by mafiastudent » Wed Jun 17, 2020 11:18 pm
With apologies to Brooklyn who always posts this up...but I wanted to comment on something....Not including pictures here if someone else wants to post...
Genovese Gangster Who Plotted To Kill John Gotti Looks For Compassion
Gang Land Exclusive!
Richard DeSciscioPresident Trump's sister sent Genovese gangster Richard (Bocci) DeSciscio to prison for 75 years. Now the septuagenarian inmate is trying to use the President's First Step Act to get out.
After spending nearly 32 years in prison, DeSciscio, who was convicted of being involved in his crime family's plot to whack John Gotti and his brother Gene in retaliation for the assassination of Mafia boss Paul (Big Paul) Castellano, is looking for some compassion. And he's hoping to get it today from a federal judge in Trenton who now sits where Trump's sister Maryanne Trump Barry used to preside.
DeSciscio, who was also found guilty in the sensational 1987 gangland-style slaying of Irwin (Fatman) Schiff, a millionaire mob-linked businessman who was shot in the head as he dined in an Upper East Side restaurant, has cited the COVID-19 pandemic and a host of ailments he suffers in seeking a compassionate release from his prison term of three-quarters of a century.
John GottiDeSciscio, who turned 78 last month, has no coronavirus symptoms. While behind bars, he has survived prostate cancer and heart surgery. He also suffers chronic sinusitis, a severe respiratory illness, kidney stones, vertigo, and hearing loss. DeSciscio, his daughter, and his lawyer, believe those illnesses, or others will do him in — even if the killer COVID-19 bug doesn't — long before he reaches his scheduled release date in 2052 at the age of 110.
It's an argument that's hard to dispute, so federal prosecutors in New Jersey didn't bother when they asked Judge Peter Sheridan to deny DeSciscio's request for a compassionate release under the First Step Act of 2018. Sheridan has scheduled oral arguments on the motion today.
Bocci's "violent and egregious conduct" as a gangster "weighs against any reduction" of his prison term, assistant U.S. attorney Alexander Ramey wrote in response to the gangster's bid for release. Bocci had agreed to be on a three-man hit-team that "would carry out the 'hit,' or murder of the Gottis," the prosecutor noted. He also played an active rolein the murder of Schiff at the Bravo Sergio Restaurant on August 8, 1987.
Peter Sheridan"There is a real need to maintain the sentence imposed to reflect the seriousness of the offense, to promote respect for the law, and to provide just punishment for the offense," wrote Ramey.
The prosecutor noted that "DeSciscio was present at the scene of the murder to assist in the 'hit' on Schiff" when a "masked gunman emerged from the restroom area and shot Schiff twice in the head." Ramey argued that despite the gangster's advanced age a "potential for danger remains" if Bocci were released from prison "due to his placement in La Cosa Nostra."
To argue that DeSciscio is not likely to contract the COVID-19 virus, Ramey filed an eight page affidavit from an official from Allenwood prison in White Deer, PA detailing many reasons why that won't happen. Executive assistant Suzanne Brown boasted that to date there "are zero confirmed or suspected cases of COVID-19" among the 1171 inmates at Bocci's facility.
Irwin SchiffIn addition, the prosecutor told Sheridan that DeSciscio's illnesses and ailments are not "life threatening." He argued that they are not "extraordinary or compelling" reasons that are required in order for the judge to overrule the denial by a Bureau of Prisons warden and grant Bocci a compassionate release.
And even if they were, Ramey argued, DeSciscio's role as "an enforcer" for consigliere Louis (Bobby) Manna, the New Jersey leader of the Genovese family who oversaw the murder plots, "certainly does not warrant slashing the defendant's sentence by some 32 years (the amount of time he has remaining to serve)."
Manna, who is 90, now resides at the federal prison hospital in Rochester, Minnesota where he is serving the 80 year sentence he was handed by Barry, the President's eldest sister who stepped down from the bench in 2017, and officially retired last year.
Maryanne Trump BarryBarry also gave 80 years to mobster Martin (Motts) Casella, who owned Casella's Restaurant in Hoboken where an FBI bug picked up hushed talks among the three gangsters about the planned murders of the Gottis and the execution of Schiff. Casella died behind bars in 1992, at age 74.
