by outfit guy » Mon Feb 24, 2020 3:55 pm
See below.
An increasingly violent conflict has broken out between the Luchese organized-crime family and New Jersey-based Cuban-emigre organizations over New York City's illegal numbers rackets, police and prosecutors said yesterday.
Prosecutors said it was tensions over storefront gambling operations that led to the murder last month of Pedro Acosta, 37 years old, who officials said was linked to a Union City-based Cuban crime organization called La Compania.
On Thursday, prosecutors charged that the killing was ordered by Robert J. Hopkins, 38, of Manhattan. They said he controlled as many as 100 illegal gambling establishments in New York City and law-enforcement officials have said he was tied to the Luchese crime family. Mr. Hopkins was released on bail yesterday after posting a $1 million surety bond.
Dispute Over Rackets
Robert M. Morgenthau, the Manhattan District Attorney, who announced Mr. Hopkins's arrest, said the killing - witnessed by hundreds of people waiting in a movie line near 72d Street and Third Avenue in Manhattan - was the aftermath of ''failed negotiations'' between Mr. Hopkins's group and members of La Compania.
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Police and prosecutors say that although violence between Cuban-led factions has been raging since a split between them last year, a more recent move by the larger of the two groups to obtain a bigger portion of the lucrative New York numbers rackets, or illegal lotteries, represents a new turn in organized crime.
At the time of the killing, Mr. Hopkins was under surveillance by detectives in connection with an eight-month investigation into illegal gambling in New York City. They had followed him to a restaurant near the movie line. What Detectives Heard
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At a bail hearing on Thursday night, Assistant District Attorney John Mulcahy told Judge Ira Globerman of State Supreme Court that detectives at the scene had overheard Mr. Hopkins say to an associate: ''Hurry up, let's get out of here before it happens.'' Seconds later, Mr. Mulcahy said, Mr. Acosta was shot dead. No one has been charged with the shooting.
Mr. Hopkins referred questions about the case to Mr. Rosen, who declined to comment.
Prosecutors say that Mr. Hopkins's gambling operations, which were earning as much as $500,000 a week, are mostly comprised of small storefronts that pay protection money to Mr. Hopkins's group. According to one law-enforcement source, Mr. Hopkins's group was negotiating with La Compania over the number of Cuban-controlled storefronts that would be allowed to operate without being molested by the Luchese interests.
A Federal commission on organized crime said last year that La Compania had extensive operations in Florida and West New York, N.J., and was led by Jose Miguel Battle Sr., a former Havana police officer.
Murder charges against a man said to be a major organized-crime figure were dismissed yesterday by a State Supreme Court justice who ruled that evidence suggesting that the defendant had prior knowledge of the crime and had been at the scene was insufficient to try him.
The justice, Jerome W. Marks, dismissed the murder charges against Robert J. Hopkins, a former Trump Tower resident who has been linked by law-enforcement officials to the Lucchese crime family, and against Mr. Hopkins's associate, Alexander Rizzo.
Both men are still charged, however -along with 11 co-defendants - with operating a $500,000-a-week illegal betting ring through 100 storefronts in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx. Key Evidence Lacking
The decision, released yesterday by Justice Marks at a pretrial hearing in State Supreme Court in Manhattan, threw out the most serious charges in a two-year-long investigation by the Manhattan District Attorney's office. They accused Mr. Hopkins and Mr. Rizzo of ordering the murder of Pedro Acosta, a 37-year-old member of a rival gambling organization led by Cuban emigres.
See below.
An increasingly violent conflict has broken out between the Luchese organized-crime family and New Jersey-based Cuban-emigre organizations over New York City's illegal numbers rackets, police and prosecutors said yesterday.
Prosecutors said it was tensions over storefront gambling operations that led to the murder last month of Pedro Acosta, 37 years old, who officials said was linked to a Union City-based Cuban crime organization called La Compania.
On Thursday, prosecutors charged that the killing was ordered by Robert J. Hopkins, 38, of Manhattan. They said he controlled as many as 100 illegal gambling establishments in New York City and law-enforcement officials have said he was tied to the Luchese crime family. Mr. Hopkins was released on bail yesterday after posting a $1 million surety bond.
Dispute Over Rackets
Robert M. Morgenthau, the Manhattan District Attorney, who announced Mr. Hopkins's arrest, said the killing - witnessed by hundreds of people waiting in a movie line near 72d Street and Third Avenue in Manhattan - was the aftermath of ''failed negotiations'' between Mr. Hopkins's group and members of La Compania.
ADVERTISEMENT
Continue reading the main story
Police and prosecutors say that although violence between Cuban-led factions has been raging since a split between them last year, a more recent move by the larger of the two groups to obtain a bigger portion of the lucrative New York numbers rackets, or illegal lotteries, represents a new turn in organized crime.
At the time of the killing, Mr. Hopkins was under surveillance by detectives in connection with an eight-month investigation into illegal gambling in New York City. They had followed him to a restaurant near the movie line. What Detectives Heard
You have 2 free articles remaining.
Subscribe to The Times
At a bail hearing on Thursday night, Assistant District Attorney John Mulcahy told Judge Ira Globerman of State Supreme Court that detectives at the scene had overheard Mr. Hopkins say to an associate: ''Hurry up, let's get out of here before it happens.'' Seconds later, Mr. Mulcahy said, Mr. Acosta was shot dead. No one has been charged with the shooting.
Mr. Hopkins referred questions about the case to Mr. Rosen, who declined to comment.
Prosecutors say that Mr. Hopkins's gambling operations, which were earning as much as $500,000 a week, are mostly comprised of small storefronts that pay protection money to Mr. Hopkins's group. According to one law-enforcement source, Mr. Hopkins's group was negotiating with La Compania over the number of Cuban-controlled storefronts that would be allowed to operate without being molested by the Luchese interests.
A Federal commission on organized crime said last year that La Compania had extensive operations in Florida and West New York, N.J., and was led by Jose Miguel Battle Sr., a former Havana police officer.
Murder charges against a man said to be a major organized-crime figure were dismissed yesterday by a State Supreme Court justice who ruled that evidence suggesting that the defendant had prior knowledge of the crime and had been at the scene was insufficient to try him.
The justice, Jerome W. Marks, dismissed the murder charges against Robert J. Hopkins, a former Trump Tower resident who has been linked by law-enforcement officials to the Lucchese crime family, and against Mr. Hopkins's associate, Alexander Rizzo.
Both men are still charged, however -along with 11 co-defendants - with operating a $500,000-a-week illegal betting ring through 100 storefronts in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx. Key Evidence Lacking
The decision, released yesterday by Justice Marks at a pretrial hearing in State Supreme Court in Manhattan, threw out the most serious charges in a two-year-long investigation by the Manhattan District Attorney's office. They accused Mr. Hopkins and Mr. Rizzo of ordering the murder of Pedro Acosta, a 37-year-old member of a rival gambling organization led by Cuban emigres.