by Chucky » Thu Mar 29, 2018 4:56 am
This Week in Gang Land
By Jerry Capeci
ILA Dockworker Gets Two Years In Prison For Not Going To Work
Gang Land Exclusive! A Newark Federal Judge gave a relatively lenient sentence of two years behind bars this week to Paul Moe, a member of the scandal-plagued International Longshoremen's Association who was convicted of stealing the yearly $500,000 salary he got for little or no work on the New Jersey docks from 2015 to 2017 — something he claims he's been doing for the last 15 years.
Over the objection of prosecutors, Judge Katharine Hayden allowed Moe, whose sentencing guidelines for the specific theft of $749,000 called for up to 46 months behind bars, to remain free pending appeal even though the judge had upheld the jury's guilty verdict on all 14 counts of fraud following a lengthy post-conviction hearing in December.
In his appeal for leniency, Moe, 66, insisted that despite the guilty verdict his conscience was clear because he "never defrauded anyone." His conviction was cited in January as a major accomplishment by the Waterfront Commission in a lawsuit it filed against Governor Murphy seeking to stop New Jersey from dumping the 65-year-old waterfront watchdog.
"Why I'm standing here as a convicted felon is beyond me," said Moe, who insisted, as his attorney had at trial, that he was "innocent" because none of his bosses ever told him that he had to work 40 hours a week, as the union contract stated, to earn his "special package" weekly salary of $9330, or that he wasn't entitled to that full salary when he was on vacation.
Moe was convicted of submitting fraudulent time sheets for 11 weeks between September of 2015 and March of 2017 in which he worked as little as eight hours. He was also cited for submitting time sheets that he was working during two weeks of vacation. As trial testimony revealed, Moe spent one of those weeks vacationing with his wife, and another with a paramour, a former barmaid whom he helped obtain a $165,000 a year waterfront job as a checker in 2014.
Attorney Gerald McMahon made several arguments, both in court, and in filings with Judge Hayden, that his client had already suffered enough and did not deserve a prison term.
"He did not know he had to be there 40 hours a week," McMahon said, echoing Moe's pitch to the judge. That pitch, however, fell flat with a mostly blue-collar jury of nine men and three women. The panel took only four hours to find Moe guilty of all charges following a three week trial.
The lawyer argued that a "non-custodial" sentence would be adequate punishment for his client, who had no prior arrests, and was now a broken and "ruined man" whose health had deteriorated and who "has lost, or is about to lose, his marriage of 46 years, his home, his job, his life's savings, and his reputation."
McMahon also argued that it wasn't fair for the government to give passes to executives of banks and financial institutions (he mentioned JPMorgan CEO Jaime Dimon, HSBC, Ernst & Young) for crimes involving millions of dollars, and put Moe in prison because he's a longtime pal of a target who had beaten prosecutors at his labor racketeering trial — ILA president Harold Daggett.
"It's shameful that the government has the nerve to give sweetheart deals to people who launder money for Mexican drug cartels, and then want jail for Paul Moe," McMahon told Hayden.
"We are not here to discuss other financial crimes by other defendants," countered special assistant U.S. attorney Tracey Agnew, a Waterfront Commission lawyer who oversaw the two year joint probe with Newark federal prosecutors Grady O'Malley and Anthony Moscato that followed Moe on vacations to the Caribbean and the Sunshine State.
Moe's crimes were "serious" and they needed to be treated seriously, said Agnew, arguing that McMahon's proposed no jail sentence was inadequate punishment for Moe, and it would not deter other dock workers from following in his footsteps.
Agnew argued that "day in" and "day out," from September of 2015 until March of 2017 when he was arrested, the evidence at trial clearly established that Moe had defrauded APM Terminals of the wages and pension contributions he received as a general foreman and he deserved a prison term that probation officials had recommended — between 37 and 46 months.