"Simply stated," countered lawyer Marco Laracca, "the Government wants Mr. DeSciscio to die in prison." It would have been "a more genuine opposition," Laracca wrote, "if (Ramey) simply stated as much" rather than spend so many pages of his filing on the BOP's efforts to protect Bocci from COVID-19 and argue that "the 78-year-old man's ailments, including cancer, are not so bad."
Those words were "nothing more than an effort to distract from the true issue at hand," the attorney wrote. "DeSciscio now suffers from numerous chronic health problems that are only worsening and he will inevitably die in prison if not released."
Laracca argued that Bocci's "advanced age and numerous medical conditions are extraordinary and compelling reasons for his release" when they are considered along with his client's rehabilitation during the three decades he's been jailed. The lawyer wrote that "DeSciscio has been a model inmate the entire time he has been incarcerated."
Louis Manna"DeSciscio has changed significantly" and "is not the same man that was before the court in the 1980s," Laracca wrote. "During the 32 years he has spent in prison to think about his actions," the lawyer continued, "his thoughts have left him feeling ashamed and embarrassed. Sadness for himself and for his family, but also for the victims of his crimes, has resonated with him."
His client's "only plans upon his release are to maintain his health and reunite" with his wife of nearly 50 years, Ellen, and their daughter Renee, and live with them and their granddaughter in Manalapan, Laracca wrote. Noting that DeSciscio's mom, dad, and two brothers all died while he was in prison, the lawyer said Bocci "deeply regrets" that his crimes and incarceration caused him to miss the "deaths of family members as well as the births of his grandchildren." He simply wants "to spend whatever time he has left on this earth with his family," Laracca wrote.
Laracca wrote that a Pre-Sentence Report that was submitted to Judge Barry in 1989 stated that "DeSciscio was an associate, not a leader or a made member alleged to be sworn to a lifetime of same." That showed, he wrote, that the prosecutor's contention that Bocci had a "placement" in Cosa Nostra that made him a danger to the community even at an "advanced age" was "without merit."
Marco Laracca"He was alleged to be involved in the organized crime aspect of the offenses at a very low-level then and is in no way involved on any level now," wrote Laracca. "The Government's position today" is the same as it was "in the 1980s," the lawyer wrote, since Ramey made no allegations that Bocci is a "made member" of the Genovese crime family.
Based on his rehabilitation, and the punishment he served for his crimes, "as well as his age and diminished health," Laracca urged Sheridan to release DeSciscio "from prison immediately" because "there is no longer a need for the sentence imposed. He has a loving family that will be there to support him upon his release."
"I am terrified for my dad's health and well being," DeSciscio's daughter Renee wrote in asking the judge to "please consider releasing my dad. He has a loving family who misses, loves and worries sick about him everyday. My dad is my world."
The government steadfastly opposes DeSciscio's release. But prosecutor Ramey seemed to hedge his bets by ending his 31-page filing with an intriguing footnote, considering the perfect record that the medium security Allenwood prison has had in keeping all its inmates COVID-19 free.
If Sheridan did decide to release Bocci, Ramey wrote, "the Government would request that the defendant be isolated and detained for at least a 14-day quarantine period, with a requirement for clearance by BOP medical staff prior to release to minimize the possibility of any spread of COVID-19 from the inmate to the public."
Seven Years After He Died, Nicky Barnes Was Still A Card The Feds Played
Leroy BarnesLeroy (Nicky) Barnes, the notorious Harlem drug merchant who flipped and became a major government witness, died of cancer in 2012. But last year a federal prosecutor held him out as a possible witness at the upcoming trial of Luchese mobster Matthew (Matty) Madonna for the murder of former Purple Gang leader Michael Meldish, Gang Land has learned.
"Prosecutors always bury you with witnesses they make you think they might call, but never really intend to call, but this is the first time that I ever heard of them doing it with a guy who's been dead for seven years," said attorney Mathew Mari, a noted barrister who hung up his shingle 44 years ago.
