by TSNYC » Mon Sep 25, 2023 7:51 am
I. LEONARD DIMARIA
Leonard DiMaria is charged in Count One with racketeering conspiracy, including 10 predicate acts of extortion, attempted extortion and extortion conspiracy, and additional predicate acts of union benefit theft, bribery of union officials, money laundering and illegal gambling. DiMaria is also charged with extortion, attempted extortion and extortion conspiracy, union benefit theft, conspiracy to embezzle union benefits, mail fraud, mail fraud conspiracy, money laundering and money laundering conspiracy.
If convicted as charged, DiMaria faces a term of 20 years’ imprisonment on the racketeering conspiracy count, as well as for each of the 20 extortion, attempted extortion and extortion conspiracy counts. Were DiMaria sentenced consecutively for just the 10 distinct extortions covered in these counts - the evidence for which includes more than 100 hours of recorded conversations capturing DiMaria discussing the extortions - he faces a term of imprisonment of 200 years.
Significantly, he will be sentenced as a career offender due to his past convictions for violent crime, resulting in a guidelines range of 210 to 262 months’ imprisonment for each extortion conviction. DiMaria is 67 years old and has more than 20 criminal convictions dating to 1957.
The government seeks to have a permanent order of detention entered against DiMaria on the grounds that he is a danger to the community and a risk of flight.
1. Proffered Facts
The government hereby proffers the following facts relevant to the charges lodged against DiMaria.
a. DiMaria Is a Captain in the Gambino Family
DiMaria is a longstanding member of the Gambino family who currently serves as a captain. The government will establish DiMaria’s position in the Gambino family through the testimony of cooperating witnesses, consensual recordings and surveillance evidence. Each category of evidence is briefly discussed below.
More than a dozen cooperating witnesses are expected to testify that DiMaria has been a member of the Gambino family since the 1970’s. These same cooperating witness are expected to testify that since that time DiMaria has served as the right hand to powerful Gambino family captain Nicholas Corozzo. More than five cooperating witnesses are expected to testify that DiMaria himself is a member of the Gambino family and at least two are expected to testify that presently he is a captain.
This testimony is corroborated by the more than 80 recorded conversations involving DiMaria. During the course of the recordings, he is heard engaging in the Gambino family’s business - discussing the enterprise, its criminal activities, its members and rules of operation - in which his captain status is made plain by, among other things, statements demonstrating his control of other members of members of the Gambino family.
Surveillance evidence also establishes DiMaria’s long-term association with and position in the Gambino family. Since 1976 - more than 30 years ago - DiMaria has been observed at locations and events relating to the Gambino family. He has been observed with other members of the Gambino family at weddings and wakes in the 1970’s, 1980’s, 1990’s and in this decade. In addition, members of the Gambino family charged in the instant indictment, including acting boss John D’Amico, consigliere Joseph Corozzo, captain Nicholas Corozzo, captain Thomas Cacciopoli, acting captain Augustus Sclafani and two other soldiers, attended DiMaria’s daughter’s wedding and/or his mother’s wake. As recently as January 31, 2008, DiMaria was observed meeting with a cooperating witness to collect $8000 for the Gambino family’s administration. Cooperating witnesses and an organized crime expert are expected to testify that these events are attended by dozens of other members and associates of organized crime, many of whom are convicted felons who committed those crimes as part of an organized crime family, and that Gambino family business is routinely conducted at such events.
b. DiMaria Is Charged with Crimes of Violence
DiMaria is charged with extortion, attempted extortion and extortion conspiracy in 10 racketeering acts within count one’s RICO conspiracy charge, as well as in 20 substantive counts of the indictment. These charges stem from 10 separate extortions involving dozens of businesses and business owners within the New York construction industry. A brief proffer of the facts pertaining to each of the extortions follows.
i. Extortion Conspiracy/Extortion - Staten Island Cement Company Profits
A cooperating witness is expected to testify to the following.
In approximately December 2003, Joseph Vollaro approached Gambino family captain Thomas Cacciopoli and requested permission to open a cement company on Staten Island. Due to the Gambino family’s control of the New York cement industry, Cacciopoli, together with Gambino family captain Louis Filippelli, engaged in a series of meetings to obtain permission from the Gambino family’s administration to open such a company. Cacciopoli and Filippelli succeeded and informed Joseph Vollaro that he could start the company provided that following a one-year grace period, the Gambino family would receive 15% or $1 per yard for all cement sold, with the payments to be collected by Filippelli and passed through to the family’s administration.
Joseph Vollaro opened the company in April 2004. Since May 2005, he has paid over $60,000 of extortion payments to the Gambino family. The initial payments were collected by Gambino family soldier Vincent Pacelli on behalf of then incarcerated Louis Filippelli. After Gambino family captain Nicholas Corozzo assumed control of Joseph Vollaro from Filippelli in late June 2005, payments were collected on his behalf for the administration by DiMaria, who controlled Joseph Vollaro for Corozzo while Corozzo was on supervised release, as well as by Gambino family soldiers Mario Cassarino and Ernest Grillo.
Multiple members of the Gambino family informed Joseph Vollaro that the profits from his Staten Island cement company were passed along to the Gambino family administration, and that the administration consists of acting boss John D’Amico, acting underboss Domenico Cefalu and consigliere Joseph Corozzo.
The cooperating witness’s testimony will be corroborated by (i) recordings made of conversations with Gambino family members, including scores of recordings detailing Joseph Vollaro’s extortion by the defendants charged in the racketeering acts and counts related to this extortion, (ii) surveillance confirming Joseph Vollaro’s contacts with various members of the Gambino family and the participants in many of the taped conversations, (iii) testimony from multiple cooperating witnesses who were members and associates of the Gambino family that the family controlled the cement industry on Staten Island and would not allow someone to open a cement company without paying extortion to the Gambino family, (iv) testimony from a cooperating witness who is a former Gambino family soldier with extensive knowledge of the family’s construction rackets that extortion payments related to cement were passed along to the administration of the family, and (v) multiple cooperating witnesses who were former Gambino family members familiar with the family’s construction rackets who are expected to testify that individuals and companies being extorted by Gambino family members must make the extortion payments demanded of them or face retaliation.
ii. Extortion Conspiracy/Extortion - Staten Island Cement Company Sale
A cooperating witness is expected to testify to the following.
During the spring of 2007, a company offered to buy Joseph Vollaro’s Staten Island cement company. In keeping with instructions from Gambino family captains Nicholas Corozzo and Leonard DiMaria to consult them before making any decisions concerning his business, Joseph Vollaro informed DiMaria of the offer. DiMaria later told Joseph Vollaro that the family had agreed to allow him to make the sale, provided he pay $100,000 to the Gambino family.
In January 2008, Joseph Vollaro sold the Staten Island cement company. Thereafter, Gambino family consigliere Joseph Corozzo, through Gambino family solider Gus Sclafani, directed Joseph Vollaro to deliver the $100,000 to Joseph Corozzo. Later, Nicholas Corozzo and Leonard DiMaria directed Joseph Vollaro to deliver the money to Leonard DiMaria for distribution to the administration. As directed, Joseph Vollaro made a payment of the proceeds of the sale of the cement company to DiMaria.
The cooperating witness’s testimony will be corroborated by (i) recordings made of conversations with Gambino family members, including multiple recordings detailing Joseph Vollaro’s extortion by the defendants charged in the racketeering acts and counts related to this extortion, (ii) surveillance confirming Joseph Vollaro’s contacts with various members of the Gambino family and the participants in many of the taped conversations, (iii) testimony from multiple cooperating witnesses who were members and associates of the Gambino family that the family controlled the cement industry on Staten Island and would not allow someone to open a cement company without paying extortion to the Gambino family, (iv) testimony from a cooperating witness who is a former Gambino family soldier with extensive knowledge of the family’s construction rackets that extortion payments related to cement were passed along to the administration of the family, and (v) multiple cooperating witnesses who were former Gambino family members familiar with the family’s construction rackets who are expected to testify that individuals and companies being extorted by Gambino family members must make the extortion payments demanded of them or face retaliation against their businesses, property or persons.
iii. Extortion Conspiracy/Attempted Extortion - Pump Truck
A cooperating witness is expected to testify to the following.
In June 2005, Joseph Vollaro sought permission from Gambino family captain Leonard DiMaria, who exercised day to day control over Joseph Vollaro for Gambino family captain Nicholas Corozzo, to purchase a cement pump truck and open a business. Later, DiMaria allowed Joseph Vollaro to start the business pursuant to an arrangement in which Joseph Vollaro would receive 40% of the pump truck profits and DiMaria and Corozzo would split the remaining profits together with Gambino family soldiers Ernie Grillo and Mario Cassarino. The pump truck business operated for a time, but ultimately the business was not profitable.
The cooperating witness’s testimony will be corroborated by (i) recordings made of conversations with Gambino family members, including multiple recordings detailing Joseph Vollaro’s attempted extortion by the defendants charged in the racketeering acts and counts related to this extortion, (ii) surveillance confirming Joseph Vollaro’s contacts with various members of the Gambino family and the participants in many of the taped conversations, and (iv) multiple cooperating witnesses who were former Gambino family members familiar with the family’s construction rackets who are expected to testify that individuals and companies being extorted by Gambino family members must comply with the demands of their Gambino family handlers or face retaliation against their businesses, property or persons.
iv. Extortion Conspiracy/Extortion - Liberty View Harbor Construction Site
A cooperating witness is expected to testify to the following.
In April 2006, Joseph Vollaro started a company which constructed a portable cement plant at the Liberty View Harbor construction site at which VMS Construction served as general contractor. VMS Construction is owned by Gambino family associate Anthony Scibelli, who is controlled by Gambino family soldier Vincent Dragonetti. In addition to the portable cement plant, two companies owned by Joseph Vollaro also performed work at the Liberty View Harbor site.
Joseph Vollaro obtained the work at the Liberty View Harbor site after Gambino family captain Nicholas Corozzo, who is Dragonetti’s father-in-law, granted him permission provided he pay 60% of the portable cement plant’s profits to Corozzo, Gambino family captain Leonard DiMaria and Dragonetti. In addition, Scibelli and Dragonetti demanded that Joseph Vollaro pay an additional $6 or $7 per yard of cement produced as well as extortionate payments for the other two businesses.