Judge Hayden essentially split the difference between the opposing lawyers. She gave him two years for each count, ordering that each sentence be served at the same time. She also gave him three years of post-prison supervised release, and ordered Moe to pay $749,000 in restitution.
Meanwhile, Newark Federal Judge Susan Wigenton is weighing whether New Jersey has the legal right to unilaterally pull out of the Waterfront Commission, a bi-state agency that was created by Congress and signed into law by President Eisenhower in 1953 following a series of articles about rampant mob corruption on the NY and NJ docks by the old New York Sun.
In its lawsuit against Governor Murphy, the Commission asserts that federal law prevents New Jersey from withdrawing from the watchdog agency without the approval of Congress and the state of New York. It has asked Wigenton to permanently block New Jersey from enacting a bill that former Governor Christie signed into law on his last day in office that calls for the state to take over the policing of its waterfront, noting that the law "will cripple the Commission."
In its complaint, filed by Proskauer Rose partner Michael Cardozo, the Commission states that the new law will "remove needed regulations over Port operations" even though there is a "very real need for the bi-state Commission" to continue its mandate "to stamp out corruption and racketeering" and "to combat continued discriminatory hiring practices" on the docks.
Cardozo, the NYC Corporation Counsel under former Mayor Bloomberg, took a shot at Christie when he filed the complaint, saying he couldn't understand how "the former U.S. Attorney, who in 2015 vetoed virtually the identical law because he said it was unconstitutional, could have signed the law we have challenged."
In his reply papers, Governor Murphy, joined by the state's legislative leaders, Craig Coughlin and Stephen Sweeney questioned the Commission's right to even file a complaint since it is not a party to the compact with New York, but a third party, and argued that that despite the Commission's claims, New Jersey does have the right to withdraw from the bi-state agency.
In addition, NJ deputy attorney general Aaron Love argued that since New Jersey has decided "that the Commission has become a hindrance to economic development and employment and that dissolving the Commission is in the public interest, the court should defer to the findings and judgment of New Jersey's elected officials in this matter of significant public import."
And contrary to the Commission's "alarmist claims," wrote Love, "there will be no break in oversight of the waterfront in New Jersey because the NJ Division of State Police will assume the Commission's regulatory duties within the state."
As for Cardozo's remarks about Christie's "veto statement" in 2015, which was mentioned three times in the Commission's complaint "as if it were binding precedent," wrote Love, "the veto statement is of no moment here because the Governor is free to reconsider and approve legislation previously vetoed based on a change in public conditions or other reasons."
Following oral arguments involving six lawyers — a seemingly fair legal matchup with three on each side — that lasted an hour and 25 minutes last month, Judge Wigenton reserved her decision on the status of the Waterfront Commission.
In the meantime, the Commission, the scourge of both the ILA and the New York Shipping Association, will likely remain in business for the foreseeable future, until a final decision is rendered, most likely by the 3d Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia.
Judge Puts Pressure On Chin's Son — And His Prosecutors
It's hard to feel pain for a guy with millions of dollars in property — especially one who also has $4 million in cash laying around the house. But it's not easy being Vincent Esposito these days. The son of the late Vincent (Chin) Gigante has been locked up for 11 weeks, accused in a 17-year-long extortion scheme. The evidence against him stems from 127 hours of taped talks, including at least a few in which his nephew Vincent Fyfe is said to implicate him in a shakedown scheme. Then, last Friday, Manhattan Federal Judge Victor Marrero increased the pressure on Esposito by ordering his trial to begin in six short months, on September 24.
But Judge Marrero's surprise decision to set an early trial date has put even more pressure on prosecutors. As Gang Land reported earlier this month, the feds rushed an indictment of Esposito after an FBI gambit to flip a cohort failed. As a result, plans to add more suspects to the five-defendant case has fallen short — so far.
As Marrero announced his goal of a quick trial, there was hesitation on both sides. Assistant U.S. attorney Jason Swergold tried to blame defense attorneys, suggesting they'd need more time. But he conceded that an early trial date also wasn't in the government's plans.