But assistant U.S. attorney Scott Hartman, who was chided a few times by White Plains Federal Judge Cathy Seibel for misleading or seemingly unethical tactics during pre-trial hearings, did just that early last year. In materials the feds turned over, and in talks Hartman had with Madonna's attorney, the feds indicated that they might use Barnes months before The New York Times reported that Barnes had died seven years earlier, according to lawyer Joshua Dratel.
Scott HartmanWithout actually saying the words, Hartman did such a good job of convincing Dratel and his partner Andrew Patel that prosecutors might call Barnes, who would have been 85, that the lawyers filed a request — in a memo that was not publicly filed — to preclude Nicky from testifying that Madonna was his source of the heroin that Barnes flooded the streets with in the 1960s and 70s.
The duo, who had met in state prison in 1959, had a system for exchanging cash for drugs that cops never cracked. As Gang Land first reported in 1999, Barnes told the feds about it when he flipped.
Once a month, Barnes would meet Madonna on a street corner in Manhattan to get the keys and location of a car with heroin in the trunk that was parked in a nearby municipal lot. Barnes would pick up the car, drive to an apartment where underlings would cut and package the heroin for sale on the streets of New York.
Two days later, Barnes would return the car, its trunk full of cash, to another lot, then meet Madonna on another street corner and gave him the keys.
Matthew Madonna"The prospect" of Barnes taking the stand, Dratel wrote, "was raised not only by discovery the government provided, but also during conversations between counsel and Hartman." That led to Dratel and Patel asking Judge Seibel — in a sealed February 15, 2019 filing — to preclude drug dealing "evidence that was unduly prejudicial to Mr. Madonna," Dratel wrote.
Madonna, who was convicted of heroin trafficking in 1976, managed to avoid getting snared by Barnes when he became a jailhouse snitch in 1981 and the two high level drug dealers met while behind bars together. After serving 20 years in prison, Matty was released and quickly inducted into Luchese crime family.
Neither Hartman, nor trial prosecutors Hagan Scotten, Celia Cohen or Alexandra Rothman, ever notified Madonna's attorneys that Barnes wasn't going to be a witness at the Meldish murder trial. The trial, which had been slated to begin in March, was adjourned until October.
Joshua DratelMadonna, the family's former acting boss, underboss Steven (Stevie Wonder) Crea, soldier Christopher Londonio, and associate Terrence Caldwell were all convicted and are slated to be sentenced next month.
Dratel learned, along with many of the rest of us, that Nicky Barnes wouldn't be a witness on June 8, 2019, when veteran New York Times reporter and NY1 commentator Sam Roberts broke the story under a banner headline, Nicky Barnes, 'Mr. Untouchable' of Heroin Dealers Is Dead at 78.
In a two-page letter to prosecutors Scotten, Cohen and Rothman that the government filed, Dratel objected to them using a sentence from his redacted filing because it was never intended to be publicly filed. The only reason it was ever mentioned, the lawyer wrote, was to prevent a witness who was dead from taking the stand against his living client.
"It would not be appropriate for the government to capitalize on the failure to disclose Mr. Barnes's death by publicly citing the passage that would otherwise never have been included, and which in any event does not reflect Mr. Madonna's position," Dratel wrote.
judge Cathy SeibelJudge Seibel ruled that while the "redaction was justified at that time to avoid possibly inflaming the potential jury pool" it was no longer necessary since the trial has ended. "The Government may go ahead and publicly file its submission," the judge wrote.
In the lead-in to the portion that Dratel wanted redacted from the government's sentencing memo, the prosecutors wrote that following his release from prison in 1968, Madonna went on to "join a massive heroin distribution conspiracy" that we know was the one headed by Nicky Barnes.
"According to his own counsel," the prosecutors wrote, "this conspiracy 'resulted in the addiction of tens of thousands of people, untold number of overdose deaths, theft, and prostitution to which junkies resorted to feed their drug habits' leading to 'the multi-generation devastation of an entire community.'"
It's all true, of course, but for all intents and purposes, those words mean nothing to Madonna these days. Just like his codefendants, the prison term that Madonna will receive next month is mandatory, life without parole.
