by NJShore4Life » Thu Oct 05, 2023 9:32 am
I guess we can now add Lanni to list of guys here in Toms River…..
Mob Big Goes Low — Charged In Brutal Beating Of Husband & Wife Owners Of New Jersey Restaurant
Gambino capo Joseph Lanni, a member of the powerful Sicilian faction that now runs the crime family, has been arrested for a crime way beneath his privileged position in organized crime: Lanni is charged with assaulting the husband and wife owners of an eatery on the Jersey Shore where he owns a nearby home. The tirade included a threat to kill them both after he was thrown out for being drunk and disorderly, Gang Land has learned.
Lanni is a close associate of consigliere Lorenzo Mannino, who also serves as "street boss" for official boss Domenico (Italian Dom) Cefalu. But Lanni allegedly behaved like a low life miscreant on a busy Friday night and early Saturday morning of Labor Day weekend at Roxy's Bar and Grille restaurant in Toms River, according to law enforcement authorities and court records.
Authorities say that Lanni, who has a home in Toms River, brutally assaulted the restaurant owners when they left the restaurant, and slashed the tires of their car. He fled before police responded. The 52-year-old mobster was arrested and jailed two weeks ago following an investigation by the Toms River Police, according to court records.
Noting that Lanni had punched and beaten the husband and wife owner of Roxy's and had "threatened both of them with a knife" because the owners "simply asked the defendant to leave" after he became disruptive, Ocean County prosecutor Iva Krasteva argued strongly that Lanni should be detained while he awaits trial on charges that carry up to ten years in prison.
After spending nine days at Rikers Island following his September 19 arrest by the NYPD on a warrant obtained by the Toms River police, Lanni was transferred to the Ocean County jail.
At a detention hearing yesterday, Krasteva stated that after Lanni made threatening phone calls to the owners and left "angry voice mail messages" for them, he returned to the restaurant more than four hours later, "after midnight," and terrorized the owners with threats of violence after they had cleaned up and "were going home for the night."
As the woman owner got into her car, the prosecutor told Superior Court Judge Wendell Daniels, Lanni, who had been hiding behind their car, "entered the vehicle, and stated, 'I'm going to kill you,' and punched (her) on the right side of her head with a closed fist."
When the woman's husband, who was apparently locking up, heard his wife's screams and saw her being attacked, Krasteva continued, "he ran to the vehicle and was attacked by the defendant and an unknown male" who "threw the victim to the ground and proceeded to strike him" several times. The accomplice fled and has not yet been identified.
The arrest complaint states that Lanni punched and kicked her husband "multiple times" while he was on his back laying on the ground next to the couple's Jeep Cherokee as his beaten and terrorized wife remained in the front seat of their car.
"As the victim was getting to his feet," the prosecutor continued, "the defendant took out a knife and punctured the driver's side tires" and "then pointed the knife at the male victim and stated, 'I'm going to get you.'"
Krasteva argued that since Lanni allowed an argument with another patron to escalate into a violent assault against the restaurant owners during which he threatened both victims with a knife, "detention in this case is appropriate" in order to protect the community and Lanni's two victims of any further violence from by the defendant.
Lanni's lawyers Fred Sosinsky and Ed Dimon countered that their client should be released based on the Garden State's laws regarding pre-trial detention, which are similar to New York's. They noted that while the charges were serious, they were merely unproven allegations and that Lanni, who has several convictions for illegal gambling, and one for stock fraud, has no allegations of violence in the past, and should be released without bail.
Judge Daniels agreed. Lanni, who told the judge that while he lives in Staten Island with his wife of 31 years, he purchased a home in Toms River four year ago, was ordered to stay away from the Roxy Bar and Grille restaurant and its owners when he's in Toms River and to return to court for a status conference in the case next month.
Lanni is a longtime ally of the family's late underboss, Francesco (Frank) Cali, who was killed by a mentally troubled Staten Islander in 2019. In December, Lanni's appearance with Mannino at the wake of Luchese wiseguy Frank (Big Frank) Lastorino, a former antagonist who had killed a John Gotti pal for his leaders, indicated that Lanni is close to the current Gambino family leaders.
Allegations that Lanni terrorized the husband and wife owners of an eatery in the same town where he now has a home can't be seen as a positive event by Mannino or Cefalu, who are each viewed by their mob peers, as well as by most mob busters that Gang Land speaks to, as low-key, respectful wiseguys.
Sources also tell Gang Land that Lanni, who took over Frank Cali's rackets and who has benefitted financially from the senseless killing of the family underboss, recently told Cali's widow to sell her home on Todt Hill when she told him that she was having a difficult time making ends meet while raising her three children.
"I'm not surprised," said one law enforcement source who stated he hadn't heard that. "More often than not," he said, "that's the way the cookie crumbles for family members of mobsters who get convicted and receive long prison sentences that they deserve, or when they die. We heard a lot more stories about that years ago, when they were killing each other left and right."
