https://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/ny ... story.html
The love child of late Genovese mob boss Vinnie “The Chin” Gigante was socked with two years in prison Friday for a 16-yearlong union shakedown.
Vincent Esposito “personally extorted” a union official out of annual payments of more than $10,000, prosecutors said. In 2014 he sent a message to the union rep that he was “gonna be in for a big surprise” if that year’s tribute was not made, prosecutors said.
He pleaded guilty to racketeering conspiracy in April.
When Esposito, 51, was arrested last year at his Upper East Side townhouse, authorities found a disassembled and unregistered revolver, brass knuckles, a knife in a holster and a whopping $3.8 million in cash. Esposito, whose mother was Gigante’s longtime mistress Olympia Esposito, agreed to forfeit that amount.
“It is probably fair to say that qualifying for membership in an organized crime family does not happen overnight,” Manhattan federal court Judge Victor Marrero said, adding that a person doesn’t become a made man through “public charity, solid citizenship and caring for widows and orphans.”
When Esposito, 51, was arrested last year at his Upper East Side townhouse authorities found a disassembled and unregistered revolver, brass knuckles a knife in a holster and a whopping $3.8 million in cash.
When Esposito, 51, was arrested last year at his Upper East Side townhouse authorities found a disassembled and unregistered revolver, brass knuckles a knife in a holster and a whopping $3.8 million in cash. (Court Document)
The judge added the old-school mob scheme had undermined an institution dedicated to workers’ rights.
“By his own admission, for more than a decade Vincent Esposito made millions with members of the Genovese Crime Family by extorting payments, demanding kickbacks, committing fraud, and instilling fear. Today Esposito has been sentenced to prison for racketeering conspiracy," Manhattan U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman said.
Esposito’s four-story home was monitored by the FBI in the 1980s as the feds pursued Gigante, considered the city’s most powerful mob boss.
[More New York] Battle lines drawn over weekend ICE raids »
Agents spied the Chin behaving like a healthy, rational man, undercutting his long con feigning mental illness in the presence of law enforcement.
Gigante died in federal lockup in December 2005.
Esposito’s attorney Jeffrey Lichtman said he was pleased with the sentence and mocked prosecutors’ aggression.
When Esposito, 51, was arrested last year at his Upper East Side townhouse authorities found a disassembled and unregistered revolver, brass knuckles a knife in a holster and a whopping $3.8 million in cash.
When Esposito, 51, was arrested last year at his Upper East Side townhouse authorities found a disassembled and unregistered revolver, brass knuckles a knife in a holster and a whopping $3.8 million in cash. (Court Document)
“We were told by the government he was facing 10 years. Their case, frankly, was a joke,” he said.
Esposito’s sentence comes on the heels of double acquittals for the alleged head of the Bonanno crime family and his consigliere. The trial of reputed Philly mob boss Joseph “Skinny Joey” Merlino ended in mistrial in February 2018. He later pleaded guilty to a single illegal gambling charge and was sentenced to two years in prison.
Lichtman said Manhattan federal prosecutors’ recent cases against mobsters were weak.
[More New York] Stand clear of the sweaty pores; heat soars on subway platforms »
“They like the high-profile nature of the mob. But frankly, their investigations are pathetic and their witnesses are even worse,” he said.
https://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/ny-vincent-esposito-sentenced-20190719-mq4pfvehvbb3vdz6kp7bkzwgwy-story.html
The love child of late Genovese mob boss Vinnie “The Chin” Gigante was socked with two years in prison Friday for a 16-yearlong union shakedown.
Vincent Esposito “personally extorted” a union official out of annual payments of more than $10,000, prosecutors said. In 2014 he sent a message to the union rep that he was “gonna be in for a big surprise” if that year’s tribute was not made, prosecutors said.
He pleaded guilty to racketeering conspiracy in April.
When Esposito, 51, was arrested last year at his Upper East Side townhouse, authorities found a disassembled and unregistered revolver, brass knuckles, a knife in a holster and a whopping $3.8 million in cash. Esposito, whose mother was Gigante’s longtime mistress Olympia Esposito, agreed to forfeit that amount.
“It is probably fair to say that qualifying for membership in an organized crime family does not happen overnight,” Manhattan federal court Judge Victor Marrero said, adding that a person doesn’t become a made man through “public charity, solid citizenship and caring for widows and orphans.”
When Esposito, 51, was arrested last year at his Upper East Side townhouse authorities found a disassembled and unregistered revolver, brass knuckles a knife in a holster and a whopping $3.8 million in cash.
When Esposito, 51, was arrested last year at his Upper East Side townhouse authorities found a disassembled and unregistered revolver, brass knuckles a knife in a holster and a whopping $3.8 million in cash. (Court Document)
The judge added the old-school mob scheme had undermined an institution dedicated to workers’ rights.
“By his own admission, for more than a decade Vincent Esposito made millions with members of the Genovese Crime Family by extorting payments, demanding kickbacks, committing fraud, and instilling fear. Today Esposito has been sentenced to prison for racketeering conspiracy," Manhattan U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman said.
Esposito’s four-story home was monitored by the FBI in the 1980s as the feds pursued Gigante, considered the city’s most powerful mob boss.
[More New York] Battle lines drawn over weekend ICE raids »
Agents spied the Chin behaving like a healthy, rational man, undercutting his long con feigning mental illness in the presence of law enforcement.
Gigante died in federal lockup in December 2005.
Esposito’s attorney Jeffrey Lichtman said he was pleased with the sentence and mocked prosecutors’ aggression.
When Esposito, 51, was arrested last year at his Upper East Side townhouse authorities found a disassembled and unregistered revolver, brass knuckles a knife in a holster and a whopping $3.8 million in cash.
When Esposito, 51, was arrested last year at his Upper East Side townhouse authorities found a disassembled and unregistered revolver, brass knuckles a knife in a holster and a whopping $3.8 million in cash. (Court Document)
“We were told by the government he was facing 10 years. Their case, frankly, was a joke,” he said.
Esposito’s sentence comes on the heels of double acquittals for the alleged head of the Bonanno crime family and his consigliere. The trial of reputed Philly mob boss Joseph “Skinny Joey” Merlino ended in mistrial in February 2018. He later pleaded guilty to a single illegal gambling charge and was sentenced to two years in prison.
Lichtman said Manhattan federal prosecutors’ recent cases against mobsters were weak.
[More New York] Stand clear of the sweaty pores; heat soars on subway platforms »
“They like the high-profile nature of the mob. But frankly, their investigations are pathetic and their witnesses are even worse,” he said.