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GL 8/23

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Topic review

Cheech wrote:
> By Jerry Capeci
> 
> Bronx Video Knocks Joey Cupcake Off The Menu And Off The Wall At Rao's
> Joseph UrgitanoGang Land Exclusive!The FBI pulled his picture from its spot
> on the wall at Rao's back in 2010 as possible evidence. But that didn't
> stop Joey Cupcake — son of Luchese wiseguy Angelo Cheesecake — from dining
> at the famous East Harlem eatery over the past eight years and pointing
> proudly to another photo of him that hung over the bar. Until very
> recently, that is.
> 
> That all ended late last month, when a Bronx jury rejected his self-defense
> claim and found Joseph (Joey Cupcake) Urgitano, 51, guilty of first degree
> assault for stabbing his girlfriend's former boyfriend several times. Joey
> Cupcake was remanded by acting Supreme Court Justice James McCarty, a
> former top Westchester prosecutor who presided over his first trial since
> Governor Cuomo appointed him to the bench in June.
> 
> Urgitano, who spent 19 years in prison for a 1986 killing, could be a very
> old man before he gets another chance to dine at the legendary eatery where
> it's still possible to sit two tables away from Tony Bennett and listen to
> him belt out a tune on the juke box.
> 
> Luis QuinonesIf McCarty, who was the Westchester District Attorney for a
> year after DA Janet Fiore was appointed to New York's Court of Appeals,
> decides that Joey Cupcake, who also spent about 20 months behind bars for a
> 2012 baseball bat assault, is a "persistent felony offender," he
> could get 25-years-to life. His sentencing had been slated for today, but
> is expected to be put off until next month.
> 
> The key evidence against the Luchese associate was a dramatic three minute
> composite video in which Urgitano, carrying a kitchen knife inside a black
> garbage bag, and his girlfriend, are seen running through the lobby and out
> the front door and confronting the startled victim, Luis Quinones.
> Quinones, the girlfriend's old flame, had been leaning on her buzzer for
> six straight minutes, refusing to leave the apartment house entryway.
> 
> Urgitano is then seen pumping his right hand upward into the groin area of
> the victim, who darts into the lobby and up a three step platform chased by
> Joey Cupcake and trailed by his girlfriend, Elizabeth Maloney. They are all
> out of camera range for about 30 seconds, until a large mass (Quinones) is
> seen falling to the floor.
> 
> As Quinones gets up, Maloney seems to disappear out a side or back door as
> Urgitano runs back toward the camera, down the three step platform, and out
> the front door. He is then seen running down the street and away from the
> crime scene at 2840 Buhre Avenue in the Pelham Bay section.
> 
> James McCartyIn addition to the video, assistant district attorney Masateru
> Marubashi introduced into evidence a kitchen knife that police found in a
> garbage bin behind the apartment house. The knife, which the prosecution
> said was similar to others that Maloney had in her apartment, had DNA
> traces on it from all three people who were seen in the video.
> 
> In addition, Marubashi also played tapes of two 911 calls that were made
> from the apartment house on June 15, 2014, the night of the stabbing. The
> first was from a neighbor, who asked police to respond because a disruptive
> intruder was banging on the front door. The second call was from Maloney,
> who pleaded for an ambulance to be dispatched because a man "was
> bleeding all over the place."
> 
> Quinones, who lost 20% of his blood in the assault, initially balked at
> cooperating with police. But he later agreed to testify and Urgitano was
> indicted on attempted murder and other related charges in 2016, just as he
> was being released on parole from his 2012 baseball bat attack. Maloney did
> not testify at the trial.
> 
> Murray Richman"I am disappointed that the jury, which acquitted Joey
> of attempted murder, compromised and found him guilty of a lesser, but
> still very serious count of first degree assault," said attorney
> Murray Richman, adding that he intends to appeal the verdict. It came on
> Friday July 27, after a day of deliberations following a nine day trial. 
> 
> Until then, despite his prior convictions for violent crimes, Urgitano, the
> son of the late Luchese mobster Angelo (Cheesecake) Urgitano, was free on a
> $100,000 bond, and a frequent patron at Rao's, which he has long claimed is
> owned by relatives.