I guess we can now add Lanni to list of guys here in Toms River…..
Mob Big Goes Low — Charged In Brutal Beating Of Husband & Wife Owners Of New Jersey Restaurant
Gambino capo Joseph Lanni, a member of the powerful Sicilian faction that now runs the crime family, has been arrested for a crime way beneath his privileged position in organized crime: Lanni is charged with assaulting the husband and wife owners of an eatery on the Jersey Shore where he owns a nearby home. The tirade included a threat to kill them both after he was thrown out for being drunk and disorderly, Gang Land has learned.
Lanni is a close associate of consigliere Lorenzo Mannino, who also serves as "street boss" for official boss Domenico (Italian Dom) Cefalu. But Lanni allegedly behaved like a low life miscreant on a busy Friday night and early Saturday morning of Labor Day weekend at Roxy's Bar and Grille restaurant in Toms River, according to law enforcement authorities and court records.
Authorities say that Lanni, who has a home in Toms River, brutally assaulted the restaurant owners when they left the restaurant, and slashed the tires of their car. He fled before police responded. The 52-year-old mobster was arrested and jailed two weeks ago following an investigation by the Toms River Police, according to court records.
Noting that Lanni had punched and beaten the husband and wife owner of Roxy's and had "threatened both of them with a knife" because the owners "simply asked the defendant to leave" after he became disruptive, Ocean County prosecutor Iva Krasteva argued strongly that Lanni should be detained while he awaits trial on charges that carry up to ten years in prison.
After spending nine days at Rikers Island following his September 19 arrest by the NYPD on a warrant obtained by the Toms River police, Lanni was transferred to the Ocean County jail.
At a detention hearing yesterday, Krasteva stated that after Lanni made threatening phone calls to the owners and left "angry voice mail messages" for them, he returned to the restaurant more than four hours later, "after midnight," and terrorized the owners with threats of violence after they had cleaned up and "were going home for the night."
As the woman owner got into her car, the prosecutor told Superior Court Judge Wendell Daniels, Lanni, who had been hiding behind their car, "entered the vehicle, and stated, 'I'm going to kill you,' and punched (her) on the right side of her head with a closed fist."
When the woman's husband, who was apparently locking up, heard his wife's screams and saw her being attacked, Krasteva continued, "he ran to the vehicle and was attacked by the defendant and an unknown male" who "threw the victim to the ground and proceeded to strike him" several times. The accomplice fled and has not yet been identified.
The arrest complaint states that Lanni punched and kicked her husband "multiple times" while he was on his back laying on the ground next to the couple's Jeep Cherokee as his beaten and terrorized wife remained in the front seat of their car.
"As the victim was getting to his feet," the prosecutor continued, "the defendant took out a knife and punctured the driver's side tires" and "then pointed the knife at the male victim and stated, 'I'm going to get you.'"
Krasteva argued that since Lanni allowed an argument with another patron to escalate into a violent assault against the restaurant owners during which he threatened both victims with a knife, "detention in this case is appropriate" in order to protect the community and Lanni's two victims of any further violence from by the defendant.
Lanni's lawyers Fred Sosinsky and Ed Dimon countered that their client should be released based on the Garden State's laws regarding pre-trial detention, which are similar to New York's. They noted that while the charges were serious, they were merely unproven allegations and that Lanni, who has several convictions for illegal gambling, and one for stock fraud, has no allegations of violence in the past, and should be released without bail.
Judge Daniels agreed. Lanni, who told the judge that while he lives in Staten Island with his wife of 31 years, he purchased a home in Toms River four year ago, was ordered to stay away from the Roxy Bar and Grille restaurant and its owners when he's in Toms River and to return to court for a status conference in the case next month.
Lanni is a longtime ally of the family's late underboss, Francesco (Frank) Cali, who was killed by a mentally troubled Staten Islander in 2019. In December, Lanni's appearance with Mannino at the wake of Luchese wiseguy Frank (Big Frank) Lastorino, a former antagonist who had killed a John Gotti pal for his leaders, indicated that Lanni is close to the current Gambino family leaders.
Allegations that Lanni terrorized the husband and wife owners of an eatery in the same town where he now has a home can't be seen as a positive event by Mannino or Cefalu, who are each viewed by their mob peers, as well as by most mob busters that Gang Land speaks to, as low-key, respectful wiseguys.
Sources also tell Gang Land that Lanni, who took over Frank Cali's rackets and who has benefitted financially from the senseless killing of the family underboss, recently told Cali's widow to sell her home on Todt Hill when she told him that she was having a difficult time making ends meet while raising her three children.
"I'm not surprised," said one law enforcement source who stated he hadn't heard that. "More often than not," he said, "that's the way the cookie crumbles for family members of mobsters who get convicted and receive long prison sentences that they deserve, or when they die. We heard a lot more stories about that years ago, when they were killing each other left and right."