Judge Victor Marrero"I heard some rumblings (from the defense lawyers)," Swergold said, before adding, "I know from our perspective, too, I don't know if anybody would be ready to try this case in three to six months from now."
The prosecutor noted that while the government had turned over a "significant amount" of so-called "discovery material" about the tapes and other evidence in the government's coffers, there was "even more discovery that we're still getting ready to produce," and "as we always do, we will continue to investigate this case and any additional leads we have."
"So if we get more evidence as we get closer and closer to trial," said Swergold, "we'll keep producing it on a rolling basis. There is a possibility and a very good possibility that more evidence will come to light and more discovery will be generated in the months leading up to trial."
The prosecutor suggested that Marrero should "at least talk to defense counsel" about their concerns before setting a date.
Lawyers for the five defense lawyers include Jeffrey Lichtman, who represents Esposito, and Joseph Corozzo, who represents Frank Cognetta. It was Cognetta's decision not to cooperate that triggered the arrests of Esposito and three others the next day. Neither lawyer was ecstatic about a quick trial. But they, and attorneys for the other three defendants, all told Marrero they would be ready, provided the government turned over all its "discovery material."
When the judge returned to Swergold, the prosecutor stated he had lots of stuff to turn over, including "e-mail accounts" and "phone search and computer search warrants" and "subpoena returns, bank records, union records," and "thousands of pages from the search warrants" that the FBI had executed. He suggested that "a more feasible date might be towards the end of the year."
The judge thanked the prosecutor, then proceeded to ignore his suggestion, and scheduled the trial for September 24.
And while Swergold and co-prosecutors Jared Lenow and Kimberly Ravener decide whether to add more defendants to the case as they prepare for trial, Esposito also has a few important decisions to make.
Most importantly, he has to decide whether to bite the bullet and pay for a 24-hour armed guard service (with an annual cost of $1 million a year) to win release on bail, as Marrero ruled. One alternative is to appeal the ruling, as attorney Lichtman stated he would last week. Or he could also opt to sit tight behind bars, prepare for trial, and hope to convince a jury that his nephew Vincent Fyfe's claims about Esposito are tall tales not to be believed.
Sources say Fyfe, a grandson of the late Chin Gigante and the president of Local 2D of the United Food & Commercial Workers Union, claims that Esposito has extorted annual payments of $10,000 a year from him since 2001 when he succeeded a longtime pal of his grandpa as president of Local 2D.
Meanwhile, Esposito is already spending his days and nights under armed guards — at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in lower Manhattan. His goal is to get back to his palatial townhouse, the one a few miles north on the Upper East Side that he used to share with his 84-year old mother before he was arrested back on January 10.
Turncoat: Feds Are Lucky I Smashed The Guy In The Face With A Cocktail Glass
Turncoat Bonanno capo Peter (Petey BS) Lovaglio threatened to go back on his deal with the feds last year. The threat came during a heated argument with an agent who told Lovaglio he had only himself to blame for being behind bars because he had blinded a restaurant owner in an unprovoked drunken assault when he hit him in the face with a cocktail glass in 2015.
"Like I said, you put yourself in this situation," says the agent, according to an excerpt of the tape-recorded jailhouse telephone conversation, one of five talks involving Lovaglio that were filed last week by John Meringolo, an attorney for Philadelphia mob boss Joseph (Skinny Joey) Merlino.
"Wait a second," responds Lovaglio, "I'll just go to fuckin' prison, man. Don't frustrate me to that point. Because you guys keep hanging that shit over my fuckin' head. I'll just say fuck it then. Fuck it, then fuck it. You know, fuck it then and I'll deal with it on my own. Fuck it. Keep holding that shit over my fucking head. I'm a fucking man you don't need to do that."
The agent, believed to be with Homeland Security, sought to settle Lovaglio down by telling him that the government was "trying (to) work together" with him, but Petey BS wasn't appeased, saying that the feds were quietly happy that he cold cocked the guy.