> 
> Rao's — the tiny East Harlem joint that is a favorite of politicians and
> celebrities who enjoy the aroma of Cosa Nostra along with the clams and red
> sauce — has loomed large in Joey Cupcake's criminal life. In an appearance
> before the state parole board in 2005, Urgitano told officials that he was
> related to a Rao's owner and might get a job there as a waiter if he were
> released on parole.
> 
> Despite those promising employment prospects, the board turned thumbs down
> on Cupcake's parole. This triggered an angry letter from Urgitano to the
> board, questioning why one parole commissioner, Ileana Rodriquez, had
> suggested there was "something nefarious" about Rao's, and had
> "asked him during the proceeding about how to get a table at
> Rao's," according to a 2011 exclusive account by distinguished New
> York Times newsman William K. Rashbaum. 
> 
> William Rashbaum"Please tell Ms. Rodriguez I said if she really wants
> (to) know how to get a reservation @Rao's," Urgitano wrote, "ask
> your boss, Governor Pataki. He's eaten there a few times. Perhaps he can
> tell her.''
> 
> Two years later, in 2007, Urgitano won release and re-entered the world
> armed with a college degree he earned while behind bars at  Eastern
> Correctional facility in Naponach, NY.
> 
> Rao's figured again in Joey Cupcake's life in 2010 when FBI agents, armed
> with a warrant, seized a prison photo of Urgitano and Colombo capo Theodore
> (Skinny Teddy) Persico, a nephew of imprisoned boss Carmine (Junior)
> Persico that had been hanging below a drawing of Vincent Rao, the son of
> original owner Charles Rao.
> 
> Sources tell Gang Land that the agents seized the photo to back up
> information that an FBI snitch named Steven Marcus had told them. Marcus
> stated that he saw the picture there when he had dinner at Rao's with
> Persico during a three year sting that led to a March, 2010 labor
> racketeering indictment against Skinny Teddy and his cousin Michael
> Persico, the businessman son of Carmine.
> 
> Theodore Persico Jr.The Persicos, and numerous others who were indicted
> based on Marcus's undercover work, all pleaded guilty. Marcus never
> testified, but the FBI never returned the picture.
> 
> Coincidentally, earlier this month, federal prosecutors in Brooklyn stated
> in a court filing that it's high time that Marcus be sentenced for his
> crime, and that the case be closed, since all the investigations in which
> he was involved have ended. So perhaps, in the foreseeable future, the FBI
> will return the missing Joey Cupcake photo to its rightful spot on the wall
> at Rao's.
> 
> It'll likely be quite some time though, before Joey Cupcake will be able to
> see it. Skinny Teddy Persico, the other person in the photo is slated to be
> released in two years. But it'll probably take until he completes his post
> prison supervised release in 2023 before he'll be able to stop in for a
> bowl of pasta at what one local resident referred to as the "Sistine
> Chapel of the mob," in Rashbaum's NYT story.
> 
> Feds Line Up Heavy Baggage Handlers For Luchese Mob Case 
> Michael MeldishFederal prosecutors intend to use their own mini-crew of mob
> turncoats against the four remaining Luchese family gangsters facing
> attempted murder and other charges as part of a 17-year-long racketeering
> enterprise. The feds are also seeking to shoehorn in evidence about the
> 2013 gangland-style slaying of former Purple Gang Leader Michael Meldish —
> even though the defendants are not charged with taking part in the murder.
> 
> In a Monday court filing, prosecutors confirmed last week's Gang Land
> account that they plan to use Bonanno wiseguy Peter (Petey B.S.) Lovaglio
> and Anthony Zoccolillo, a Mama's Boy in the short-lived Mama's Boys of the
> Bronx reality TV show at an upcoming trial in White Plains Federal Court.
> They also stated they intend to call two other mob songbirds as witnesses —
> Luchese associates Robert Spinelli and Joseph Foti.
> 
> The prosecutors wrote they also want to introduce "limited
> evidence" about the Meldish murder that was tape recorded by Spinelli,
> who cooperated with the feds for about five years. Spinelli, 55, discussed
> the Meldish slaying with mobster Joseph (Big Joe) Datello, and Carmine
> (Spanish Carmine) Garcia, two defendants still slated for trial. The other
> remaining defendants are mobster John (Big John) Castellucci, 58, and
> associate Victor Bruno, 34.