Prosecutors, as well as the spokesman for Manhattan U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman, declined to respond to Gang Land's query about whether or not Hartman's decision to dupe Madonna's lawyers into preparing for the testimony of a dead witness was clever lawyering or misleading and unethical tactics.
Feds: This 87-Year-Old Wiseguy Is Still A Dangerous Gangster; Just Look At These Decades-Old Photos
Frank LocascioThe feds pulled out all the stops last week — including some 20-year-old pictures — trying to convince a judge that 87-year-old Gambino wiseguy Frank (Frankie Loc) Locascio is still a dangerous gangster who deserves to live out the rest of his life in the federal prison hospital where he's been housed since 2001.
"Locascio's danger stems from his position within the Gambino Crime Family, a violent, organization that still exists and carries out crimes to further its objectives," prosecutors Kevin Trowel and Keith Edelman wrote in asking Brooklyn Federal Judge I. Leo Glasser to deny the geezer gangster's compassionate release motion.
Despite the onetime consigliere's age and many illnesses, the prosecutors wrote, Frankie Loc "remains a danger to the community by his ability to rely on the power and reach of the Gambino Crime Family, an organization to which, to become a member, Locascio swore allegiance, above all else, for life."
Andrew CamposProsecutors also offered an instance of jailhouse violence — one that took place 17 years ago — to help make their case against the often-ailing mobster. "In September 2003," prosecutors wrote, "Locascio, at age 71, punched his cellmate in the face." As a result of the incident, Frankie Loc was put in the hole for 20 days and lost his commissary and "social visiting privileges" for six months, they added. There was no explanation as to what caused the fight.
"Locascio's continued influence within the Gambino Crime Family is not mere speculation," the prosecutors told Glasser, who presided over the 1992 trial of Locascio and the late John Gotti and sentenced both longtime mobsters to life sentences for their racketeering and murder convictions.
Trowel and Edelman wrote that jailhouse photos that FBI agents found last year of mobsters Andrew Campos and Richard Martino visiting Locascio establish that Frankie Loc "still has the wherewithal, ability and influence to use the Gambino Crime Family to commit further crimes, just as he has in the past."
The pictures, the prosecutors wrote, were seized at Campos's home during an investigation that led to the indictment of Campos, 51, Martino, 60, and nine other mobsters and associates on labor racketeering charges. The scheme netted the crew millions of dollars through bid-rigging, bribes and kickbacks involving employees of five major construction companies.
Martino Locascio and Campos"Thus," wrote Trowel and Edelman, "even as Locascio has aged, his influence within the organization has not waned."
But sources say the pictures — one includes an elderly unidentified inmate — were taken between 17 and 20 years ago and offer no clues as to Locascio's current clout or influence. They merely show that Frankie Loc was a respected wiseguy back then, the sources insist. In one photo, the three smiling mobsters all look many years younger than their current ages.
"The photos show that many years ago, when Martino still had hair, and Campos looks like he was in his early 30s, they paid Frank a visit, probably to cheer him up," said one source.
The prosecutors, as well as the spokesman for Brooklyn U.S. Attorney Richard Donoghue declined to respond to the assertions by Gang Land's sources that the pictures are at least 17 years old, and that they have no bearing on whether Locascio is still a dangerous mobster.
Richard MartinoIn the picture with Campos and Martino, Locascio looks more like the hale and hearty gangster who punched his cellmate in the face in 2003, as opposed to the frail old man who lost 22 pounds – more than "10% of his body weight between February 2019 and February 2020," as his lawyers wrote in their compassionate release motion.
Regarding Locascio's stated concerns that he may have a cancerous mass in his chest, and is more likely to die if he contracts the COVID-19 virus, the prosecutors wrote that he tested negative for the virus on May 15. They claim that he also declined to have a biopsy done, because, they wrote, he told his jailers that "if he is not released from custody, he will die in prison."
Even if Glasser finds that Frankie Loc's ailments are "extraordinary and compelling," and that he is not a danger to the community, the prosecutors wrote that Locascio should not be released due to his long history as a violent gangster, his conviction for murder and a second murder plot, and the "need 'to promote respect for the law' and to provide 'just punishment for the offense.'"
