants ordered Cutolo' s death."

DeRoss's trial lawyer, Robert LaRusso, had argued that his client's links to the killing were nonexistent. "There was no evidence — neither a single witness who testified nor a shred of documentary proof — that Mr. DeRoss aided and abetted in the disappearance of Cutolo," the lawyer wrote. "Indeed," LaRusso wrote, "the (government's) proof did not evidence Mr. DeRoss's participation in any pertinent meetings prior to Cutolo's disappearance or any contact with Cutolo around the time of his disappearance."

The Second Circuit Court of Appeals agreed with Seybert's take. It stated in a 57-page decision that there was "no likelihood that innocent men had been convicted, no injustice in the guilty verdicts, and no error or abuse of discretion in the district court's conclusion that the discovery of Cutolo's body did not warrant a new trial."

The appeals court agreed "there was no eyewitness testimony" that DeRoss had ordered Cutolo's murder on May 26, 1999. But there was other evidence jurors could have used to convict Jackie, including testimony by turncoat mobster Joseph (Joe Camp) Campanella that in mid-April 1999, "Jack DeRoss asked me how you feel about killing Wild Bill," adding that "he was serious."

In addition, the Court wrote, "On May 27 at 5 or 6 AM — barely eight hours after Cutolo could be considered missing," DeRoss arrived at Cutolo's home and "demanded" that his wife Peggy give him her husband's "records and the papers" regarding Wild Bill's large loanshark book. "There wasn't a tear in his eye," she testified. "I knew at that point that my husband was dead."

In 2012, in a separate trial, prosecutors argued a different theory of Cutolo's murder: There, they argued that Colombo capo Dino (Big Dino) Calabro, who became a cooperating witness, shot and killed Cutolo in 1999 in a plot along with capo Thomas (Tommy Shots) Gioeli and mobster Dino (Little Dino) Saracino in the basement of Saracino's Bensonhurst home, and that they buried Wild Bill near Gioeli's home in Farmingdale.

That jury wasn't convinced: In the sometimes wacky world of criminal justice in federal court, that jury acquitted Gioeli and Saracino of Cutolo's murder despite the testimony by admitted gunman Calabro, and three other witnesses, that Big Dino had killed him in Litle Dino's home, and despite hearing a tape recorded talk in which a Colombo soldier told how he helped Gioeli and Saracino bury Wild Bill near Gioeli's home in Farmingdale.

In his response to DeRoss's current appeal, AUSA Sherman cited sentencing remarks that Cutolo's widow and her daughter Barbara had submitted about both defendants in asking Judge Seybert to deny compassion to DeRoss. ("They) took a life of one man and destroyed a family's life to cover it up," they said. "Their lives should be taken from them. Then, and only then, in our eyes justice will be served."

DeRoss's lawyer filed his entire motion for compassion and his reply to the government's strong objection under seal, instead of redacting only the medical records that support Jackie's request under the First Step Act of 2018. So it's unclear whether the attorney tried to cast any doubt on his client's guilt in the case as "compelling and extraordinary" reasons for his release.

Regarding his medical reasons, the prosecutor wrote that DeRoss is "able to perform most activities of daily living independently," and is able to "function in a correctional environment," according to the Warden of the federal prison hospital in Springfield, Missouri, where the wiseguy is currently housed.

In fact, Sherman wrote, the Warden reported that DeRoss had "improved physically" in recent months. And according to Bureau of Prisons records, Sherman wrote, "The defendant has not shown that he is experiencing a serious deterioration in physical or mental health because of the aging process."

Since his medical conditions are neither unique nor life threatening they are not "compelling and extraordinary," and his motion should be denied, Sherman wrote. "Moreover," the prosecutor added, "even if he made that showing, the Court should deny his application because of the serious nature of his offense" and "to ensure adequate punishment (and) deterrence."

DeRoss is a "violent member of the Colombo crime family, and a convicted murderer" who took over as the crime family's "new underboss" shortly after Wild Bill was murdered and his compassionate release "motion should be denied," Sherman argued.

Meanwhile, as Jackie DeRoss awaits a decision from Judge Seybert about where he will spend his remaining years, the Gemini Twins are already home or soon headed that way: Luchese mobster Testa, 69, awaits his release on parole next month from the Terminal Island prison in San Pedro CA, and Senter, 68, is serving home confinement as he awaits his official parole from a BOP halfway house in June.