> 
> Robert SpinelliSpinelli, however, comes with heavy baggage: He took part in
> the failed 1992 rubout attempt of Patricia Capozzalo, the sister of the
> late cooperating witness Peter (Fat Pete) Chiodo on orders from Luchese
> boss Vittorio (Vic) Amuso. The flubbed assassination — Capozzalo was shot
> twice but survived — was considered a Mafia low point, as mob rules
> prohibit attacks on innocent relatives.
> 
> In a filing with Judge Cathy Seibel, prosecutors Scott Hartman, Hagan
> Scotten, and Jacqueline Kelly argue that the Meldish murder talk is needed
> "to show the existence of the enterprise, the pattern of racketeering
> activity, and the motives of the trial defendants," even though they
> are not charged with any involvement in the rubout of Meldish.
> 
> Prosecutors concede "that the murder of Meldish is more serious"
> than the charges the quartet face but they argue that "the law is
> clear that in the context of a racketeering conspiracy, such evidence may
> be admitted to prove the character of the enterprise." They state that
> "the government will take care to limit the evidence related to the
> murder and will make clear to the jury that none of the trial defendants is
> personally implicated in it."
> 
> In an August 18, 2014 talk with Spinelli, the prosecutors write that
> "Datello discussed his life as a Luchese soldier and the consequences
> of his choice to affiliate with the mob." Datello was also heard
> talking about a $150,000 debt that he owed to longtime family underboss,
> Steven (Stevie Wonder) Crea, who is slated to go to trial next year with
> four others for the Meldish murder.
> 
> Joseph DatelloThree years later, on March 22, 2017, Datello and Spinelli
> again discussed the Meldish murder, the prosecutors wrote, as well as a
> state labor racketeering prosecution of Crea and Datello in 2000 by the
> Manhattan District Attorney's office, "the debt that Datello owed to
> Crea, and the Luchese family control of certain labor unions."
> 
> Datello, 67, is charged with the attempted murder of Sean Richard, the key
> turncoat against Stevie Wonder and Datello back in 2000. Wiretap
> transcripts from that case show that before Richard flipped, Datello, who
> is also known as "Joey Glasses," and Richard were close pals and
> the two men spoke frequently about everything from the rackets to their
> diets.
> 
> According to the charges, Datello waited until October of 2016 to get even.
> That's when, prosecutors wrote, "Datello attempted to murder
> Richard" by traveling "to a residence in New Hampshire where he
> believed Richard to live and lay in wait outside his residence for several
> hours."
> 
> The prosecutors cite two discussions about the Meldish killing that Spanish
> Carmine Garcia had with Spinelli, including one on January 27, 2017, in
> which Garcia talked about "the motive for the murder, and the role
> that (soldier) Chris Londonio, the nephew of Garcia's good friend, played
> in carrying out the murder."
> 
> Joseph FotiProsecutors say that Foti, 66, began cooperating last year and
> will testify that he was part of a conspiracy "to import cocaine"
> into the U.S. with Datello and Garcia and "to distribute kilograms of
> cocaine as well as smaller quantities of heroin and marijuana" with
> them.
> 
> A longtime associate of the Bonanno and Luchese families, Foti was involved
> in two crimes in the 1980s, including a violent assault on a drug dealer,
> that prosecutors don't want defense lawyers to bring up during their cross
> examination because they "predate" and are "unrelated"
> to the drug charges that he pleaded guilty to as part of his cooperation
> agreement.
> 
> Questioning him about those crimes — in 1985 he "struck the dealer
> with glass bottles and threw him against the wall" and in 1989 he used
> a gun to collect a debt from another drug dealer — "would be
> inflammatory and unfairly prejudicial," the prosecutors wrote, and
> serve "only to embarrass the witness" and have "no probative
> value."
> 
> Lovaglio carries his own heavy baggage and prosecutors are seeking to keep
> as much of it out of the trial as possible. They've asked Seibel to block
> the defense from asking Petey B.S. (yes, that's what it stands for) about
> what they delicately describe as "prior physical altercations" he
> had with "domestic partners."
> 
> Dominic TruscelloAt least one of those former domestic partners has
> graphically described those incidents to Gang Land as brutal beatings by
> B.S. They shouldn't be brought up, the feds argue, because those incidents
> "have no bearing on the truthfulness of (Lovaglio) and their
> discussion at trial" would also be "inflammatory and without
> probative value."