Over the course of the extortion, Jon Doe #4 made extortion payments to the Gambino family of more than $200,000.
Despite these payments, during the summer of 2007, with the backing of Corozzo, DiMaria and Dragonetti, Scibelli took possession of the portable cement plant without remuneration to Joseph Vollaro.
The cooperating witness’s testimony will be corroborated by (i) recordings made of conversations with Gambino family members, including scores of recordings detailing Joseph Vollaro’s extortion by the defendants charged in the racketeering acts and counts related to this extortion, (ii) surveillance confirming Joseph Vollaro’s contacts with various members of the Gambino family and the participants in many of the taped conversations, and (iii) multiple cooperating witnesses who were former Gambino family members familiar with the family’s construction rackets who are expected to testify that individuals and companies being extorted by Gambino family members must comply with the demands of their Gambino family handlers and make the extortion payments demanded of them or face retaliation against their businesses, property or persons.
v. Extortion Conspiracy/Extortion - Cement Powder Deliveries ___
A cooperating witness is expected to testify to the following.
In October 2007, following Gambino family soldier Anthony Scibelli’s takeover of his portable cement plant, Gambino family captains DiMaria and Corozzo approved a plan by which Joseph Vollaro would supply his former plant with the powder used to make cement at the Liberty View Harbor site. For this privilege, Joseph Vollaro was instructed to provide 60% of his profits relating to the cement powder deliveries to be split between Corozzo, DiMaria and Dragonetti. As directed, in the four months since, Joseph Vollaro has provided $6,000 in extortion payments.
Joseph Vollaro made the extortion payments demanded by his Gambino family handlers because he feared retaliation from the Gambino family and their associates.
The cooperating witness’s testimony will be corroborated by (i) recordings made of conversations with Gambino family members, including dozens of recordings detailing Joseph Vollaro’s extortion by the defendants charged in the racketeering acts and counts related to this extortion, (ii) surveillance confirming Joseph Vollaro’s contacts with various members of the Gambino family and the participants in many of the taped conversations, and (iii) multiple cooperating witnesses who were former Gambino family members familiar with the family’s construction rackets who are expected to testify that individuals and companies being extorted by Gambino family members must make the extortion payments demanded of them or face retaliation against their businesses, property or persons.
vi. Extortion Conspiracy/Extortion - Construction List
A cooperating witness is expected to testify to the following.
In July 2005, Gambino family captain Leonard DiMaria instructed Joseph Vollaro to help soldier Ernest Grillo reinitiate collections from construction companies that had been making extortion payments to then jailed Gambino family soldier Edward Garafola prior to his incarceration. Garafola, who had been a member of the Gambino family’s “construction panel,” a body which oversees the Gambino family’s construction rackets, had exacted extortionate payments from scores of construction companies prior to his incarceration, but had not shared the identity of all those companies with his Gambino family superiors.
Joseph Vollaro contacted Grillo as instructed. Together with Ruggiero and Gambino family associate Anthony O’Donnell, who had been Garafola’s right hand in conducting the extortions, and who had accompanied Garafola on one occasion while Garafola assaulted a contractor who was late in his payments, the men repeatedly met to reconstruct a list of the contractors who had been paying Garafola extortion and to plot the reinitiation of collections. Under the supervision and at the direction of Corozzo and DiMaria, the four men created a list of more than 40 construction companies and individual contractors that formerly paid extortion to Garafola. Grillo, Ruggiero and O’Donnell then approached a number of the companies to place them back under Gambino family control.
During the this process, Edward Garafola’s son asserted his father’s right to the extortion victims, and complained of the efforts to take away his father’s former victims. In response, Grillo told Joseph Vollaro that he assaulted Garafola’s son, saying, “I choked him out.”
The cooperating witness’s testimony will be corroborated by (i) recordings made of conversations with Gambino family members, including scores of recordings detailing Joseph Vollaro’s extortion by the defendants charged in the racketeering acts and counts related to this extortion, (ii) surveillance confirming Joseph Vollaro’s contacts with various members of the Gambino family, and the participants in many of the taped conversations, and (iii) the testimony of a cooperating witnesses who was a former Gambino family member and member of the Gambino family construction panel who was tasked with compiling the same construction list years earlier but failed to complete the job prior to his arrest and incarceration, property or persons.
vii. Extortion Conspiracy/Extortion - NASCAR Construction Site
A cooperating witness is expected to testify to the following.
In January 2006, NASCAR had begun construction on a racetrack in Staten Island. Recine Trucking, a company under the control of Gambino family acting underboss Domenico Cefalu, was among the first companies hired to bring fill to the site. Thereafter, Gambino family soldier Ernest Grillo acquired exclusive dumping rights at the site for Joseph Vollaro.
From late January 2006 to May 2006, Grillo, Cefalu and Gambino family members Leonard DiMaria, Vincent Dragonetti, Nicholas Corozzo and Frank Cali negotiated the amount of extortion Joseph Vollaro would be required to pay for the exclusive dumping rights. Eventually, Joseph Vollaro received those rights on the condition that he make extortion payments of $.50 per yard of fill dumped to Corozzo and DiMaria, and $.50 per yard of fill dumped to Cefalu and Cali.
Before Joseph Vollaro could begin dumping at the site pursuant to these terms, the exclusive dumping deal fell through. Later, after a new deal was worked out, Corozzo and DiMaria directed Joseph Vollaro to take the job on the condition that he pay them $1 for every yard of fill dumped at the site.
Joseph Vollaro also was required to make a one-time $9,000 payment to NASCAR employee Todd Polakoff on behalf have NASCAR executive William Kilgannon.
Joseph Vollaro worked at the site for a short time and made approximately $13,000 in extortion payments to Gambino family soldier Mario Cassarino, who collected the extortion payments for Corozzo and DiMaria.
The cooperating witness’s testimony will be corroborated by (i) recordings made of conversations with Gambino family members, including scores of recordings detailing Joseph Vollaro’s extortion by the defendants charged in the racketeering acts and counts related to this extortion, (ii) surveillance confirming Joseph Vollaro’s contacts with various members of the Gambino family and the participants in many of the taped conversations, and (iii) multiple cooperating witnesses who were former Gambino family members familiar with the family’s construction rackets who are expected to testify that individuals and companies being extorted by Gambino family members must comply with the demands of their Gambino family handlers and make the extortion payments demanded of them or face retaliation against their businesses, property or persons.
viii. Extortion Conspiracy/Extortion - Excavation Company
A cooperating witness is expected to testify to the following.
In approximately January 2006, Gambino family captain Nicholas Corozzo instructed Joseph Vollaro to start an excavation business which, after a short period in which Joseph Vollaro would be allowed to operate the business without making extortion payments, would be required to pay 60% of its profits to Corozzo, Gambino family soldier Vincent Dragonetti and Gambino family captain Leonard DiMaria. Joseph Vollaro began making these payments a few months after starting the business. To date, Joseph Vollaro has paid more than $30,000 in extortion payments to DiMaria and Dragonetti, who collected the payments on Corozzo’s behalf.
The cooperating witness’s testimony will be corroborated by (i) recordings made of conversations with Gambino family members, including dozens of recordings detailing Joseph Vollaro’s extortion by the defendants charged in the racketeering acts and counts related to this extortion, (ii) surveillance confirming Joseph Vollaro’s contacts with various members of the Gambino family and the participants in many of the taped conversations, and (iii) multiple cooperating witnesses who were former Gambino family members familiar with the family’s construction rackets who are expected to testify that individuals and companies being extorted by Gambino family members must comply with the demands of their Gambino family handlers and make the extortion payments demanded of them or face retaliation against their businesses, property or persons.
ix. Extortion Conspiracy/Extortion - John Does #4 & #12
A cooperating witness is expected to testify to the following.
In July 2006, Gambino family captain Leonard DiMaria informed Joseph Vollaro that John Doe #12, an individual close to Joseph Vollaro who previously made extortion payments to the commissary of jailed Gambino family soldier Jerome Brancato, needed to begin making extortion payments to Brancato again. At the end of 2006, when Brancato was released from prison, DiMaria instructed Joseph Vollaro to have John Doe #12 pay money to Brancato to help him get him back on his feet. Joseph Vollaro then gave $2,500 to Vincent Dragonetti, who collected the money for Brancato.
In January 2008, Gambino family captain Nicholas Corozzo told Joseph Vollaro that John Doe #12 failed to provide Brancato with a year end extortion payment. Corozzo instructed Joseph Vollaro to make sure that money from John Doe #12 was given to Gambino family soldier Joseph Chirico, who would collect it for Brancato. The following day, Joseph Vollaro gave $1,500 to Chirico for Brancato.
The cooperating witness’s testimony will be corroborated by (i) recordings made of conversations with Gambino family members, including multiple recordings detailing Joseph Vollaro’s extortion by the defendants charged in the racketeering acts and counts related to this extortion, (ii) surveillance confirming Joseph Vollaro’s contacts with various members of the Gambino family and the participants in many of the taped conversations, and (iii) multiple cooperating witnesses who were former Gambino family members who are expected to testify that individuals being extorted by Gambino family members must comply with the demands of their Gambino family handlers or face some form of retaliation.
x. Extortion Conspiracy/Extortion - Staten Island Recycling
A cooperating witness is expected to testify to the following.
In conducting his trucking business, Joseph Vollaro came into frequent contact with the owners of a recycling facility located on Staten Island.
In approximately June 2008, Nicholas Corozzo and Leonard DiMaria directed Joseph Vollaro to collect extortion payments from the facility.
In January 2008, Joseph Vollaro told Corozzo and DiMaria that he collected $2,000 from the facility, and provided the money to DiMaria.
The cooperating witness’s testimony will be corroborated by (i) recordings made of conversations with Gambino family members, including multiple recordings detailing Joseph Vollaro’s extortion by the defendants charged in the racketeering acts and counts related to this extortion, (ii) surveillance confirming Joseph Vollaro’s contacts with various members of the Gambino family and the participants in many of the taped conversations, and (iii) multiple cooperating witnesses who were former Gambino family members who are expected to testify that individuals being extorted by Gambino family members must comply with the demands of their Gambino family handlers or face some form of retaliation.