"You're lucky I hit the guy in the fucking head 'cause you wouldn't have had the case," said Lovaglio, who in fact, was able to renew his work as a snitch after the assault, first with the NYPD, and then with Homeland Security, for whom he wore a wire for a year.
"Let's call it that way then," he continued. "You can look at it both ways. You know, you keep holding that shit over my head but if I didn't do it then you wouldn't have this fucking case."
The "case" Lovaglio referred to isn't spelled out, but it most likely is the racketeering indictment of acting Bonanno boss Joseph (Joe C) Cammarano and nine others in which one defendant, Bonanno soldier Albert (Al Muscles) Armetta, is charged with aiding and abetting Lovaglio's assault of the restaurateur.
In the filing, Meringolo cited the discussion as an example of a jailhouse talk with "important impeachment" material that was preserved and turned over to the defense before Merlino's trial. He asked Judge Richard Sullivan to order the government to preserve all subsequent jailhouse talks by Lovaglio and witness John (J.R) Rubeo up to Skinny Joey's "unscheduled retrial."
In another discussion, Petey BS, who was aware that all his phone calls were recorded, is heard telling a woman described as his wife that he will soon call a mutual friend from a phone that won't be taped — something that is not supposed to happen but a favor that defense lawyers say witnesses often receive from their federal agent handlers.
"Let Paul know I'll be calling him Thursday from a number that he can talk to me on," says Lovaglio.
"Written in stone?" replies the "wife," whom Gang Land believes is really his long-suffering fiancé whom he frequently abused.
"Yep," said Lovaglio. "On Thursday I will call him on a number I can talk to him on. Make sure he answers the phone."
During two other excerpts, Petey BS is allegedly heard discussing efforts to extort money he is owed for one reason or another and have it mailed to him. And in another excerpt he is heard telling a friend, "There are other things I wanna talk to you about, book deals and all that crazy shit."
This Week in Gang Land
By Jerry Capeci
[b]ILA Dockworker Gets Two Years In Prison For Not Going To Work[/b]
Gang Land Exclusive! A Newark Federal Judge gave a relatively lenient sentence of two years behind bars this week to Paul Moe, a member of the scandal-plagued International Longshoremen's Association who was convicted of stealing the yearly $500,000 salary he got for little or no work on the New Jersey docks from 2015 to 2017 — something he claims he's been doing for the last 15 years.
Over the objection of prosecutors, Judge Katharine Hayden allowed Moe, whose sentencing guidelines for the specific theft of $749,000 called for up to 46 months behind bars, to remain free pending appeal even though the judge had upheld the jury's guilty verdict on all 14 counts of fraud following a lengthy post-conviction hearing in December.
In his appeal for leniency, Moe, 66, insisted that despite the guilty verdict his conscience was clear because he "never defrauded anyone." His conviction was cited in January as a major accomplishment by the Waterfront Commission in a lawsuit it filed against Governor Murphy seeking to stop New Jersey from dumping the 65-year-old waterfront watchdog.
"Why I'm standing here as a convicted felon is beyond me," said Moe, who insisted, as his attorney had at trial, that he was "innocent" because none of his bosses ever told him that he had to work 40 hours a week, as the union contract stated, to earn his "special package" weekly salary of $9330, or that he wasn't entitled to that full salary when he was on vacation.
Moe was convicted of submitting fraudulent time sheets for 11 weeks between September of 2015 and March of 2017 in which he worked as little as eight hours. He was also cited for submitting time sheets that he was working during two weeks of vacation. As trial testimony revealed, Moe spent one of those weeks vacationing with his wife, and another with a paramour, a former barmaid whom he helped obtain a $165,000 a year waterfront job as a checker in 2014.
Attorney Gerald McMahon made several arguments, both in court, and in filings with Judge Hayden, that his client had already suffered enough and did not deserve a prison term.