> 
> Lovaglio took part in a brouhaha between the Bonanno and Luchese families
> at a Bronx social club in 2012, and will be a witness against Bruno, who is
> charged with the attempted murder of a Bonanno associate who dissed Stevie
> Wonder Crea during the dispute.
> 
> Defense lawyers are sure to object to many of the government requests in
> the coming weeks. The trial is slated to begin on October 1.
> 
> So far, nine Luchese mobsters and associates who were among the 19
> defendants indicted last year, have copped guilty pleas to reduced charges,
> or agreed to plead guilty before trial.
> 
> A tenth defendant, longtime wiseguy Dominic Truscello, who was a
> codefendant of Crea and Datello in the state labor racketeering case in
> 2000, beat the rap: He died at age 84 after a long illness on July 26. He
> was laid to rest at the Madonna Cemetery and Mausoleum in Fort Lee, NJ.
> 
> A Promotion In The Bonanno Ranks Earns Ronnie G An Extra Nickel
> Ronald GiallanzoHis five crew members had all received sentences well below
> the recommended prison terms in their plea agreements when they faced the
> music. But the judge had a different playbook in mind last week when it was
> acting Bonanno capo Ronald (Ronnie G) Giallanzo's turn to stand in the dock
> in Brooklyn Federal Court.
> 
> The judge hit Giallanzo, the leader of a 12-man crew of gangsters with a
> dozen years for heading a 19-year-long racketeering enterprise. She wasn't
> finished. She then gave him two additional years for committing extortion
> and other crimes while he was serving strict supervised release
> restrictions (VOSR) following his last stretch behind bars.
> 
> Ronnie G's sentencing guidelines were 70-to-87 months for racketeering, and
> 12-to-18 months for the VOSR. But those are just the guidelines and the
> judge is free to set the term up to the law's max, and she came close. The
> 14 year prison term he received was five plus years longer than he had
> bargained for. On top of that, he was also ordered to forfeit $1.25
> million, pay $268,000 in restitution, and to sell the estimated $3 million
> mansion he built with money that he made as a racketeer.
> 
> Judge Dora IrizarryThe day had started out nicely for Giallanzo, whose wife
> Elizabeth, and their four children, and more than a dozen friends,
> relatives and other supporters squeezed into the courtroom of Chief Judge
> Dora Irizarry.
> 
> The first thing Ronnie G heard was encouraging news from lawyers Charles
> Carnesi and Elizabeth Macedonio when they met him before court: The
> Probation Department, which oversees the sentencing guidelines in all plea
> agreements, they told him, had lowered his numbers from 78-to-97 months to
> 70-to-87.
> 
> So even if Judge Irizarry gave him the maximum recommended sentence for his
> conviction and his VOSR, the 48-year-old wiseguy was looking at a
> nine-year, three-month sentence. With credit for the 17 months he's already
> spent behind bars, and the standard 15% good time credit that all federal
> prison inmates receive, Giallanzo would have been home when he was 55.
> 
> As she had in the five previous sentencings in the case, the judge began
> with a stern lecture about the crimes that the defendant committed. But
> this time, instead of meting out lower sentences than the recommended ones
> as she had done in the past, Irizarry lowered the boom on Ronnie G.
> 
> Michael HintzeThe judge noted that despite a prior 87 month sentence for
> racketeering, Giallanzo didn't give up The Life. Instead, Irizarry told
> him, "You rose in the ranks of the Bonanno crime family,"
> engaging in extortion and other crimes. Her sentence will keep him behind
> bars until he's 60, unless his attorneys can get it reduced. Since his plea
> agreement gives him the right to appeal any sentence greater than 121
> months, his lawyers can, and will appeal.
> 
> Not they're thinking about it, but none of Giallanzo's underlings can
> appeal their sentences, including his brother-in-law, Michael Hintze, who
> collected loanshark payments for Ronnie G when he was behind bars. Hintze,
> 52, got three years. His guidelines were 37-to-46 months.
> 
> The sentencing guidelines for three other associates, Evan (the Jew)
> Greenberg, 46, Robert (Chippy) Tanico, 50, and Richard Heck, 46, were
> 27-to-33 months. Greenberg got two years; Tanico was sentenced to 18
> months, and Heck received five years probation.
> 
> Judge Irizarry also gave five years probation to Anthony (Cubo) Cuminale,
> 28, whose guidelines were 12-to-18 months.

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