With apologies to Brooklyn who always posts this up...but I wanted to comment on something....Not including pictures here if someone else wants to post...
[b]Genovese Gangster Who Plotted To Kill John Gotti Looks For Compassion[/b]
Gang Land Exclusive!
Richard DeSciscioPresident Trump's sister sent Genovese gangster Richard (Bocci) DeSciscio to prison for 75 years. Now the septuagenarian inmate is trying to use the President's First Step Act to get out.
After spending nearly 32 years in prison, DeSciscio, who was convicted of being involved in his crime family's plot to whack John Gotti and his brother Gene in retaliation for the assassination of Mafia boss Paul (Big Paul) Castellano, is looking for some compassion. And he's hoping to get it today from a federal judge in Trenton who now sits where Trump's sister Maryanne Trump Barry used to preside.
DeSciscio, who was also found guilty in the sensational 1987 gangland-style slaying of Irwin (Fatman) Schiff, a millionaire mob-linked businessman who was shot in the head as he dined in an Upper East Side restaurant, has cited the COVID-19 pandemic and a host of ailments he suffers in seeking a compassionate release from his prison term of three-quarters of a century.
John GottiDeSciscio, who turned 78 last month, has no coronavirus symptoms. While behind bars, he has survived prostate cancer and heart surgery. He also suffers chronic sinusitis, a severe respiratory illness, kidney stones, vertigo, and hearing loss. DeSciscio, his daughter, and his lawyer, believe those illnesses, or others will do him in — even if the killer COVID-19 bug doesn't — long before he reaches his scheduled release date in 2052 at the age of 110.
It's an argument that's hard to dispute, so federal prosecutors in New Jersey didn't bother when they asked Judge Peter Sheridan to deny DeSciscio's request for a compassionate release under the First Step Act of 2018. Sheridan has scheduled oral arguments on the motion today.
Bocci's "violent and egregious conduct" as a gangster "weighs against any reduction" of his prison term, assistant U.S. attorney Alexander Ramey wrote in response to the gangster's bid for release. Bocci had agreed to be on a three-man hit-team that "would carry out the 'hit,' or murder of the Gottis," the prosecutor noted. He also played an active rolein the murder of Schiff at the Bravo Sergio Restaurant on August 8, 1987.
Peter Sheridan"There is a real need to maintain the sentence imposed to reflect the seriousness of the offense, to promote respect for the law, and to provide just punishment for the offense," wrote Ramey.
The prosecutor noted that "DeSciscio was present at the scene of the murder to assist in the 'hit' on Schiff" when a "masked gunman emerged from the restroom area and shot Schiff twice in the head." Ramey argued that despite the gangster's advanced age a "potential for danger remains" if Bocci were released from prison "due to his placement in La Cosa Nostra."
To argue that DeSciscio is not likely to contract the COVID-19 virus, Ramey filed an eight page affidavit from an official from Allenwood prison in White Deer, PA detailing many reasons why that won't happen. Executive assistant Suzanne Brown boasted that to date there "are zero confirmed or suspected cases of COVID-19" among the 1171 inmates at Bocci's facility.
Irwin SchiffIn addition, the prosecutor told Sheridan that DeSciscio's illnesses and ailments are not "life threatening." He argued that they are not "extraordinary or compelling" reasons that are required in order for the judge to overrule the denial by a Bureau of Prisons warden and grant Bocci a compassionate release.
And even if they were, Ramey argued, DeSciscio's role as "an enforcer" for consigliere Louis (Bobby) Manna, the New Jersey leader of the Genovese family who oversaw the murder plots, "certainly does not warrant slashing the defendant's sentence by some 32 years (the amount of time he has remaining to serve)."
Manna, who is 90, now resides at the federal prison hospital in Rochester, Minnesota where he is serving the 80 year sentence he was handed by Barry, the President's eldest sister who stepped down from the bench in 2017, and officially retired last year.
Maryanne Trump BarryBarry also gave 80 years to mobster Martin (Motts) Casella, who owned Casella's Restaurant in Hoboken where an FBI bug picked up hushed talks among the three gangsters about the planned murders of the Gottis and the execution of Schiff. Casella died behind bars in 1992, at age 74.