Tough Day For Mob Capo & Genovese Chieftain's Sweetheart As Their Daughter Gets Sentenced For Cocaine Sales Rap

He was facing double-digit years so it didn't hurt much when Luchese capo Joseph (Big Joey) Lubrano was sentenced to 57 months more than a dozen years ago. But it had to sting last week as he watched Brooklyn Federal Judge Carol Amon mete out a prison term of 22 months to his daughter Amanda for selling a kilogram of cocaine to an undercover operative last year.

Lubrano and a large group of Amanda's friends and loved ones packed Judge Amon's courtroom to show their support for his 31-year-old daughter as she faced the music for her crime. Among her supporters was her mother, Nancy Rossi, who penned a loving letter of support for her daughter, who was hoping for a sentence of probation.

Yes, she's that Nancy Rossi. Her sister Lisa pleaded guilty to fraud last month for running a phony woman-owned business to steal millions of dollars in city and state funds in cahoots with a mob-tied contractor. Her sweetheart is Genovese boss Liborio (Barney) Bellomo, with whom she owns a building lot in Westchester where they are planning to build a home. Bellomo was not among Amanda's many supporters in the courtroom.

In seeking probation, lawyer Kevin Faga cited many "letters of support" that "describe Amanda as a "loving, kind, dependable and supportive" woman who "consistently puts the interests and well-being of others ahead of her own needs." Faga asked Judge Amon to pay "particular attention" to the one that her mother, Nancy Rossi, had submitted. Judge Amon surely read it, but like all the submitted letters, Faga filed it under seal and Gang Land couldn't.

"Under all the facts and circumstances of this case," probation was "reasonable and appropriate" for his client, Faga wrote. She has "accepted responsibility for her criminal conduct" and states that codefendant Ilena Bagga was involved in the crime "only because" Amanda asked her to.

"Amanda is not a cold, calculating, ruthless or repeat offender" and should not get a guidelines sentence of 30 to 37 months, Faga wrote. She was "a nervous, uncertain young woman, who perhaps romanticized the event or tried to sound seasoned" when she called off the cocaine sale to a "confidential informer" by stating "the area was 'hot' but was quickly coaxed into completing the transaction," he wrote.

Prosecutor Lindsey Oken agreed that Amanda Lubrano deserved a "below guidelines" sentence but recommended a two year prison term, disagreeing wholeheartedly with Faga's claim that Amanda's actions during the coke sale were of a “nervous, uncertain young woman” who merely “tried to sound seasoned.”

Citing tapes and texts during a two week period in January of last year when she was negotiating sales of up to six kilograms of cocaine at $22,000 a kilo, Oken wrote that Lubrano "embraced an active role in arranging the purchase and delivery of significant quantities of illegal narcotics, serving as a liaison between her drug supplier and customers."

"Indeed," she wrote, "Lubrano negotiated and arranged the sale of multiple kilograms of drugs in order to generate tens of thousands of dollars in cash. Nor was this a onetime lapse in judgment by someone who was “coaxed” into completing a drug transaction," the prosecutor continued.

"The government's investigation revealed that defendant Lubrano's involvement in narcotics trafficking began years before her arrest," Oken wrote, noting that the information she pleaded guilty to charged "her with conspiring to distribute and possess with intent to distribute cocaine between June 2020 and January 2023."

From 2018 through 2023, a time frame that Lubrano had monthly living expenses of "nearly $5,000," Oken wrote, the defendant had "no legitimate employment" except for earnings the prosecutor labelled a "passive income" from "an investment" in a Williamsburg bar and restaurant that was "inadequate to cover her reported monthly expenses."

On January 18, 2023, after several hours of calls and text messages with two cooperating witnesses using Signal, an encrypted messaging service that the feds were monitoring, Lubrano and Bagga were arrested in a Queens parking lot after Lubrano placed a shopping bag containing a kilogram of coke into a car driven by one of the informers.

Before the exchange took place however, as Lubrano sat alone in her car, Bagga pulled next to her in a Jeep, got out of the car, and walked "around the parking lot." Lubrano suddenly called off the sale, telling an informer the area was "hot," and Bagga drove her car out of the parking lot, according to the prosecutor.

"Lubrano remained inside her car," Oken wrote, and eventually agreed to go ahead with the deal "in a recorded conversation" with one snitch. Minutes later, after Bagga drove back to the lot, Lubrano got out of her car, "removed a shopping bag" from Bagga's car that contained "one brick of cocaine" and "placed in the trunk" of the second informer's car, the two women were arrested.

In seeking a two year prison term for Lubrano, Oken told Amon that "the nature and circumstances of the offense" were serious and that "Lubrano actively negotiated a large-scale drug transaction, offering to procure six kilograms of cocaine in a single transaction" for her customers.