"He did not know he had to be there 40 hours a week," McMahon said, echoing Moe's pitch to the judge. That pitch, however, fell flat with a mostly blue-collar jury of nine men and three women. The panel took only four hours to find Moe guilty of all charges following a three week trial.
The lawyer argued that a "non-custodial" sentence would be adequate punishment for his client, who had no prior arrests, and was now a broken and "ruined man" whose health had deteriorated and who "has lost, or is about to lose, his marriage of 46 years, his home, his job, his life's savings, and his reputation."
McMahon also argued that it wasn't fair for the government to give passes to executives of banks and financial institutions (he mentioned JPMorgan CEO Jaime Dimon, HSBC, Ernst & Young) for crimes involving millions of dollars, and put Moe in prison because he's a longtime pal of a target who had beaten prosecutors at his labor racketeering trial — ILA president Harold Daggett.
"It's shameful that the government has the nerve to give sweetheart deals to people who launder money for Mexican drug cartels, and then want jail for Paul Moe," McMahon told Hayden.
"We are not here to discuss other financial crimes by other defendants," countered special assistant U.S. attorney Tracey Agnew, a Waterfront Commission lawyer who oversaw the two year joint probe with Newark federal prosecutors Grady O'Malley and Anthony Moscato that followed Moe on vacations to the Caribbean and the Sunshine State.
Moe's crimes were "serious" and they needed to be treated seriously, said Agnew, arguing that McMahon's proposed no jail sentence was inadequate punishment for Moe, and it would not deter other dock workers from following in his footsteps.
Agnew argued that "day in" and "day out," from September of 2015 until March of 2017 when he was arrested, the evidence at trial clearly established that Moe had defrauded APM Terminals of the wages and pension contributions he received as a general foreman and he deserved a prison term that probation officials had recommended — between 37 and 46 months.
Judge Hayden essentially split the difference between the opposing lawyers. She gave him two years for each count, ordering that each sentence be served at the same time. She also gave him three years of post-prison supervised release, and ordered Moe to pay $749,000 in restitution.
Meanwhile, Newark Federal Judge Susan Wigenton is weighing whether New Jersey has the legal right to unilaterally pull out of the Waterfront Commission, a bi-state agency that was created by Congress and signed into law by President Eisenhower in 1953 following a series of articles about rampant mob corruption on the NY and NJ docks by the old New York Sun.
In its lawsuit against Governor Murphy, the Commission asserts that federal law prevents New Jersey from withdrawing from the watchdog agency without the approval of Congress and the state of New York. It has asked Wigenton to permanently block New Jersey from enacting a bill that former Governor Christie signed into law on his last day in office that calls for the state to take over the policing of its waterfront, noting that the law "will cripple the Commission."
In its complaint, filed by Proskauer Rose partner Michael Cardozo, the Commission states that the new law will "remove needed regulations over Port operations" even though there is a "very real need for the bi-state Commission" to continue its mandate "to stamp out corruption and racketeering" and "to combat continued discriminatory hiring practices" on the docks.
Cardozo, the NYC Corporation Counsel under former Mayor Bloomberg, took a shot at Christie when he filed the complaint, saying he couldn't understand how "the former U.S. Attorney, who in 2015 vetoed virtually the identical law because he said it was unconstitutional, could have signed the law we have challenged."
In his reply papers, Governor Murphy, joined by the state's legislative leaders, Craig Coughlin and Stephen Sweeney questioned the Commission's right to even file a complaint since it is not a party to the compact with New York, but a third party, and argued that that despite the Commission's claims, New Jersey does have the right to withdraw from the bi-state agency.
In addition, NJ deputy attorney general Aaron Love argued that since New Jersey has decided "that the Commission has become a hindrance to economic development and employment and that dissolving the Commission is in the public interest, the court should defer to the findings and judgment of New Jersey's elected officials in this matter of significant public import."