2. DiMaria Constitutes a Danger to the Community and Should Be Detained
The defendant Leonard DiMaria poses a danger to the community. He is one of the leaders of a violent organized crime family and has himself engaged in crimes of violence in furtherance of the family’s illegal businesses. Courts in this district and the Second Circuit repeatedly have held that high-ranking members of organized crime constitute a danger to the community. As discussed below, each of the relevant considerations under the Bail Reform Act favors detention here.
a. Nature and Circumstances of the Crimes Charged
DiMaria is charged with numerous extortions as part of the racketeering conspiracy count as well as substantively. Extortions are crimes of violence. See 18 U.S.C. § 3156(a)(4)(A) (defining “crime of violence” as an offense that has as one of its elements the “attempted use, or threatened use of physical force against the person or property of another”). Moreover, DiMaria currently holds a leadership position in an ongoing criminal enterprise and commands made men - soldiers - sworn to follow his orders and commit violence upon his request.
b. History and Characteristics of the Defendant
DiMaria is a long-standing member of the Gambino family who now serves as a captain. He is a life-long criminal who has sworn an oath to a violent criminal enterprise. He also is a multiple convicted felon, whose convictions include:
• In 1997, DiMaria was convicted in the Eastern District of New York of racketeering, racketeering conspiracy, loansharking, unlawful collection of debt, possession and sale of stolen property, transportation of stolen property; theft from interstate shipments, conspiracy to defraud the United States and bribery of a public official.6
• In 1998, DiMaria was convicted in the Southern District of Florida of Racketeering Conspiracy and sentenced to 64 months’ imprisonment.7
c. Seriousness of Danger Posed by the Defendant’s Release
DiMaria poses a clear danger if released. As noted above, the government will establish DiMaria’s membership in the Gambino family through a variety of sources, including the testimony of more than five cooperating witnesses, consensual recordings and surveillance evidence.
Courts in this circuit routinely detain high-ranking members of organized crime based on their leadership roles in criminal enterprises that engage in acts of violence. See, e.g. Defede, 7 F. Supp. 2d at 393 (detaining defendant on dangerousness based on the proffered testimony of cooperating witness and surveillance evidence that he was the acting boss of the Luchese family, an enterprise involved in extortionate conduct, among other crimes); Gotti, 312 F.3d at 542 (“Indeed, we made it quite clear in United States v. Colombo, 777 F.2d 96, 98 (2d Cir. 1985), that the [Bail Reform Act] ‘does not require that the defendant himself commit acts of physical violence as a condition precedent to a detention order.’ ”).
DiMaria is a captain in the Gambino family and he has been involved in numerous acts of violence. In this investigation, he is caught in scores of recorded conversations related to extortion, a crime of violence. The violent nature of the Gambino family’s method of collecting money is made clear in the following recording of DiMaria: “You have to go bother these people for your money. . . they are going to tell you we got to sit down and talk and this and that. Rough them up a little. Tell them, ‘You’re a fucking stiff.’ Tell them what you have to tell them. . . . The next guy that owes you money from there with them guys, you catch them, and that’s what I’m saying, that you check in with the other guys . . . Crack a face, fuck them up. Don’t you do it, send a fucking kid to rough them up, a fucking joke.”
DiMaria thus falls within the “small but identifiable group of particularly dangerous defendants as to whom neither the imposition of stringent release conditions nor the prospect of revocation of release can reasonably assure the safety of the community.” Senate Report at 3188-89. As demonstrated by the recorded conversations, DiMaria’s position in the Gambino family gives him the authority and resources to continue his criminal activities and to order and accomplish acts of violence against potential witnesses or any person he perceives as a threat - of which there will be many during the course of this prosecution.
Finally, DiMaria likely will continue his criminal conduct if released; he is a career criminal who holds a leadership position in a continuing criminal enterprise, the needs of which require constant monitoring. As noted, courts in this circuit have recognized that when organized crime defendants are charged with their participation in a criminal enterprise, the risk of continued criminal conduct is substantial and justifies detention. See Salerno, 631 F. Supp. at 1375. Under the cases cited above, the crimes charged and the facts proffered, there is little doubt that DiMaria is a danger to the community and ordered detained pending the outcome of his case.
d. Evidence of the Defendant’s Guilt
The government’s evidence of DiMaria’s guilt on the charged crimes is strong. To prevail on the racketeering conspiracy and racketeering counts, the government must prove the following four elements: (a) that the defendant knowingly agreed to conduct or participate - and conducted or participated - directly or indirectly, in the conduct of the affairs of the charged enterprise through a pattern of racketeering activity; (b) that the enterprise, here the Gambino family, exists; (c) that the enterprise engaged in, or its activities affected interstate or foreign commerce; and (d) that the defendant was employed by, or associated with, the enterprise.
First, the government will prove the existence of the Gambino family and DiMaria’s membership in that enterprise through, among other evidence, the testimony of cooperating witnesses, hundreds of consensual recordings and surveillance. More than five cooperating witnesses are expected to testify that the Gambino family exists and that DiMaria is a longstanding member of the family. At least two witnesses are expected to testify that DiMaria currently serves as a captain.
The second element, the interstate commerce requirement, is also easily proved as the Gambino family has engaged in a variety of crimes, including narcotics trafficking, robbery, extortion of businesses and other crimes which affect interstate commerce.
Finally, to prove that DiMaria engaged in the charged pattern of racketeering activity the government will offer law enforcement witnesses, cooperating witnesses and scores of consensual and court-authorized recordings. For example, the testimony of the cooperating witness will be corroborated by over 80 recordings that show that the defendant engaged in the crimes charged.
The government’s evidence of DiMaria’s guilt is thus strong and clearly favors detention.
3. DiMaria Also Constitutes a Risk of Flight
DiMaria faces 21 counts covering 10 different crimes of violence each carrying a penalty of 20 years’ imprisonment. In addition, DiMaria will be sentenced as a career offender under the Sentencing Guidelines. See United States v. Dodge, 846 F. Supp. 181, 184-85 (D. Conn. 1994) (finding that the possibility of a “severe sentence” heightens the risk of flight). Given his age, the strength of the evidence and the likely sentence resulting from a conviction on even one of the charged extortions, it is a near certainty DiMaria faces an effective life sentence. Accordingly he constitutes a risk of flight and should be detained.
J. VINCENT DRAGONETTI
Vincent Dragonetti is a soldier in the Gambino family. He is charged in Count One with racketeering conspiracy, including more than a dozen predicate acts of extortion, attempted extortion, extortion conspiracy, extortionate extension of credit, extortionate extension of credit conspiracy, extortionate collection of credit, and extortionate collection of credit conspiracy. He is also charged with extortion, attempted extortion, extortion conspiracy, extortionate extension of credit, extortionate extension of credit conspiracy, extortionate collection of credit, extortionate collection of credit conspiracy, money laundering, money laundering conspiracy and illegal gambling.
If convicted as charged, Dragonetti faces a term of 20 years’ imprisonment on the racketeering conspiracy count, as well as each of the more than 10 counts charging crimes of violence. Were Dragonetti sentenced consecutively for just five of the extortionate schemes covered in these counts - the evidence for which includes more than 60 separate recorded conversations capturing Dragonetti discussing the extortions on tape - he faces a term of imprisonment of 100 years. Accordingly, the government seeks a permanent order of detention for Dragonetti on the grounds that he is both a danger to the community and a risk of flight.
1. Proffered Facts
The government hereby proffers the following facts relevant to the pretrial detention of Dragonetti.
a. Dragonetti Is a Gambino Family Soldier
Dragonetti is a Gambino family soldier. The government will establish Dragonetti’s position in the Gambino family through the testimony of cooperating witnesses, consensual recordings and surveillance evidence. Each category of evidence is briefly discussed below.
At least two cooperating witnesses are expected to testify that Dragonetti is a member of the Gambino family who enjoys special ties with powerful Gambino family captain Nicholas Corozzo, who is his father-in-law.
This testimony is corroborated by the more than 60 recorded conversations involving Dragonetti. During the course of the recordings, he is heard engaging in the Gambino family’s business, explicitly discussing the myriad crimes with which he is charged, the involvement of other Gambino family members in these crimes, and his position in the Gambino family’s hierarchy. Scores of recorded conversations with other Gambino family members referencing Dragonetti further demonstrate his position in the family.
The available surveillance evidence also establishes Dragonetti’s long association with and position in the Gambino family. Since 1993, Dragonetti has been observed at locations and events relating to the Gambino family. He has been observed with other members of the Gambino family at three weddings and wakes. Cooperating witnesses and an organized crime expert are expected to testify that these events are attended by dozens of other members and associates of organized crime, many of whom are convicted felons who committed those crimes as part of an organized crime family, and that Gambino family business is routinely conducted at such events. Dragonetti was observed at the 1993 wedding of Gambino family captain Leonard DiMaria’s daughter. In the past year, Dragonetti was surveilled attending the January 2007 wake of Maryann Corozzo, the wife of Gambino family soldier Blaise Corozzo.
b. Crimes of Violence
As noted above, Dragonetti is charged in multiple extortions, all crimes of violence. A brief proffer of the facts pertaining to each of the extortions follows.
i. Extortion Conspiracy/Extortion - Liberty View Harbor Construction Site
A cooperating witness is expected to testify to the following.
In April 2006, Joseph Vollaro started a company which constructed a portable cement plant at the Liberty View Harbor construction site at which VMS Construction served as general contractor. VMS Construction is owned by Gambino family associate Anthony Scibelli, who is controlled by Gambino family soldier Vincent Dragonetti. In addition to the portable cement plant, two companies owned by Joseph Vollaro also performed work at the Liberty View Harbor site.
Joseph Vollaro obtained the work at the Liberty View Harbor site after Gambino family captain Nicholas Corozzo, who is Dragonetti’s father-in-law, granted him permission provided he pay 60% of the portable cement plant’s profits to Corozzo, Gambino family captain Leonard DiMaria and Dragonetti. In addition, Scibelli and Dragonetti demanded that Joseph Vollaro pay an additional $6 or $7 per yard of cement produced as well as extortionate payments for the other two businesses.
Over the course of the extortion, Jon Doe #4 made extortion payments to the Gambino family of more than $200,000.
Despite these payments, during the summer of 2007, with the backing of Corozzo, DiMaria and Dragonetti, Scibelli took possession of the portable cement plant without remuneration to Joseph Vollaro.