"Bagga's involvement was less significant," the prosecutor said, and she deserved 10 months in prison.

Amon gave Lubrano two months less than what the prosecutor wanted but agreed with Oken's recommended sentence of ten months for her codefendant, but ordered that the last four months be served at home. The women, who each received three years of post-prison supervised release, remained free on bond. They were ordered to self-surrender to their assigned prisons on May 7.

Amanda's 53-yeqr-old dad, Big Joey Lubrano, hasn't had any trouble with the law since his 57-month prison term ended almost ten years ago. The Luchese skipper surely hopes that his daughter has a similar post-prison relationship with the law as her old man.

Feds Want To Keep Carmine Pizza's Cash, And Revoke His Bail Too; Judge Say No

Genovese capo Carmelo (Carmine Pizza) Polito just got bad news about the $2200 he says the FBI wrongly took from him a month ago. He's not getting it back, and it was only $2040. Worse, the feds say the cash and other evidence they have is proof he's been working for mob boss Liborio (Barney) Bellomo before trial and he belongs locked up, behind bars, now.

Prosecutors say FBI agents seized the cash — along with two burner cell phones he had — as Polito walked out of a Whitestone, Queens "members only" social club on February 6, after family associate and codefendant Joseph (Joe Box) Rutigliano had left.

This, say prosecutors Anna Karamigios and Sean Sherman, is a "flagrant" violation of his bail conditions that bar him from meeting with codefendants without their lawyers. Not that flagrant that they asked Brooklyn Federal Judge Eric Vitaliano to revoke Rutigliano's bail,

But Carmine Pizza's bail should be revoked, the prosecutors told Vitaliano. In addition to spending time with Joe Box in a mob social club, Polito has been using a "burner" phone for many months, as long ago as December of 2022 – four months after he was hit with racketeering charges and released on bail. He's been using it to communicate with numerous other Genovese mobsters including acting capo Anthony (Rom) Romanello.

From December of 2022 until June of last year, the prosecutors wrote, Polito used "Signal, an encrypted communication application" for 74 phone conversations he had with Michael Sellick, a family associate who is Romanello's son-in-law.

Sellick and DiPietro robbing jewelry store in May 2023Carmine Pizza's phone calls to Sellick ended on June 4, 2023, because that's when Sellick and four cohorts, including Genovese soldier Frank (Skip) DiPietro, were arrested by the FBI and charged with the early morning armed robberies of two Manhattan jewelry stores of $1.6 million in gems. DiPietro got 10 years in prison last month. Sellick is slated to be sentenced next month.

Attorney Gerald McMahon, who represents Polito as well as Romanello, who is awaiting sentence next month for his one punch extortion conviction of a Manhattan restaurateur, did not address the government's allegations that Polito was contacting family mobsters and associates in his reply to Judge Vitaliano.

He wrote that the "government's speculation" that the source of the $2,040 was tied to crime family business was "wildly inappropriate" since a Pretrial Services Report made clear that "Polito was earning $9,100 per month from his job" and that "he and his wife had $18,000 in savings and checking accounts at the time of his arrest."

In addition, McMahon wrote, "males carrying in their pants pocket bills in denominational order is a sign of organization — not organized crime!"

Rather than contest the government's allegations, the lawyer noted that since the trial is set to begin in three months, he offered up "home incarceration" as a compromise solution to revoking bail, noting that for McMahon who is "fast approaching his 77th birthday" to prepare "for trial with a client in jail is not a situation conducive to a favorable or even fair outcome."

Conditions at the Metropolitan Detention Center, "are not – to put it mildly – conducive to numerous, lengthy attorney-client meetings to prepare for a multidefendant 'organized crime' trial," he wrote.

"The purposes of bail will have been satisfied," McMahon wrote, if Vitaliano ordered "home incarceration" as a "24-hour-a-day lockdown" situation for Polito "except for medical appointments, court appearances, meetings with attorney(s) and counseled co-defendant meetings on two days prior written notice to Pretrial Services."

After a back and forth with both sides yesterday, Vitaliano stated he was reluctant to put anyone in the MDC until there was a marked improvement in conditions. He ordered home incarceration with the conditions McMahon suggested. But it wasn't a permanent get-out-of-jail pass, the judge warned the wiseguy. Next time he screws up, Vitaliano told Polito, his bail will be revoked.

[Shellackhead]

Thanks for posting

Crazy how DeRoss got life when he had no involvement in the murder of Cutolo. RICO really decimated the Mob

[johnny_scootch]

A captains daughter selling kilos to undercovers has to be a first.

[Ivan]

No mention of Garaufis, did he and Jerry break up or something?