"Simply stated," countered lawyer Marco Laracca, "the Government wants Mr. DeSciscio to die in prison." It would have been "a more genuine opposition," Laracca wrote, "if (Ramey) simply stated as much" rather than spend so many pages of his filing on the BOP's efforts to protect Bocci from COVID-19 and argue that "the 78-year-old man's ailments, including cancer, are not so bad."
Those words were "nothing more than an effort to distract from the true issue at hand," the attorney wrote. "DeSciscio now suffers from numerous chronic health problems that are only worsening and he will inevitably die in prison if not released."
Laracca argued that Bocci's "advanced age and numerous medical conditions are extraordinary and compelling reasons for his release" when they are considered along with his client's rehabilitation during the three decades he's been jailed. The lawyer wrote that "DeSciscio has been a model inmate the entire time he has been incarcerated."
Louis Manna"DeSciscio has changed significantly" and "is not the same man that was before the court in the 1980s," Laracca wrote. "During the 32 years he has spent in prison to think about his actions," the lawyer continued, "his thoughts have left him feeling ashamed and embarrassed. Sadness for himself and for his family, but also for the victims of his crimes, has resonated with him."
His client's "only plans upon his release are to maintain his health and reunite" with his wife of nearly 50 years, Ellen, and their daughter Renee, and live with them and their granddaughter in Manalapan, Laracca wrote. Noting that DeSciscio's mom, dad, and two brothers all died while he was in prison, the lawyer said Bocci "deeply regrets" that his crimes and incarceration caused him to miss the "deaths of family members as well as the births of his grandchildren." He simply wants "to spend whatever time he has left on this earth with his family," Laracca wrote.
Laracca wrote that a Pre-Sentence Report that was submitted to Judge Barry in 1989 stated that "DeSciscio was an associate, not a leader or a made member alleged to be sworn to a lifetime of same." That showed, he wrote, that the prosecutor's contention that Bocci had a "placement" in Cosa Nostra that made him a danger to the community even at an "advanced age" was "without merit."
Marco Laracca"He was alleged to be involved in the organized crime aspect of the offenses at a very low-level then and is in no way involved on any level now," wrote Laracca. "The Government's position today" is the same as it was "in the 1980s," the lawyer wrote, since Ramey made no allegations that Bocci is a "made member" of the Genovese crime family.
Based on his rehabilitation, and the punishment he served for his crimes, "as well as his age and diminished health," Laracca urged Sheridan to release DeSciscio "from prison immediately" because "there is no longer a need for the sentence imposed. He has a loving family that will be there to support him upon his release."
"I am terrified for my dad's health and well being," DeSciscio's daughter Renee wrote in asking the judge to "please consider releasing my dad. He has a loving family who misses, loves and worries sick about him everyday. My dad is my world."
The government steadfastly opposes DeSciscio's release. But prosecutor Ramey seemed to hedge his bets by ending his 31-page filing with an intriguing footnote, considering the perfect record that the medium security Allenwood prison has had in keeping all its inmates COVID-19 free.
If Sheridan did decide to release Bocci, Ramey wrote, "the Government would request that the defendant be isolated and detained for at least a 14-day quarantine period, with a requirement for clearance by BOP medical staff prior to release to minimize the possibility of any spread of COVID-19 from the inmate to the public."
[b]Seven Years After He Died, Nicky Barnes Was Still A Card The Feds Played[/b]
Leroy BarnesLeroy (Nicky) Barnes, the notorious Harlem drug merchant who flipped and became a major government witness, died of cancer in 2012. But last year a federal prosecutor held him out as a possible witness at the upcoming trial of Luchese mobster Matthew (Matty) Madonna for the murder of former Purple Gang leader Michael Meldish, Gang Land has learned.
"Prosecutors always bury you with witnesses they make you think they might call, but never really intend to call, but this is the first time that I ever heard of them doing it with a guy who's been dead for seven years," said attorney Mathew Mari, a noted barrister who hung up his shingle 44 years ago.