The cooperating witness’s testimony will be corroborated by (i) recordings made of conversations with Gambino family members, including scores of recordings detailing Joseph Vollaro’s extortion by the defendants charged in the racketeering acts and counts related to this extortion, (ii) surveillance confirming Joseph Vollaro’s contacts with various members of the Gambino family and the participants in many of the taped conversations, and (iii) multiple cooperating witnesses who were former Gambino family members familiar with the family’s construction rackets who are expected to testify that individuals and companies being extorted by Gambino family members must comply with the demands of their Gambino family handlers and make the extortion payments demanded of them or face retaliation against their businesses, property or persons.
ii. Extortion Conspiracy/Extortion - Cement Powder Deliveries ___
A cooperating witness is expected to testify to the following.
In October 2007, following Gambino family soldier Anthony Scibelli’s takeover of his portable cement plant, Gambino family captains DiMaria and Corozzo approved a plan by which Joseph Vollaro would supply his former plant with the powder used to make cement at the Liberty View Harbor site. For this privilege, Joseph Vollaro was instructed to provide 60% of his profits relating to the cement powder deliveries to be split between Corozzo, DiMaria and Dragonetti. As directed, in the four months since, Joseph Vollaro has provided $6,000 in extortion payments.
The cooperating witness’s testimony will be corroborated by (i) recordings made of conversations with Gambino family members, including dozens of recordings detailing Joseph Vollaro’s extortion by the defendants charged in the racketeering acts and counts related to this extortion, (ii) surveillance confirming Joseph Vollaro’s contacts with various members of the Gambino family and the participants in many of the taped conversations, and (iii) multiple cooperating witnesses who were former Gambino family members familiar with the family’s construction rackets who are expected to testify that individuals and companies being extorted by Gambino family members must make the extortion payments demanded of them or face retaliation against their businesses, property or persons.
iii. Extortion Conspiracy/Extortion - NASCAR Construction Site
A cooperating witness is expected to testify to the following.
In January 2006, NASCAR had begun construction on a racetrack in Staten Island. Recine Trucking, a company under the control of Gambino family acting underboss Domenico Cefalu, was among the first companies hired to bring fill to the site. Thereafter, Gambino family soldier Ernest Grillo acquired exclusive dumping rights at the site for Joseph Vollaro.
From late January 2006 to May 2006, Grillo, Cefalu and Gambino family members Leonard DiMaria, Vincent Dragonetti, Nicholas Corozzo and Frank Cali negotiated the amount of extortion Joseph Vollaro would be required to pay for the exclusive dumping rights. Eventually, Joseph Vollaro received those rights on the condition that he make extortion payments of $.50 per yard of fill dumped to Corozzo and DiMaria, and $.50 per yard of fill dumped to Cefalu and Cali.
Before Joseph Vollaro could begin dumping at the site pursuant to these terms, the exclusive dumping deal fell through. Later, after a new deal was worked out, Corozzo and DiMaria directed Joseph Vollaro to take the job on the condition that he pay them $1 for every yard of fill dumped at the site.
Joseph Vollaro also was required to make a one-time $9,000 payment to NASCAR employee Todd Polakoff on behalf have NASCAR executive William Kilgannon.
Joseph Vollaro worked at the site for a short time and made approximately $13,000 in extortion payments to Gambino family soldier Mario Cassarino, who collected the extortion payments for Corozzo and DiMaria.
The cooperating witness’s testimony will be corroborated by (i) recordings made of conversations with Gambino family members, including scores of recordings detailing Joseph Vollaro’s extortion by the defendants charged in the racketeering acts and counts related to this extortion, (ii) surveillance confirming Joseph Vollaro’s contacts with various members of the Gambino family and the participants in many of the taped conversations, and (iii) multiple cooperating witnesses who were former Gambino family members familiar with the family’s construction rackets who are expected to testify that individuals and companies being extorted by Gambino family members must comply with the demands of their Gambino family handlers and make the extortion payments demanded of them or face retaliation against their businesses, property or persons.
iv. Extortion Conspiracy/Extortion - Excavation Company
A cooperating witness is expected to testify to the following.
In approximately January 2006, Gambino family captain Nicholas Corozzo instructed Joseph Vollaro to start an excavation business which, after a short period in which Joseph Vollaro would be allowed to operate the business without making extortion payments, would be required to pay 60% of its profits to Corozzo, Gambino family soldier Vincent Dragonetti and Gambino family captain Leonard DiMaria. Joseph Vollaro began making these payments a few months after starting the business. To date, Joseph Vollaro has paid more than $30,000 in extortion payments to DiMaria and Dragonetti, who collected the payments on Corozzo’s behalf.
The cooperating witness’s testimony will be corroborated by (i) recordings made of conversations with Gambino family members, including dozens of recordings detailing Joseph Vollaro’s extortion by the defendants charged in the racketeering acts and counts related to this extortion, (ii) surveillance confirming Joseph Vollaro’s contacts with various members of the Gambino family and the participants in many of the taped conversations, and (iii) multiple cooperating witnesses who were former Gambino family members familiar with the family’s construction rackets who are expected to testify that individuals and companies being extorted by Gambino family members must comply with the demands of their Gambino family handlers and make the extortion payments demanded of them or face retaliation against their businesses, property or persons.
v. Extortion Conspiracy/Extortion - John Does #4 & #12
A cooperating witness is expected to testify to the following.
In July 2006, Gambino family captain Leonard DiMaria informed Joseph Vollaro that John Doe #12, an individual close to Joseph Vollaro who previously made extortion payments to the commissary of jailed Gambino family soldier Jerome Brancato, needed to begin making extortion payments to Brancato again. At the end of 2006, when Brancato was released from prison, DiMaria instructed Joseph Vollaro to have John Doe #12 pay money to Brancato to help him get him back on his feet. Joseph Vollaro then gave $2,500 to Vincent Dragonetti, who collected the money for Brancato.
In January 2008, Gambino family captain Nicholas Corozzo told Joseph Vollaro that John Doe #12 failed to provide Brancato with a year end extortion payment. Corozzo instructed Joseph Vollaro to make sure that money from John Doe #12 was given to Gambino family soldier Joseph Chirico, who would collect it for Brancato. The following day, Joseph Vollaro gave $1,500 to Chirico for Brancato.
The cooperating witness’s testimony will be corroborated by (i) recordings made of conversations with Gambino family members, including multiple recordings detailing Joseph Vollaro’s extortion by the defendants charged in the racketeering acts and counts related to this extortion, (ii) surveillance confirming Joseph Vollaro’s contacts with various members of the Gambino family and the participants in many of the taped conversations, and (iii) multiple cooperating witnesses who were former Gambino family members who are expected to testify that individuals being extorted by Gambino family members must comply with the demands of their Gambino family handlers or face some form of retaliation.
2. Dragonetti Constitutes a Danger to the Community and Should Be Detained
As discussed above, Dragonetti is a Gambino family soldier with a prior felony conviction for committing a crime of violence as part of the Gambino family.
a. Nature and Circumstances of the Crimes Charged
Dragonetti has been indicted on 12 counts charging crimes of violence. This alone merits detention on the basis of dangerousness.
b. History and Characteristics of the Defendant
As noted, Dragonetti is a Gambino family soldier. He is a criminal who has sworn an oath to a violent criminal enterprise. He also is a convicted felon who has pled guilty in the past - in this district - to some of the same conduct he has been charged with in the instant indictment.
On January 23, 1997, Dragonetti was arrested in the Eastern District of New York and charged with RICO and RICO conspiracy. On November 3, 1997, he pled guilty before the Honorable Frederic Block to loansharking, conducting an illegal gambling business and tax evasion, and was sentenced to three years’ imprisonment and a $60,000 fine.
c. Seriousness of Danger Posed by the Defendant’s Release
Dragonetti has long engaged in violence on behalf of the Gambino family. His recent involvement in acts of violence include the multiple charged extortions with Gambino family captain Leonard DiMaria. The violent nature of the Gambino family’s method of collecting money is made clear in the following recording of DiMaria: “You have to go bother these people for your money. . . they are going to tell you we got to sit down and talk and this and that. Rough them up a little. Tell them, ‘You’re a fucking stiff.’ Tell them what you have to tell them. . . . The next guy that owes you money from there with them guys, you catch them, and that’s what I’m saying, that you check in with the other guys . . . Crack a face, fuck them up. Don’t you do it, send a fucking kid to rough them up, a fucking joke.”
The crimes charged, coupled with his prior conviction, make clear that Dragonetti is a danger to the community.
d. Evidence of the Defendant’s Guilt
The government’s evidence of Dragonetti’s guilt on the charged crimes is strong. To prevail on the racketeering conspiracy charge, the government must prove the following four elements: (a) that the defendant knowingly agreed to conduct or participate - and conducted and participated - directly or indirectly, in the conduct of the affairs of the charged enterprise through a pattern of racketeering activity; (b) that the enterprise, here the Gambino family, exists; (c) that the enterprise engaged in, or its activities affect, interstate or foreign commerce; and (d) that the defendant was employed by, or associated with, the enterprise.
First, the government will prove the existence of the Gambino family and Dragonetti’s membership in that enterprise through, among other evidence, the testimony of cooperating witnesses, consensual recordings and surveillance. At least two cooperating witnesses are expected to testify that the Gambino family exists and that Dragonetti is a member of the family.
The second element, the interstate commerce requirement, is also easily proved as the Gambino family has engaged in a variety of crimes, including narcotics trafficking, robbery, extortion of businesses and other crimes which affect interstate commerce.
Finally, to prove that Dragonetti engaged in the charged pattern of racketeering activity the government will offer law enforcement witnesses, cooperating witnesses and consensual recordings. The government has over 100 recordings documenting Dragonetti’s involvement in the extortions and other crimes for which he is indicted in this case. Accordingly, the government’s evidence of Dragonetti’s guilt is thus strong and clearly favors detention.
3. Dragonetti Also Constitutes a Risk of Flight
In addition to the reasons set forth above, given that he faces 20 years’ imprisonment on each count if convicted, Dragonetti also constitutes a risk of flight. See United States v. Dodge. 846 F. Supp. 181, 184-85 (D. Conn. 1994) (finding the possibility of a “severe sentence” heightens the risk of flight). The fact that the government has a strong case against Dragonetti heightens his incentive to flee. Accordingly, Dragonetti should also be detained as a risk of flight.