And contrary to the Commission's "alarmist claims," wrote Love, "there will be no break in oversight of the waterfront in New Jersey because the NJ Division of State Police will assume the Commission's regulatory duties within the state."
As for Cardozo's remarks about Christie's "veto statement" in 2015, which was mentioned three times in the Commission's complaint "as if it were binding precedent," wrote Love, "the veto statement is of no moment here because the Governor is free to reconsider and approve legislation previously vetoed based on a change in public conditions or other reasons."
Following oral arguments involving six lawyers — a seemingly fair legal matchup with three on each side — that lasted an hour and 25 minutes last month, Judge Wigenton reserved her decision on the status of the Waterfront Commission.
In the meantime, the Commission, the scourge of both the ILA and the New York Shipping Association, will likely remain in business for the foreseeable future, until a final decision is rendered, most likely by the 3d Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia.
[b]Judge Puts Pressure On Chin's Son — And His Prosecutors[/b]
It's hard to feel pain for a guy with millions of dollars in property — especially one who also has $4 million in cash laying around the house. But it's not easy being Vincent Esposito these days. The son of the late Vincent (Chin) Gigante has been locked up for 11 weeks, accused in a 17-year-long extortion scheme. The evidence against him stems from 127 hours of taped talks, including at least a few in which his nephew Vincent Fyfe is said to implicate him in a shakedown scheme. Then, last Friday, Manhattan Federal Judge Victor Marrero increased the pressure on Esposito by ordering his trial to begin in six short months, on September 24.
But Judge Marrero's surprise decision to set an early trial date has put even more pressure on prosecutors. As Gang Land reported earlier this month, the feds rushed an indictment of Esposito after an FBI gambit to flip a cohort failed. As a result, plans to add more suspects to the five-defendant case has fallen short — so far.
As Marrero announced his goal of a quick trial, there was hesitation on both sides. Assistant U.S. attorney Jason Swergold tried to blame defense attorneys, suggesting they'd need more time. But he conceded that an early trial date also wasn't in the government's plans.
Judge Victor Marrero"I heard some rumblings (from the defense lawyers)," Swergold said, before adding, "I know from our perspective, too, I don't know if anybody would be ready to try this case in three to six months from now."
The prosecutor noted that while the government had turned over a "significant amount" of so-called "discovery material" about the tapes and other evidence in the government's coffers, there was "even more discovery that we're still getting ready to produce," and "as we always do, we will continue to investigate this case and any additional leads we have."
"So if we get more evidence as we get closer and closer to trial," said Swergold, "we'll keep producing it on a rolling basis. There is a possibility and a very good possibility that more evidence will come to light and more discovery will be generated in the months leading up to trial."
The prosecutor suggested that Marrero should "at least talk to defense counsel" about their concerns before setting a date.
Lawyers for the five defense lawyers include Jeffrey Lichtman, who represents Esposito, and Joseph Corozzo, who represents Frank Cognetta. It was Cognetta's decision not to cooperate that triggered the arrests of Esposito and three others the next day. Neither lawyer was ecstatic about a quick trial. But they, and attorneys for the other three defendants, all told Marrero they would be ready, provided the government turned over all its "discovery material."
When the judge returned to Swergold, the prosecutor stated he had lots of stuff to turn over, including "e-mail accounts" and "phone search and computer search warrants" and "subpoena returns, bank records, union records," and "thousands of pages from the search warrants" that the FBI had executed. He suggested that "a more feasible date might be towards the end of the year."
The judge thanked the prosecutor, then proceeded to ignore his suggestion, and scheduled the trial for September 24.
And while Swergold and co-prosecutors Jared Lenow and Kimberly Ravener decide whether to add more defendants to the case as they prepare for trial, Esposito also has a few important decisions to make.