Nice Gangland this week, and refreshingly free of everyone's favorite wise-crackin' smack-talkin' judge (I fucking hate that shit). Thanks for posting.

[SonnyBlackstein]

Do we have more info on Frank skip Dipietro? Pic?
"Sellick and DiPietro robbing jewelry store in May 2023"
This reads as though there's a pic.

Interesting as well the feds have 'proof he's working with Barney'

Hope this goes to trial.

[johnny_scootch]

Do we have more info on Frank skip Dipietro? Pic?
"Sellick and DiPietro robbing jewelry store in May 2023"
This reads as though there's a pic.

Longtime Lucchese associate and brother of Genovese captain Rocky DiPietro. The picture you mentioned is probably from his case last year when they were casing the places they were going to rob and maybe of the robberies in progress I can’t remember.

[SonnyBlackstein]

Do we have more info on Frank skip Dipietro? Pic?

Longtime Lucchese associate and brother of Genovese captain Rocky DiPietro. The picture you mentioned is probably from his case last year when they were casing the places they were going to rob and maybe of the robberies in progress I can’t remember.

Great stuff JS.
Interesting article on Rocky.
https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-news/43537163/
Checked BoP and he was released 1983 so never convicted of the murder. Been out of jail since then. Interesting guy.
Their old man, was a Westside Capo who disappeared, obv presumed murdered.

Couple of questions 'How did you know Skip DiPietro was on record with the Lukes? His father was a Westside Capo, brother becomes a member and Capo, now hes made with the Westside. Doesnt seem likely or logical hed be an associate with another family.
&
Are there any Pics of Capo Rocky? I can find one of Skip, but not Rocky.

Cheers and best

[johnny_scootch]

Couple of questions 'How did you know Skip DiPietro was on record with the Lukes? His father was a Westside Capo, brother becomes a member and Capo, now hes made with the Westside. Doesnt seem likely or logical hed be an associate with another family.
&
Are there any Pics of Capo Rocky? I can find one of Skip, but not Rocky.

Cheers and best

He was charged as a Lucchese associate back in the 90’s when he did 20 years for killing a witness. Don’t forget how close the Lucchese & Genovese families are in some parts of NY. Relatives wind up with different families all the time. Same thing as Georgie Rush Zappola a Genovese member whose son and brother ended up with the Luccheses.

If you do a search you can probably find a gangland article from last year that talks about Frank and his past. Also you might want to check out the LCN Bios post on Georgie Rush if I remember correctly Rocky DiPietro started out with his crew might be some other info there I’m forgetting.

[PolackTony]

Couple of questions 'How did you know Skip DiPietro was on record with the Lukes? His father was a Westside Capo, brother becomes a member and Capo, now hes made with the Westside. Doesnt seem likely or logical hed be an associate with another family.
&
Are there any Pics of Capo Rocky? I can find one of Skip, but not Rocky.

Cheers and best

He was charged as a Lucchese associate back in the 90’s when he did 20 years for killing a witness. Don’t forget how close the Lucchese & Genovese families are in some parts of NY. Relatives wind up with different families all the time. Same thing as Georgie Rush Zappola a Genovese member whose son and brother ended up with the Luccheses.

If you do a search you can probably find a gangland article from last year that talks about Frank and his past. Also you might want to check out the LCN Bios post on Georgie Rush if I remember correctly Rocky DiPietro started out with his crew might be some other info there I’m forgetting.

Also to further underscore how family ties don’t always equal Family affiliation, Carlo DiPietro’s BIL was Frank Mari, if I’m not mistaken.

[Philly d]

Anyone know where the club in whitestone is?

[AntComello]

Lubranos daughter is a bull dyke. Not hating just putting it out there lol I follow her on IG she seems to be about that life

[Tonyd621]

That whole colombo faction of Tommy Gs should be in jail for life for what they did to their friend Greaves.

[SonnyBlackstein]

He was charged as a Lucchese associate back in the 90’s when he did 20 years for killing a witness. Don’t forget how close the Lucchese & Genovese families are in some parts of NY. Relatives wind up with different families all the time. Same thing as Georgie Rush Zappola a Genovese member whose son and brother ended up with the Luccheses.

If you do a search you can probably find a gangland article from last year that talks about Frank and his past. Also you might want to check out the LCN Bios post on Georgie Rush if I remember correctly Rocky DiPietro started out with his crew might be some other info there I’m forgetting.

Great info. Cheers and thanks!

[dreww]

77 years old with 18k in savings

[Brovelli]

Polito had 18k savings, he’s in his 50s or early 60s.