I. LEONARD DIMARIA
Leonard DiMaria is charged in Count One with racketeering conspiracy, including 10 predicate acts of extortion, attempted extortion and extortion conspiracy, and additional predicate acts of union benefit theft, bribery of union officials, money laundering and illegal gambling. DiMaria is also charged with extortion, attempted extortion and extortion conspiracy, union benefit theft, conspiracy to embezzle union benefits, mail fraud, mail fraud conspiracy, money laundering and money laundering conspiracy.
If convicted as charged, DiMaria faces a term of 20 years’ imprisonment on the racketeering conspiracy count, as well as for each of the 20 extortion, attempted extortion and extortion conspiracy counts. Were DiMaria sentenced consecutively for just the 10 distinct extortions covered in these counts - the evidence for which includes more than 100 hours of recorded conversations capturing DiMaria discussing the extortions - he faces a term of imprisonment of 200 years.
Significantly, he will be sentenced as a career offender due to his past convictions for violent crime, resulting in a guidelines range of 210 to 262 months’ imprisonment for each extortion conviction. DiMaria is 67 years old and has more than 20 criminal convictions dating to 1957.
The government seeks to have a permanent order of detention entered against DiMaria on the grounds that he is a danger to the community and a risk of flight.
1. Proffered Facts
The government hereby proffers the following facts relevant to the charges lodged against DiMaria.
a. DiMaria Is a Captain in the Gambino Family
DiMaria is a longstanding member of the Gambino family who currently serves as a captain. The government will establish DiMaria’s position in the Gambino family through the testimony of cooperating witnesses, consensual recordings and surveillance evidence. Each category of evidence is briefly discussed below.
More than a dozen cooperating witnesses are expected to testify that DiMaria has been a member of the Gambino family since the 1970’s. These same cooperating witness are expected to testify that since that time DiMaria has served as the right hand to powerful Gambino family captain Nicholas Corozzo. More than five cooperating witnesses are expected to testify that DiMaria himself is a member of the Gambino family and at least two are expected to testify that presently he is a captain.
This testimony is corroborated by the more than 80 recorded conversations involving DiMaria. During the course of the recordings, he is heard engaging in the Gambino family’s business - discussing the enterprise, its criminal activities, its members and rules of operation - in which his captain status is made plain by, among other things, statements demonstrating his control of other members of members of the Gambino family.
Surveillance evidence also establishes DiMaria’s long-term association with and position in the Gambino family. Since 1976 - more than 30 years ago - DiMaria has been observed at locations and events relating to the Gambino family. He has been observed with other members of the Gambino family at weddings and wakes in the 1970’s, 1980’s, 1990’s and in this decade. In addition, members of the Gambino family charged in the instant indictment, including acting boss John D’Amico, consigliere Joseph Corozzo, captain Nicholas Corozzo, captain Thomas Cacciopoli, acting captain Augustus Sclafani and two other soldiers, attended DiMaria’s daughter’s wedding and/or his mother’s wake. As recently as January 31, 2008, DiMaria was observed meeting with a cooperating witness to collect $8000 for the Gambino family’s administration. Cooperating witnesses and an organized crime expert are expected to testify that these events are attended by dozens of other members and associates of organized crime, many of whom are convicted felons who committed those crimes as part of an organized crime family, and that Gambino family business is routinely conducted at such events.
b. DiMaria Is Charged with Crimes of Violence
DiMaria is charged with extortion, attempted extortion and extortion conspiracy in 10 racketeering acts within count one’s RICO conspiracy charge, as well as in 20 substantive counts of the indictment. These charges stem from 10 separate extortions involving dozens of businesses and business owners within the New York construction industry. A brief proffer of the facts pertaining to each of the extortions follows.
i. Extortion Conspiracy/Extortion - Staten Island Cement Company Profits
A cooperating witness is expected to testify to the following.
In approximately December 2003, Joseph Vollaro approached Gambino family captain Thomas Cacciopoli and requested permission to open a cement company on Staten Island. Due to the Gambino family’s control of the New York cement industry, Cacciopoli, together with Gambino family captain Louis Filippelli, engaged in a series of meetings to obtain permission from the Gambino family’s administration to open such a company. Cacciopoli and Filippelli succeeded and informed Joseph Vollaro that he could start the company provided that following a one-year grace period, the Gambino family would receive 15% or $1 per yard for all cement sold, with the payments to be collected by Filippelli and passed through to the family’s administration.
Joseph Vollaro opened the company in April 2004. Since May 2005, he has paid over $60,000 of extortion payments to the Gambino family. The initial payments were collected by Gambino family soldier Vincent Pacelli on behalf of then incarcerated Louis Filippelli. After Gambino family captain Nicholas Corozzo assumed control of Joseph Vollaro from Filippelli in late June 2005, payments were collected on his behalf for the administration by DiMaria, who controlled Joseph Vollaro for Corozzo while Corozzo was on supervised release, as well as by Gambino family soldiers Mario Cassarino and Ernest Grillo.
Multiple members of the Gambino family informed Joseph Vollaro that the profits from his Staten Island cement company were passed along to the Gambino family administration, and that the administration consists of acting boss John D’Amico, acting underboss Domenico Cefalu and consigliere Joseph Corozzo.
The cooperating witness’s testimony will be corroborated by (i) recordings made of conversations with Gambino family members, including scores of recordings detailing Joseph Vollaro’s extortion by the defendants charged in the racketeering acts and counts related to this extortion, (ii) surveillance confirming Joseph Vollaro’s contacts with various members of the Gambino family and the participants in many of the taped conversations, (iii) testimony from multiple cooperating witnesses who were members and associates of the Gambino family that the family controlled the cement industry on Staten Island and would not allow someone to open a cement company without paying extortion to the Gambino family, (iv) testimony from a cooperating witness who is a former Gambino family soldier with extensive knowledge of the family’s construction rackets that extortion payments related to cement were passed along to the administration of the family, and (v) multiple cooperating witnesses who were former Gambino family members familiar with the family’s construction rackets who are expected to testify that individuals and companies being extorted by Gambino family members must make the extortion payments demanded of them or face retaliation.
ii. Extortion Conspiracy/Extortion - Staten Island Cement Company Sale
A cooperating witness is expected to testify to the following.
During the spring of 2007, a company offered to buy Joseph Vollaro’s Staten Island cement company. In keeping with instructions from Gambino family captains Nicholas Corozzo and Leonard DiMaria to consult them before making any decisions concerning his business, Joseph Vollaro informed DiMaria of the offer. DiMaria later told Joseph Vollaro that the family had agreed to allow him to make the sale, provided he pay $100,000 to the Gambino family.
In January 2008, Joseph Vollaro sold the Staten Island cement company. Thereafter, Gambino family consigliere Joseph Corozzo, through Gambino family solider Gus Sclafani, directed Joseph Vollaro to deliver the $100,000 to Joseph Corozzo. Later, Nicholas Corozzo and Leonard DiMaria directed Joseph Vollaro to deliver the money to Leonard DiMaria for distribution to the administration. As directed, Joseph Vollaro made a payment of the proceeds of the sale of the cement company to DiMaria.
The cooperating witness’s testimony will be corroborated by (i) recordings made of conversations with Gambino family members, including multiple recordings detailing Joseph Vollaro’s extortion by the defendants charged in the racketeering acts and counts related to this extortion, (ii) surveillance confirming Joseph Vollaro’s contacts with various members of the Gambino family and the participants in many of the taped conversations, (iii) testimony from multiple cooperating witnesses who were members and associates of the Gambino family that the family controlled the cement industry on Staten Island and would not allow someone to open a cement company without paying extortion to the Gambino family, (iv) testimony from a cooperating witness who is a former Gambino family soldier with extensive knowledge of the family’s construction rackets that extortion payments related to cement were passed along to the administration of the family, and (v) multiple cooperating witnesses who were former Gambino family members familiar with the family’s construction rackets who are expected to testify that individuals and companies being extorted by Gambino family members must make the extortion payments demanded of them or face retaliation against their businesses, property or persons.
iii. Extortion Conspiracy/Attempted Extortion - Pump Truck
A cooperating witness is expected to testify to the following.
In June 2005, Joseph Vollaro sought permission from Gambino family captain Leonard DiMaria, who exercised day to day control over Joseph Vollaro for Gambino family captain Nicholas Corozzo, to purchase a cement pump truck and open a business. Later, DiMaria allowed Joseph Vollaro to start the business pursuant to an arrangement in which Joseph Vollaro would receive 40% of the pump truck profits and DiMaria and Corozzo would split the remaining profits together with Gambino family soldiers Ernie Grillo and Mario Cassarino. The pump truck business operated for a time, but ultimately the business was not profitable.
The cooperating witness’s testimony will be corroborated by (i) recordings made of conversations with Gambino family members, including multiple recordings detailing Joseph Vollaro’s attempted extortion by the defendants charged in the racketeering acts and counts related to this extortion, (ii) surveillance confirming Joseph Vollaro’s contacts with various members of the Gambino family and the participants in many of the taped conversations, and (iv) multiple cooperating witnesses who were former Gambino family members familiar with the family’s construction rackets who are expected to testify that individuals and companies being extorted by Gambino family members must comply with the demands of their Gambino family handlers or face retaliation against their businesses, property or persons.
iv. Extortion Conspiracy/Extortion - Liberty View Harbor Construction Site
A cooperating witness is expected to testify to the following.
In April 2006, Joseph Vollaro started a company which constructed a portable cement plant at the Liberty View Harbor construction site at which VMS Construction served as general contractor. VMS Construction is owned by Gambino family associate Anthony Scibelli, who is controlled by Gambino family soldier Vincent Dragonetti. In addition to the portable cement plant, two companies owned by Joseph Vollaro also performed work at the Liberty View Harbor site.
Joseph Vollaro obtained the work at the Liberty View Harbor site after Gambino family captain Nicholas Corozzo, who is Dragonetti’s father-in-law, granted him permission provided he pay 60% of the portable cement plant’s profits to Corozzo, Gambino family captain Leonard DiMaria and Dragonetti. In addition, Scibelli and Dragonetti demanded that Joseph Vollaro pay an additional $6 or $7 per yard of cement produced as well as extortionate payments for the other two businesses.