Most importantly, he has to decide whether to bite the bullet and pay for a 24-hour armed guard service (with an annual cost of $1 million a year) to win release on bail, as Marrero ruled. One alternative is to appeal the ruling, as attorney Lichtman stated he would last week. Or he could also opt to sit tight behind bars, prepare for trial, and hope to convince a jury that his nephew Vincent Fyfe's claims about Esposito are tall tales not to be believed.
Sources say Fyfe, a grandson of the late Chin Gigante and the president of Local 2D of the United Food & Commercial Workers Union, claims that Esposito has extorted annual payments of $10,000 a year from him since 2001 when he succeeded a longtime pal of his grandpa as president of Local 2D.
Meanwhile, Esposito is already spending his days and nights under armed guards — at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in lower Manhattan. His goal is to get back to his palatial townhouse, the one a few miles north on the Upper East Side that he used to share with his 84-year old mother before he was arrested back on January 10.
[b]Turncoat: Feds Are Lucky I Smashed The Guy In The Face With A Cocktail Glass[/b]
Turncoat Bonanno capo Peter (Petey BS) Lovaglio threatened to go back on his deal with the feds last year. The threat came during a heated argument with an agent who told Lovaglio he had only himself to blame for being behind bars because he had blinded a restaurant owner in an unprovoked drunken assault when he hit him in the face with a cocktail glass in 2015.
"Like I said, you put yourself in this situation," says the agent, according to an excerpt of the tape-recorded jailhouse telephone conversation, one of five talks involving Lovaglio that were filed last week by John Meringolo, an attorney for Philadelphia mob boss Joseph (Skinny Joey) Merlino.
"Wait a second," responds Lovaglio, "I'll just go to fuckin' prison, man. Don't frustrate me to that point. Because you guys keep hanging that shit over my fuckin' head. I'll just say fuck it then. Fuck it, then fuck it. You know, fuck it then and I'll deal with it on my own. Fuck it. Keep holding that shit over my fucking head. I'm a fucking man you don't need to do that."
The agent, believed to be with Homeland Security, sought to settle Lovaglio down by telling him that the government was "trying (to) work together" with him, but Petey BS wasn't appeased, saying that the feds were quietly happy that he cold cocked the guy.
"You're lucky I hit the guy in the fucking head 'cause you wouldn't have had the case," said Lovaglio, who in fact, was able to renew his work as a snitch after the assault, first with the NYPD, and then with Homeland Security, for whom he wore a wire for a year.
"Let's call it that way then," he continued. "You can look at it both ways. You know, you keep holding that shit over my head but if I didn't do it then you wouldn't have this fucking case."
The "case" Lovaglio referred to isn't spelled out, but it most likely is the racketeering indictment of acting Bonanno boss Joseph (Joe C) Cammarano and nine others in which one defendant, Bonanno soldier Albert (Al Muscles) Armetta, is charged with aiding and abetting Lovaglio's assault of the restaurateur.
In the filing, Meringolo cited the discussion as an example of a jailhouse talk with "important impeachment" material that was preserved and turned over to the defense before Merlino's trial. He asked Judge Richard Sullivan to order the government to preserve all subsequent jailhouse talks by Lovaglio and witness John (J.R) Rubeo up to Skinny Joey's "unscheduled retrial."
In another discussion, Petey BS, who was aware that all his phone calls were recorded, is heard telling a woman described as his wife that he will soon call a mutual friend from a phone that won't be taped — something that is not supposed to happen but a favor that defense lawyers say witnesses often receive from their federal agent handlers.
"Let Paul know I'll be calling him Thursday from a number that he can talk to me on," says Lovaglio.
"Written in stone?" replies the "wife," whom Gang Land believes is really his long-suffering fiancé whom he frequently abused.
"Yep," said Lovaglio. "On Thursday I will call him on a number I can talk to him on. Make sure he answers the phone."
During two other excerpts, Petey BS is allegedly heard discussing efforts to extort money he is owed for one reason or another and have it mailed to him. And in another excerpt he is heard telling a friend, "There are other things I wanna talk to you about, book deals and all that crazy shit."