But assistant U.S. attorney Scott Hartman, who was chided a few times by White Plains Federal Judge Cathy Seibel for misleading or seemingly unethical tactics during pre-trial hearings, did just that early last year. In materials the feds turned over, and in talks Hartman had with Madonna's attorney, the feds indicated that they might use Barnes months before The New York Times reported that Barnes had died seven years earlier, according to lawyer Joshua Dratel.
Scott HartmanWithout actually saying the words, Hartman did such a good job of convincing Dratel and his partner Andrew Patel that prosecutors might call Barnes, who would have been 85, that the lawyers filed a request — in a memo that was not publicly filed — to preclude Nicky from testifying that Madonna was his source of the heroin that Barnes flooded the streets with in the 1960s and 70s.
The duo, who had met in state prison in 1959, had a system for exchanging cash for drugs that cops never cracked. As Gang Land first reported in 1999, Barnes told the feds about it when he flipped.
Once a month, Barnes would meet Madonna on a street corner in Manhattan to get the keys and location of a car with heroin in the trunk that was parked in a nearby municipal lot. Barnes would pick up the car, drive to an apartment where underlings would cut and package the heroin for sale on the streets of New York.
Two days later, Barnes would return the car, its trunk full of cash, to another lot, then meet Madonna on another street corner and gave him the keys.
Matthew Madonna"The prospect" of Barnes taking the stand, Dratel wrote, "was raised not only by discovery the government provided, but also during conversations between counsel and Hartman." That led to Dratel and Patel asking Judge Seibel — in a sealed February 15, 2019 filing — to preclude drug dealing "evidence that was unduly prejudicial to Mr. Madonna," Dratel wrote.
Madonna, who was convicted of heroin trafficking in 1976, managed to avoid getting snared by Barnes when he became a jailhouse snitch in 1981 and the two high level drug dealers met while behind bars together. After serving 20 years in prison, Matty was released and quickly inducted into Luchese crime family.
Neither Hartman, nor trial prosecutors Hagan Scotten, Celia Cohen or Alexandra Rothman, ever notified Madonna's attorneys that Barnes wasn't going to be a witness at the Meldish murder trial. The trial, which had been slated to begin in March, was adjourned until October.
Joshua DratelMadonna, the family's former acting boss, underboss Steven (Stevie Wonder) Crea, soldier Christopher Londonio, and associate Terrence Caldwell were all convicted and are slated to be sentenced next month.
Dratel learned, along with many of the rest of us, that Nicky Barnes wouldn't be a witness on June 8, 2019, when veteran New York Times reporter and NY1 commentator Sam Roberts broke the story under a banner headline, Nicky Barnes, 'Mr. Untouchable' of Heroin Dealers Is Dead at 78.
In a two-page letter to prosecutors Scotten, Cohen and Rothman that the government filed, Dratel objected to them using a sentence from his redacted filing because it was never intended to be publicly filed. The only reason it was ever mentioned, the lawyer wrote, was to prevent a witness who was dead from taking the stand against his living client.
"It would not be appropriate for the government to capitalize on the failure to disclose Mr. Barnes's death by publicly citing the passage that would otherwise never have been included, and which in any event does not reflect Mr. Madonna's position," Dratel wrote.
judge Cathy SeibelJudge Seibel ruled that while the "redaction was justified at that time to avoid possibly inflaming the potential jury pool" it was no longer necessary since the trial has ended. "The Government may go ahead and publicly file its submission," the judge wrote.
In the lead-in to the portion that Dratel wanted redacted from the government's sentencing memo, the prosecutors wrote that following his release from prison in 1968, Madonna went on to "join a massive heroin distribution conspiracy" that we know was the one headed by Nicky Barnes.
"According to his own counsel," the prosecutors wrote, "this conspiracy 'resulted in the addiction of tens of thousands of people, untold number of overdose deaths, theft, and prostitution to which junkies resorted to feed their drug habits' leading to 'the multi-generation devastation of an entire community.'"
It's all true, of course, but for all intents and purposes, those words mean nothing to Madonna these days. Just like his codefendants, the prison term that Madonna will receive next month is mandatory, life without parole.