Over the course of the extortion, Jon Doe #4 made extortion payments to the Gambino family of more than $200,000.
Despite these payments, during the summer of 2007, with the backing of Corozzo, DiMaria and Dragonetti, Scibelli took possession of the portable cement plant without remuneration to Joseph Vollaro.
The cooperating witness’s testimony will be corroborated by (i) recordings made of conversations with Gambino family members, including scores of recordings detailing Joseph Vollaro’s extortion by the defendants charged in the racketeering acts and counts related to this extortion, (ii) surveillance confirming Joseph Vollaro’s contacts with various members of the Gambino family and the participants in many of the taped conversations, and (iii) multiple cooperating witnesses who were former Gambino family members familiar with the family’s construction rackets who are expected to testify that individuals and companies being extorted by Gambino family members must comply with the demands of their Gambino family handlers and make the extortion payments demanded of them or face retaliation against their businesses, property or persons.
v. Extortion Conspiracy/Extortion - Cement Powder Deliveries ___
A cooperating witness is expected to testify to the following.
In October 2007, following Gambino family soldier Anthony Scibelli’s takeover of his portable cement plant, Gambino family captains DiMaria and Corozzo approved a plan by which Joseph Vollaro would supply his former plant with the powder used to make cement at the Liberty View Harbor site. For this privilege, Joseph Vollaro was instructed to provide 60% of his profits relating to the cement powder deliveries to be split between Corozzo, DiMaria and Dragonetti. As directed, in the four months since, Joseph Vollaro has provided $6,000 in extortion payments.
Joseph Vollaro made the extortion payments demanded by his Gambino family handlers because he feared retaliation from the Gambino family and their associates.
The cooperating witness’s testimony will be corroborated by (i) recordings made of conversations with Gambino family members, including dozens of recordings detailing Joseph Vollaro’s extortion by the defendants charged in the racketeering acts and counts related to this extortion, (ii) surveillance confirming Joseph Vollaro’s contacts with various members of the Gambino family and the participants in many of the taped conversations, and (iii) multiple cooperating witnesses who were former Gambino family members familiar with the family’s construction rackets who are expected to testify that individuals and companies being extorted by Gambino family members must make the extortion payments demanded of them or face retaliation against their businesses, property or persons.
vi. Extortion Conspiracy/Extortion - Construction List
A cooperating witness is expected to testify to the following.
In July 2005, Gambino family captain Leonard DiMaria instructed Joseph Vollaro to help soldier Ernest Grillo reinitiate collections from construction companies that had been making extortion payments to then jailed Gambino family soldier Edward Garafola prior to his incarceration. Garafola, who had been a member of the Gambino family’s “construction panel,” a body which oversees the Gambino family’s construction rackets, had exacted extortionate payments from scores of construction companies prior to his incarceration, but had not shared the identity of all those companies with his Gambino family superiors.
Joseph Vollaro contacted Grillo as instructed. Together with Ruggiero and Gambino family associate Anthony O’Donnell, who had been Garafola’s right hand in conducting the extortions, and who had accompanied Garafola on one occasion while Garafola assaulted a contractor who was late in his payments, the men repeatedly met to reconstruct a list of the contractors who had been paying Garafola extortion and to plot the reinitiation of collections. Under the supervision and at the direction of Corozzo and DiMaria, the four men created a list of more than 40 construction companies and individual contractors that formerly paid extortion to Garafola. Grillo, Ruggiero and O’Donnell then approached a number of the companies to place them back under Gambino family control.
During the this process, Edward Garafola’s son asserted his father’s right to the extortion victims, and complained of the efforts to take away his father’s former victims. In response, Grillo told Joseph Vollaro that he assaulted Garafola’s son, saying, “I choked him out.”
The cooperating witness’s testimony will be corroborated by (i) recordings made of conversations with Gambino family members, including scores of recordings detailing Joseph Vollaro’s extortion by the defendants charged in the racketeering acts and counts related to this extortion, (ii) surveillance confirming Joseph Vollaro’s contacts with various members of the Gambino family, and the participants in many of the taped conversations, and (iii) the testimony of a cooperating witnesses who was a former Gambino family member and member of the Gambino family construction panel who was tasked with compiling the same construction list years earlier but failed to complete the job prior to his arrest and incarceration, property or persons.
vii. Extortion Conspiracy/Extortion - NASCAR Construction Site
A cooperating witness is expected to testify to the following.
In January 2006, NASCAR had begun construction on a racetrack in Staten Island. Recine Trucking, a company under the control of Gambino family acting underboss Domenico Cefalu, was among the first companies hired to bring fill to the site. Thereafter, Gambino family soldier Ernest Grillo acquired exclusive dumping rights at the site for Joseph Vollaro.
From late January 2006 to May 2006, Grillo, Cefalu and Gambino family members Leonard DiMaria, Vincent Dragonetti, Nicholas Corozzo and Frank Cali negotiated the amount of extortion Joseph Vollaro would be required to pay for the exclusive dumping rights. Eventually, Joseph Vollaro received those rights on the condition that he make extortion payments of $.50 per yard of fill dumped to Corozzo and DiMaria, and $.50 per yard of fill dumped to Cefalu and Cali.
Before Joseph Vollaro could begin dumping at the site pursuant to these terms, the exclusive dumping deal fell through. Later, after a new deal was worked out, Corozzo and DiMaria directed Joseph Vollaro to take the job on the condition that he pay them $1 for every yard of fill dumped at the site.
Joseph Vollaro also was required to make a one-time $9,000 payment to NASCAR employee Todd Polakoff on behalf have NASCAR executive William Kilgannon.
Joseph Vollaro worked at the site for a short time and made approximately $13,000 in extortion payments to Gambino family soldier Mario Cassarino, who collected the extortion payments for Corozzo and DiMaria.
The cooperating witness’s testimony will be corroborated by (i) recordings made of conversations with Gambino family members, including scores of recordings detailing Joseph Vollaro’s extortion by the defendants charged in the racketeering acts and counts related to this extortion, (ii) surveillance confirming Joseph Vollaro’s contacts with various members of the Gambino family and the participants in many of the taped conversations, and (iii) multiple cooperating witnesses who were former Gambino family members familiar with the family’s construction rackets who are expected to testify that individuals and companies being extorted by Gambino family members must comply with the demands of their Gambino family handlers and make the extortion payments demanded of them or face retaliation against their businesses, property or persons.
viii. Extortion Conspiracy/Extortion - Excavation Company
A cooperating witness is expected to testify to the following.
In approximately January 2006, Gambino family captain Nicholas Corozzo instructed Joseph Vollaro to start an excavation business which, after a short period in which Joseph Vollaro would be allowed to operate the business without making extortion payments, would be required to pay 60% of its profits to Corozzo, Gambino family soldier Vincent Dragonetti and Gambino family captain Leonard DiMaria. Joseph Vollaro began making these payments a few months after starting the business. To date, Joseph Vollaro has paid more than $30,000 in extortion payments to DiMaria and Dragonetti, who collected the payments on Corozzo’s behalf.
The cooperating witness’s testimony will be corroborated by (i) recordings made of conversations with Gambino family members, including dozens of recordings detailing Joseph Vollaro’s extortion by the defendants charged in the racketeering acts and counts related to this extortion, (ii) surveillance confirming Joseph Vollaro’s contacts with various members of the Gambino family and the participants in many of the taped conversations, and (iii) multiple cooperating witnesses who were former Gambino family members familiar with the family’s construction rackets who are expected to testify that individuals and companies being extorted by Gambino family members must comply with the demands of their Gambino family handlers and make the extortion payments demanded of them or face retaliation against their businesses, property or persons.
ix. Extortion Conspiracy/Extortion - John Does #4 & #12
A cooperating witness is expected to testify to the following.
In July 2006, Gambino family captain Leonard DiMaria informed Joseph Vollaro that John Doe #12, an individual close to Joseph Vollaro who previously made extortion payments to the commissary of jailed Gambino family soldier Jerome Brancato, needed to begin making extortion payments to Brancato again. At the end of 2006, when Brancato was released from prison, DiMaria instructed Joseph Vollaro to have John Doe #12 pay money to Brancato to help him get him back on his feet. Joseph Vollaro then gave $2,500 to Vincent Dragonetti, who collected the money for Brancato.
In January 2008, Gambino family captain Nicholas Corozzo told Joseph Vollaro that John Doe #12 failed to provide Brancato with a year end extortion payment. Corozzo instructed Joseph Vollaro to make sure that money from John Doe #12 was given to Gambino family soldier Joseph Chirico, who would collect it for Brancato. The following day, Joseph Vollaro gave $1,500 to Chirico for Brancato.
The cooperating witness’s testimony will be corroborated by (i) recordings made of conversations with Gambino family members, including multiple recordings detailing Joseph Vollaro’s extortion by the defendants charged in the racketeering acts and counts related to this extortion, (ii) surveillance confirming Joseph Vollaro’s contacts with various members of the Gambino family and the participants in many of the taped conversations, and (iii) multiple cooperating witnesses who were former Gambino family members who are expected to testify that individuals being extorted by Gambino family members must comply with the demands of their Gambino family handlers or face some form of retaliation.
x. Extortion Conspiracy/Extortion - Staten Island Recycling
A cooperating witness is expected to testify to the following.
In conducting his trucking business, Joseph Vollaro came into frequent contact with the owners of a recycling facility located on Staten Island.
In approximately June 2008, Nicholas Corozzo and Leonard DiMaria directed Joseph Vollaro to collect extortion payments from the facility.
In January 2008, Joseph Vollaro told Corozzo and DiMaria that he collected $2,000 from the facility, and provided the money to DiMaria.
The cooperating witness’s testimony will be corroborated by (i) recordings made of conversations with Gambino family members, including multiple recordings detailing Joseph Vollaro’s extortion by the defendants charged in the racketeering acts and counts related to this extortion, (ii) surveillance confirming Joseph Vollaro’s contacts with various members of the Gambino family and the participants in many of the taped conversations, and (iii) multiple cooperating witnesses who were former Gambino family members who are expected to testify that individuals being extorted by Gambino family members must comply with the demands of their Gambino family handlers or face some form of retaliation.
