Does the recent indictment of Bongiovanni and Masecchia indicate Peter Gerace, Jr. is coconspirator 1 and a “member” of the Buffalo mob or another Italian Organized Crime family? The indictment reads:
“It was part of the conspiracy that Coconspirator 1, who is also a member and associate of IOC, paid defendant BONGIOVANNI cash bribes on a recurring basis to protect Coconspirator 1, and Coconspirator 1’s business, from federal narcotics investigations.”
“On a date unknown to the Grand Jury, in response to a telephone call from Coconspirator 1 after a stripper overdosed on drugs at a gentlemen’s club operated by Coconspirator 1 in Cheektowaga, New York, the defendant BONGIOVANNI advised Coconspirator 1 to “get her out” of the gentlemen’s club.”
What does it mean to be a member and associate of IOC?
The Buffalo News suggests coconspirator 1 could be Peter Gerace, Jr. Phil Fairbanks writes:
“If you buy the argument that former DEA agent Joseph Bongiovanni is tied to the Buffalo mafia, it might be because of his boyhood relationship with Peter Gerace.
Gerace is the operator of Pharaoh's, the Cheektowaga strip club raided by federal agents Thursday, and the nephew of Joseph Todaro Jr.
For years, the FBI maintained the Todaro family – Todaro and his late father, Joseph Todaro Sr. – headed the local mob, but investigators never proved that allegation.”
Here is a link to the articleL
https://buffalonews.com/news/local/crim ... 6061f.html
In another article Fairbanks writes:
“Noted criminal defense attorney Paul J. Cambria Jr. is withdrawing from the case and blaming his early departure on false conflict of interest claims by the government.
Prosecutors say Cambria once represented one of Bongiovanni's co-conspirators and that one of his law partners currently represents potential witnesses in the case.”
“Homeland Security agents raided Pharaoh’s Gentlemen’s Club in Cheektowaga in December as part of their investigation into Bongiovanni, a source familiar with the raid told The News at the time.
The court-ordered search of the Aero Drive strip club came just weeks after Bongiovanni was indicted.”
See:
https://buffalonews.com/news/local/crim ... 999fa.html
Gerace was involved in a telemarketing scam going back to the early to mid 90’s. Again, telemarketing has been a long time scam involving members and associates of the Buffalo crime family as outlined in posts above. Here is what the Buffalo News wrote in 2000:
“Peter G. Gerace Jr., 32, of West Phalinger Road, Clarence, and Michael Geiger, 32, of Colonial Drive, City of Tonawanda, each were charged with a single count of conspiring to commit wire fraud.
According to Assistant U.S. Attorney Anthony M. Bruce, the two were owners of Advanced Distributing, 3109 Delaware Ave., Kenmore, which operated from late 1992 to February 1995. They're accused of of overseeing an operation that defrauded customers by trying to get them to participate in a non-existent "promotion" and falsely leading victims to believe they were in line to receive a new car or cash if they participated in the promotions.”
See:
https://buffalonews.com/news/two-indict ... 5783c.html
The following is some actual text from the case US vs. Gerace:
Sometime prior to December 2, 1993, a Buffalo Telemarketing Task Force ("Task Force") was created for the purpose of investigating and assisting in the prosecution of telemarketing companies engaging in fraudulent telemarketing practices. This Task Force is composed of representatives from various law enforcement agencies, including the FBI, Secret Service, United States Postal Authorities, and the New York State Police. The members of the Task Force work collaboratively with the United States Attorney's Office for the Western District of New York in carrying out their responsibilities. T. 20. For purposes of this Report and Recommendation, the principal members of the Task Force are Special Agent Elizabeth R. Rios of the FBI and State Investigator Thomas Flechsenhaar of the New York State Police.
References to "T" are to the transcript of the hearing conducted by the Court on December 27, 2000.
One of the techniques utilized by telemarketing companies engaged in fraudulent telemarketing is described as either a "one in four" or a "one-in-five" sweepstakes wherein and whereby a victim is telephonically advised that he or she has won one of four, or one of five, valuable prizes such as a large-screen television or a pre-paid vacation. However, in order to be able to claim this prize, the victim must first purchase a particular product such as a water filtering system from the company at a purchase price of $600 or some other highly inflated price over the true value of the product in question. Elderly adults are the usual targets of this practice. T 24, 28-29, 32-33.
Advanced Distributing ("Advanced"), the assumed business name for PPG Enterprices, Inc. of which the defendants Geiger and Gerace are alleged to be the sole shareholders and officers, is located at 3109 Delaware Avenue, Kenmore, New York and is engaged in a telemarketing business. On or about December 2, 1993, a telemarketing fraud file on Advanced ("Advanced File") was opened by the Task Force as a result of a complaint having been filed by an alleged victim with the FBI. Thereafter, in 1994, numerous individual and law enforcement complaints against Advanced were noted in the file, which complaints were received from various locations in New York and New Jersey. T. 21-23, 40. Basically, these complaints indicated that customers of Advanced had not received the prizes that had been promised to them. Special Agent Rios became the case agent on the Advanced File in October, 1994, and at that time, she reviewed the file. Based on her experience in investigating telemarketing fraud, she concluded from this review that Advanced was engaged in a "one-in-four" or "one-in-five" scheme in carrying on its business activities. T. 24, 51-52.
See:
https://casetext.com/case/us-v-gerace-4
As you can see in the following link Paul Cambria was Peter Gerace Jr.’s attorney with activity in the case recorded thru 2009 and therefore could have had a conflict of interest representing Bongiovanni.
https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/47 ... -v-gerace/