Prosecutors, as well as the spokesman for Manhattan U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman, declined to respond to Gang Land's query about whether or not Hartman's decision to dupe Madonna's lawyers into preparing for the testimony of a dead witness was clever lawyering or misleading and unethical tactics.
[b]
Feds: This 87-Year-Old Wiseguy Is Still A Dangerous Gangster; Just Look At These Decades-Old Photos[/b]
Frank LocascioThe feds pulled out all the stops last week — including some 20-year-old pictures — trying to convince a judge that 87-year-old Gambino wiseguy Frank (Frankie Loc) Locascio is still a dangerous gangster who deserves to live out the rest of his life in the federal prison hospital where he's been housed since 2001.
"Locascio's danger stems from his position within the Gambino Crime Family, a violent, organization that still exists and carries out crimes to further its objectives," prosecutors Kevin Trowel and Keith Edelman wrote in asking Brooklyn Federal Judge I. Leo Glasser to deny the geezer gangster's compassionate release motion.
Despite the onetime consigliere's age and many illnesses, the prosecutors wrote, Frankie Loc "remains a danger to the community by his ability to rely on the power and reach of the Gambino Crime Family, an organization to which, to become a member, Locascio swore allegiance, above all else, for life."
Andrew CamposProsecutors also offered an instance of jailhouse violence — one that took place 17 years ago — to help make their case against the often-ailing mobster. "In September 2003," prosecutors wrote, "Locascio, at age 71, punched his cellmate in the face." As a result of the incident, Frankie Loc was put in the hole for 20 days and lost his commissary and "social visiting privileges" for six months, they added. There was no explanation as to what caused the fight.
"Locascio's continued influence within the Gambino Crime Family is not mere speculation," the prosecutors told Glasser, who presided over the 1992 trial of Locascio and the late John Gotti and sentenced both longtime mobsters to life sentences for their racketeering and murder convictions.
Trowel and Edelman wrote that jailhouse photos that FBI agents found last year of mobsters Andrew Campos and Richard Martino visiting Locascio establish that Frankie Loc "still has the wherewithal, ability and influence to use the Gambino Crime Family to commit further crimes, just as he has in the past."
The pictures, the prosecutors wrote, were seized at Campos's home during an investigation that led to the indictment of Campos, 51, Martino, 60, and nine other mobsters and associates on labor racketeering charges. The scheme netted the crew millions of dollars through bid-rigging, bribes and kickbacks involving employees of five major construction companies.
Martino Locascio and Campos"Thus," wrote Trowel and Edelman, "even as Locascio has aged, his influence within the organization has not waned."
But sources say the pictures — one includes an elderly unidentified inmate — were taken between 17 and 20 years ago and offer no clues as to Locascio's current clout or influence. They merely show that Frankie Loc was a respected wiseguy back then, the sources insist. In one photo, the three smiling mobsters all look many years younger than their current ages.
"The photos show that many years ago, when Martino still had hair, and Campos looks like he was in his early 30s, they paid Frank a visit, probably to cheer him up," said one source.
The prosecutors, as well as the spokesman for Brooklyn U.S. Attorney Richard Donoghue declined to respond to the assertions by Gang Land's sources that the pictures are at least 17 years old, and that they have no bearing on whether Locascio is still a dangerous mobster.
Richard MartinoIn the picture with Campos and Martino, Locascio looks more like the hale and hearty gangster who punched his cellmate in the face in 2003, as opposed to the frail old man who lost 22 pounds – more than "10% of his body weight between February 2019 and February 2020," as his lawyers wrote in their compassionate release motion.
Regarding Locascio's stated concerns that he may have a cancerous mass in his chest, and is more likely to die if he contracts the COVID-19 virus, the prosecutors wrote that he tested negative for the virus on May 15. They claim that he also declined to have a biopsy done, because, they wrote, he told his jailers that "if he is not released from custody, he will die in prison."
Even if Glasser finds that Frankie Loc's ailments are "extraordinary and compelling," and that he is not a danger to the community, the prosecutors wrote that Locascio should not be released due to his long history as a violent gangster, his conviction for murder and a second murder plot, and the "need 'to promote respect for the law' and to provide 'just punishment for the offense.'"