2. DiMaria Constitutes a Danger to the Community and Should Be Detained
The defendant Leonard DiMaria poses a danger to the community. He is one of the leaders of a violent organized crime family and has himself engaged in crimes of violence in furtherance of the family’s illegal businesses. Courts in this district and the Second Circuit repeatedly have held that high-ranking members of organized crime constitute a danger to the community. As discussed below, each of the relevant considerations under the Bail Reform Act favors detention here.
a. Nature and Circumstances of the Crimes Charged
DiMaria is charged with numerous extortions as part of the racketeering conspiracy count as well as substantively. Extortions are crimes of violence. See 18 U.S.C. § 3156(a)(4)(A) (defining “crime of violence” as an offense that has as one of its elements the “attempted use, or threatened use of physical force against the person or property of another”). Moreover, DiMaria currently holds a leadership position in an ongoing criminal enterprise and commands made men - soldiers - sworn to follow his orders and commit violence upon his request.
b. History and Characteristics of the Defendant
DiMaria is a long-standing member of the Gambino family who now serves as a captain. He is a life-long criminal who has sworn an oath to a violent criminal enterprise. He also is a multiple convicted felon, whose convictions include:
• In 1997, DiMaria was convicted in the Eastern District of New York of racketeering, racketeering conspiracy, loansharking, unlawful collection of debt, possession and sale of stolen property, transportation of stolen property; theft from interstate shipments, conspiracy to defraud the United States and bribery of a public official.6
• In 1998, DiMaria was convicted in the Southern District of Florida of Racketeering Conspiracy and sentenced to 64 months’ imprisonment.7
c. Seriousness of Danger Posed by the Defendant’s Release
DiMaria poses a clear danger if released. As noted above, the government will establish DiMaria’s membership in the Gambino family through a variety of sources, including the testimony of more than five cooperating witnesses, consensual recordings and surveillance evidence.
Courts in this circuit routinely detain high-ranking members of organized crime based on their leadership roles in criminal enterprises that engage in acts of violence. See, e.g. Defede, 7 F. Supp. 2d at 393 (detaining defendant on dangerousness based on the proffered testimony of cooperating witness and surveillance evidence that he was the acting boss of the Luchese family, an enterprise involved in extortionate conduct, among other crimes); Gotti, 312 F.3d at 542 (“Indeed, we made it quite clear in United States v. Colombo, 777 F.2d 96, 98 (2d Cir. 1985), that the [Bail Reform Act] ‘does not require that the defendant himself commit acts of physical violence as a condition precedent to a detention order.’ ”).
DiMaria is a captain in the Gambino family and he has been involved in numerous acts of violence. In this investigation, he is caught in scores of recorded conversations related to extortion, a crime of violence. The violent nature of the Gambino family’s method of collecting money is made clear in the following recording of DiMaria: “You have to go bother these people for your money. . . they are going to tell you we got to sit down and talk and this and that. Rough them up a little. Tell them, ‘You’re a fucking stiff.’ Tell them what you have to tell them. . . . The next guy that owes you money from there with them guys, you catch them, and that’s what I’m saying, that you check in with the other guys . . . Crack a face, fuck them up. Don’t you do it, send a fucking kid to rough them up, a fucking joke.”
DiMaria thus falls within the “small but identifiable group of particularly dangerous defendants as to whom neither the imposition of stringent release conditions nor the prospect of revocation of release can reasonably assure the safety of the community.” Senate Report at 3188-89. As demonstrated by the recorded conversations, DiMaria’s position in the Gambino family gives him the authority and resources to continue his criminal activities and to order and accomplish acts of violence against potential witnesses or any person he perceives as a threat - of which there will be many during the course of this prosecution.
Finally, DiMaria likely will continue his criminal conduct if released; he is a career criminal who holds a leadership position in a continuing criminal enterprise, the needs of which require constant monitoring. As noted, courts in this circuit have recognized that when organized crime defendants are charged with their participation in a criminal enterprise, the risk of continued criminal conduct is substantial and justifies detention. See Salerno, 631 F. Supp. at 1375. Under the cases cited above, the crimes charged and the facts proffered, there is little doubt that DiMaria is a danger to the community and ordered detained pending the outcome of his case.
d. Evidence of the Defendant’s Guilt
The government’s evidence of DiMaria’s guilt on the charged crimes is strong. To prevail on the racketeering conspiracy and racketeering counts, the government must prove the following four elements: (a) that the defendant knowingly agreed to conduct or participate - and conducted or participated - directly or indirectly, in the conduct of the affairs of the charged enterprise through a pattern of racketeering activity; (b) that the enterprise, here the Gambino family, exists; (c) that the enterprise engaged in, or its activities affected interstate or foreign commerce; and (d) that the defendant was employed by, or associated with, the enterprise.
First, the government will prove the existence of the Gambino family and DiMaria’s membership in that enterprise through, among other evidence, the testimony of cooperating witnesses, hundreds of consensual recordings and surveillance. More than five cooperating witnesses are expected to testify that the Gambino family exists and that DiMaria is a longstanding member of the family. At least two witnesses are expected to testify that DiMaria currently serves as a captain.
The second element, the interstate commerce requirement, is also easily proved as the Gambino family has engaged in a variety of crimes, including narcotics trafficking, robbery, extortion of businesses and other crimes which affect interstate commerce.
Finally, to prove that DiMaria engaged in the charged pattern of racketeering activity the government will offer law enforcement witnesses, cooperating witnesses and scores of consensual and court-authorized recordings. For example, the testimony of the cooperating witness will be corroborated by over 80 recordings that show that the defendant engaged in the crimes charged.
The government’s evidence of DiMaria’s guilt is thus strong and clearly favors detention.
3. DiMaria Also Constitutes a Risk of Flight
DiMaria faces 21 counts covering 10 different crimes of violence each carrying a penalty of 20 years’ imprisonment. In addition, DiMaria will be sentenced as a career offender under the Sentencing Guidelines. See United States v. Dodge, 846 F. Supp. 181, 184-85 (D. Conn. 1994) (finding that the possibility of a “severe sentence” heightens the risk of flight). Given his age, the strength of the evidence and the likely sentence resulting from a conviction on even one of the charged extortions, it is a near certainty DiMaria faces an effective life sentence. Accordingly he constitutes a risk of flight and should be detained.
J. VINCENT DRAGONETTI
Vincent Dragonetti is a soldier in the Gambino family. He is charged in Count One with racketeering conspiracy, including more than a dozen predicate acts of extortion, attempted extortion, extortion conspiracy, extortionate extension of credit, extortionate extension of credit conspiracy, extortionate collection of credit, and extortionate collection of credit conspiracy. He is also charged with extortion, attempted extortion, extortion conspiracy, extortionate extension of credit, extortionate extension of credit conspiracy, extortionate collection of credit, extortionate collection of credit conspiracy, money laundering, money laundering conspiracy and illegal gambling.
If convicted as charged, Dragonetti faces a term of 20 years’ imprisonment on the racketeering conspiracy count, as well as each of the more than 10 counts charging crimes of violence. Were Dragonetti sentenced consecutively for just five of the extortionate schemes covered in these counts - the evidence for which includes more than 60 separate recorded conversations capturing Dragonetti discussing the extortions on tape - he faces a term of imprisonment of 100 years. Accordingly, the government seeks a permanent order of detention for Dragonetti on the grounds that he is both a danger to the community and a risk of flight.
1. Proffered Facts
The government hereby proffers the following facts relevant to the pretrial detention of Dragonetti.
a. Dragonetti Is a Gambino Family Soldier
Dragonetti is a Gambino family soldier. The government will establish Dragonetti’s position in the Gambino family through the testimony of cooperating witnesses, consensual recordings and surveillance evidence. Each category of evidence is briefly discussed below.
At least two cooperating witnesses are expected to testify that Dragonetti is a member of the Gambino family who enjoys special ties with powerful Gambino family captain Nicholas Corozzo, who is his father-in-law.
This testimony is corroborated by the more than 60 recorded conversations involving Dragonetti. During the course of the recordings, he is heard engaging in the Gambino family’s business, explicitly discussing the myriad crimes with which he is charged, the involvement of other Gambino family members in these crimes, and his position in the Gambino family’s hierarchy. Scores of recorded conversations with other Gambino family members referencing Dragonetti further demonstrate his position in the family.
The available surveillance evidence also establishes Dragonetti’s long association with and position in the Gambino family. Since 1993, Dragonetti has been observed at locations and events relating to the Gambino family. He has been observed with other members of the Gambino family at three weddings and wakes. Cooperating witnesses and an organized crime expert are expected to testify that these events are attended by dozens of other members and associates of organized crime, many of whom are convicted felons who committed those crimes as part of an organized crime family, and that Gambino family business is routinely conducted at such events. Dragonetti was observed at the 1993 wedding of Gambino family captain Leonard DiMaria’s daughter. In the past year, Dragonetti was surveilled attending the January 2007 wake of Maryann Corozzo, the wife of Gambino family soldier Blaise Corozzo.
b. Crimes of Violence
As noted above, Dragonetti is charged in multiple extortions, all crimes of violence. A brief proffer of the facts pertaining to each of the extortions follows.
i. Extortion Conspiracy/Extortion - Liberty View Harbor Construction Site
A cooperating witness is expected to testify to the following.
In April 2006, Joseph Vollaro started a company which constructed a portable cement plant at the Liberty View Harbor construction site at which VMS Construction served as general contractor. VMS Construction is owned by Gambino family associate Anthony Scibelli, who is controlled by Gambino family soldier Vincent Dragonetti. In addition to the portable cement plant, two companies owned by Joseph Vollaro also performed work at the Liberty View Harbor site.
Joseph Vollaro obtained the work at the Liberty View Harbor site after Gambino family captain Nicholas Corozzo, who is Dragonetti’s father-in-law, granted him permission provided he pay 60% of the portable cement plant’s profits to Corozzo, Gambino family captain Leonard DiMaria and Dragonetti. In addition, Scibelli and Dragonetti demanded that Joseph Vollaro pay an additional $6 or $7 per yard of cement produced as well as extortionate payments for the other two businesses.
Over the course of the extortion, Jon Doe #4 made extortion payments to the Gambino family of more than $200,000.
Despite these payments, during the summer of 2007, with the backing of Corozzo, DiMaria and Dragonetti, Scibelli took possession of the portable cement plant without remuneration to Joseph Vollaro.
The cooperating witness’s testimony will be corroborated by (i) recordings made of conversations with Gambino family members, including scores of recordings detailing Joseph Vollaro’s extortion by the defendants charged in the racketeering acts and counts related to this extortion, (ii) surveillance confirming Joseph Vollaro’s contacts with various members of the Gambino family and the participants in many of the taped conversations, and (iii) multiple cooperating witnesses who were former Gambino family members familiar with the family’s construction rackets who are expected to testify that individuals and companies being extorted by Gambino family members must comply with the demands of their Gambino family handlers and make the extortion payments demanded of them or face retaliation against their businesses, property or persons.
ii. Extortion Conspiracy/Extortion - Cement Powder Deliveries ___
A cooperating witness is expected to testify to the following.
In October 2007, following Gambino family soldier Anthony Scibelli’s takeover of his portable cement plant, Gambino family captains DiMaria and Corozzo approved a plan by which Joseph Vollaro would supply his former plant with the powder used to make cement at the Liberty View Harbor site. For this privilege, Joseph Vollaro was instructed to provide 60% of his profits relating to the cement powder deliveries to be split between Corozzo, DiMaria and Dragonetti. As directed, in the four months since, Joseph Vollaro has provided $6,000 in extortion payments.
The cooperating witness’s testimony will be corroborated by (i) recordings made of conversations with Gambino family members, including dozens of recordings detailing Joseph Vollaro’s extortion by the defendants charged in the racketeering acts and counts related to this extortion, (ii) surveillance confirming Joseph Vollaro’s contacts with various members of the Gambino family and the participants in many of the taped conversations, and (iii) multiple cooperating witnesses who were former Gambino family members familiar with the family’s construction rackets who are expected to testify that individuals and companies being extorted by Gambino family members must make the extortion payments demanded of them or face retaliation against their businesses, property or persons.
iii. Extortion Conspiracy/Extortion - NASCAR Construction Site
A cooperating witness is expected to testify to the following.
In January 2006, NASCAR had begun construction on a racetrack in Staten Island. Recine Trucking, a company under the control of Gambino family acting underboss Domenico Cefalu, was among the first companies hired to bring fill to the site. Thereafter, Gambino family soldier Ernest Grillo acquired exclusive dumping rights at the site for Joseph Vollaro.
From late January 2006 to May 2006, Grillo, Cefalu and Gambino family members Leonard DiMaria, Vincent Dragonetti, Nicholas Corozzo and Frank Cali negotiated the amount of extortion Joseph Vollaro would be required to pay for the exclusive dumping rights. Eventually, Joseph Vollaro received those rights on the condition that he make extortion payments of $.50 per yard of fill dumped to Corozzo and DiMaria, and $.50 per yard of fill dumped to Cefalu and Cali.
Before Joseph Vollaro could begin dumping at the site pursuant to these terms, the exclusive dumping deal fell through. Later, after a new deal was worked out, Corozzo and DiMaria directed Joseph Vollaro to take the job on the condition that he pay them $1 for every yard of fill dumped at the site.
Joseph Vollaro also was required to make a one-time $9,000 payment to NASCAR employee Todd Polakoff on behalf have NASCAR executive William Kilgannon.
Joseph Vollaro worked at the site for a short time and made approximately $13,000 in extortion payments to Gambino family soldier Mario Cassarino, who collected the extortion payments for Corozzo and DiMaria.
The cooperating witness’s testimony will be corroborated by (i) recordings made of conversations with Gambino family members, including scores of recordings detailing Joseph Vollaro’s extortion by the defendants charged in the racketeering acts and counts related to this extortion, (ii) surveillance confirming Joseph Vollaro’s contacts with various members of the Gambino family and the participants in many of the taped conversations, and (iii) multiple cooperating witnesses who were former Gambino family members familiar with the family’s construction rackets who are expected to testify that individuals and companies being extorted by Gambino family members must comply with the demands of their Gambino family handlers and make the extortion payments demanded of them or face retaliation against their businesses, property or persons.
iv. Extortion Conspiracy/Extortion - Excavation Company
A cooperating witness is expected to testify to the following.
In approximately January 2006, Gambino family captain Nicholas Corozzo instructed Joseph Vollaro to start an excavation business which, after a short period in which Joseph Vollaro would be allowed to operate the business without making extortion payments, would be required to pay 60% of its profits to Corozzo, Gambino family soldier Vincent Dragonetti and Gambino family captain Leonard DiMaria. Joseph Vollaro began making these payments a few months after starting the business. To date, Joseph Vollaro has paid more than $30,000 in extortion payments to DiMaria and Dragonetti, who collected the payments on Corozzo’s behalf.
The cooperating witness’s testimony will be corroborated by (i) recordings made of conversations with Gambino family members, including dozens of recordings detailing Joseph Vollaro’s extortion by the defendants charged in the racketeering acts and counts related to this extortion, (ii) surveillance confirming Joseph Vollaro’s contacts with various members of the Gambino family and the participants in many of the taped conversations, and (iii) multiple cooperating witnesses who were former Gambino family members familiar with the family’s construction rackets who are expected to testify that individuals and companies being extorted by Gambino family members must comply with the demands of their Gambino family handlers and make the extortion payments demanded of them or face retaliation against their businesses, property or persons.
v. Extortion Conspiracy/Extortion - John Does #4 & #12
A cooperating witness is expected to testify to the following.
In July 2006, Gambino family captain Leonard DiMaria informed Joseph Vollaro that John Doe #12, an individual close to Joseph Vollaro who previously made extortion payments to the commissary of jailed Gambino family soldier Jerome Brancato, needed to begin making extortion payments to Brancato again. At the end of 2006, when Brancato was released from prison, DiMaria instructed Joseph Vollaro to have John Doe #12 pay money to Brancato to help him get him back on his feet. Joseph Vollaro then gave $2,500 to Vincent Dragonetti, who collected the money for Brancato.
In January 2008, Gambino family captain Nicholas Corozzo told Joseph Vollaro that John Doe #12 failed to provide Brancato with a year end extortion payment. Corozzo instructed Joseph Vollaro to make sure that money from John Doe #12 was given to Gambino family soldier Joseph Chirico, who would collect it for Brancato. The following day, Joseph Vollaro gave $1,500 to Chirico for Brancato.
The cooperating witness’s testimony will be corroborated by (i) recordings made of conversations with Gambino family members, including multiple recordings detailing Joseph Vollaro’s extortion by the defendants charged in the racketeering acts and counts related to this extortion, (ii) surveillance confirming Joseph Vollaro’s contacts with various members of the Gambino family and the participants in many of the taped conversations, and (iii) multiple cooperating witnesses who were former Gambino family members who are expected to testify that individuals being extorted by Gambino family members must comply with the demands of their Gambino family handlers or face some form of retaliation.
2. Dragonetti Constitutes a Danger to the Community and Should Be Detained
As discussed above, Dragonetti is a Gambino family soldier with a prior felony conviction for committing a crime of violence as part of the Gambino family.
a. Nature and Circumstances of the Crimes Charged
Dragonetti has been indicted on 12 counts charging crimes of violence. This alone merits detention on the basis of dangerousness.
b. History and Characteristics of the Defendant
As noted, Dragonetti is a Gambino family soldier. He is a criminal who has sworn an oath to a violent criminal enterprise. He also is a convicted felon who has pled guilty in the past - in this district - to some of the same conduct he has been charged with in the instant indictment.
On January 23, 1997, Dragonetti was arrested in the Eastern District of New York and charged with RICO and RICO conspiracy. On November 3, 1997, he pled guilty before the Honorable Frederic Block to loansharking, conducting an illegal gambling business and tax evasion, and was sentenced to three years’ imprisonment and a $60,000 fine.
c. Seriousness of Danger Posed by the Defendant’s Release
Dragonetti has long engaged in violence on behalf of the Gambino family. His recent involvement in acts of violence include the multiple charged extortions with Gambino family captain Leonard DiMaria. The violent nature of the Gambino family’s method of collecting money is made clear in the following recording of DiMaria: “You have to go bother these people for your money. . . they are going to tell you we got to sit down and talk and this and that. Rough them up a little. Tell them, ‘You’re a fucking stiff.’ Tell them what you have to tell them. . . . The next guy that owes you money from there with them guys, you catch them, and that’s what I’m saying, that you check in with the other guys . . . Crack a face, fuck them up. Don’t you do it, send a fucking kid to rough them up, a fucking joke.”
The crimes charged, coupled with his prior conviction, make clear that Dragonetti is a danger to the community.
d. Evidence of the Defendant’s Guilt
The government’s evidence of Dragonetti’s guilt on the charged crimes is strong. To prevail on the racketeering conspiracy charge, the government must prove the following four elements: (a) that the defendant knowingly agreed to conduct or participate - and conducted and participated - directly or indirectly, in the conduct of the affairs of the charged enterprise through a pattern of racketeering activity; (b) that the enterprise, here the Gambino family, exists; (c) that the enterprise engaged in, or its activities affect, interstate or foreign commerce; and (d) that the defendant was employed by, or associated with, the enterprise.
First, the government will prove the existence of the Gambino family and Dragonetti’s membership in that enterprise through, among other evidence, the testimony of cooperating witnesses, consensual recordings and surveillance. At least two cooperating witnesses are expected to testify that the Gambino family exists and that Dragonetti is a member of the family.
The second element, the interstate commerce requirement, is also easily proved as the Gambino family has engaged in a variety of crimes, including narcotics trafficking, robbery, extortion of businesses and other crimes which affect interstate commerce.
Finally, to prove that Dragonetti engaged in the charged pattern of racketeering activity the government will offer law enforcement witnesses, cooperating witnesses and consensual recordings. The government has over 100 recordings documenting Dragonetti’s involvement in the extortions and other crimes for which he is indicted in this case. Accordingly, the government’s evidence of Dragonetti’s guilt is thus strong and clearly favors detention.
3. Dragonetti Also Constitutes a Risk of Flight
In addition to the reasons set forth above, given that he faces 20 years’ imprisonment on each count if convicted, Dragonetti also constitutes a risk of flight. See United States v. Dodge. 846 F. Supp. 181, 184-85 (D. Conn. 1994) (finding the possibility of a “severe sentence” heightens the risk of flight). The fact that the government has a strong case against Dragonetti heightens his incentive to flee. Accordingly, Dragonetti should also be detained as a risk of flight.